Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 1/10/2011

Question
I have a drosera sundew with some mold forming in the soil but there are also little bright green star shaped things growing some right up against the plant and some away from the plant. I can't scrape them off with a toothpick so I have no idea what they are and was hoping you could identify them for me.  I hope to get a good enough picture for you to see them, but I also needed to know what is the name of your recommended fungicide to get rid of the mold and how to prevent if since sundews require standing in water.  I also have some fly traps that I recently received that look pretty healthy with several new traps forming.  I am growing inside so was wondering if I should put them in a windowsill with the window cracked and just put them under light for a couple of hours a day so that they can go into dormancy seeing how they don't look like they are.I use only distilled water on my carnivorous plants and have them in a 50/50 potting mix of peat and perlite.  Thanks for your help. I'm sorry but I am unable to get pictures at this time.

Answer
Hi Joe,

I can only take a guess without a photo, but your little green things sound like mosses of some sort, or Irish moss, which isn't a moss at all.  Just pull them out of they seem invasive.

Here's a link to our fungicide podcast:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfVUrMaGjVs&feature=player_embedded

If you just keep your flytraps in a window with natural light, they should finish their dormancy.  The cool temperatures combined with short day length induce dormancy.  In spring you can then transplant them to bigger pots if needed, and put them outside.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com