Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 7/28/2011

Question
I have several pitcher plants and two flytraps in a bog (they are watered with filtered water(I use a brita filter) and kept in full sun unless the temperature is above 99 than I move them into filtered sun. Most of them are doing well and seem to be thriving. this week I noticed very small worms in the water. I cleaned the water and replaced it. Their were more worms in the water this morning. They seem to coming out of the bottom of each pot. Also, two of the pitchers smell bad. I don't know if it is the worms, the bugs they are catching or the soil. I have them in the original soil they came in (I got them in the spring. Region:Central Valley, California

Answer
Hi Aiden,

They sound like red earthworms which are harmless.  They can be present in soil products like peat moss from eggs.  I would need a picture to be able to see if they were something different.

From your description I'm assuming you have your plants in large pots, and not an actual bog garden which would be an in-ground planting.

The smell in the pitchers is probably from all the insects they are capturing.  That's pretty normal.

One concern I have is your water.  Brita filters do not remove minerals.  If your water is hard, meaning above 50ppm in dissolved solids, you will begin to get a mineral build-up which will eventually get toxic to your plants.  The first to suffer will be your Venus flytraps.  The only pitcher type filter that removes minerals is Zero Water.  They are very impressive little units, and they come with a TDS meter.  Other wise you would need a reverse osmosis filter, or use rainwater or distilled water.  We have a full section on this along with detailed, hands-on care information on our volume #1 DVD.  http://www.cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38&products_id=

Good Growing!

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