Expert: Christopher Littrell - 8/3/2007

Question
QUESTION: after i replanted my venus flytrap and woke up the next morning to check on it the perlite is growing yellow spots, is this fungus?

ANSWER: Hello Howard,

The yellow growths on your perlite are indeed a form of fungus. In most cases of healthy adult plants the fungus is harmless, but unsightly. In cases of young or weak plants, the fungus can attack them as I have lost several seedling Sarracenias to the same fungus you described. You can spray the soil and perlite with neem oil based fungicides, avoid the soap based products, in order to kill off the fungus. The fungus grows in wet conditions with an abundance of decaying organic matter, just what your plant is in. Clip off any dead leaves to try to keep the fungus from moving to your plants and watch any young plants for signs of infection.

Christopher

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QUESTION: Can you name me a good brand , where to get it, and how to apply it?

Also does 3 year old count as adults?

The final question: is there anyway to get old soil to gain back the effectivenees of new soil?
ANSWER: Hello Howard,

Personally I use Green Light neem oil with pyrethrines as an all around treatment against fungus and insect pests. It is safe to use on most plants including carnivorous species and their soil. Just use the instructions on the spray bottle. I just use it once every couple of weeks as needed until I see no sign of fungus or pests anymore, then I can put the spray away for a while. You can get it at virtually any garden center or nursery.

A Venus Flytrap that is 2-3 years old qualifies as an adult. It is mostly newly sprouted seedlings only a couple months old that are most affected by such fungus and only if they are growing near the perlite that has the fungus on it.

Old soil literally sours until the Ph changes, making it unsafe for carnivorous plants. In the bogs, this is not a problem since old soil is constantly renewed by new growing moss layers. In pots, this does not occur, so you will have to keep changing the old soil every one to two years at least to keep your plants in good health.

Christopher

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QUESTION: here are a few last questions

If i have sphagnum moss growing on my soil, is my soil constantly being renewed?

How long does it take the yellow sphagnum fungus to kill a baby plant?
ANSWER: 1.  The top layers of live sphagnum would be fine to reuse, but it would always be advisable to remove the old sphagnum that has died back. It would be unable to constantly renew like in an actual bog as a pot is a very limited environment. The bog that Venus Flytraps come from is miles across and gets constant environmental renewing that cannot simply occur in a pot, a planter, or even a mini-bog that some people make. The mini-bog set outdoors would eventually need renewing as well every couple of years to keep the soil fresh.

2.  I have seen seeding plants die within two days of being touched by that fungus. It almost appeared as though there was a toxic reaction.

Good luck with your plants,

Christopher

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QUESTION: Sorry, but a new questions popped in my head.

1.  The fungicide you told me about (green light that's neem oil) comes in a liquid form but your website saids that you should use sulfer based fungicide.  Did I buy the wrong one?

2.If i did buy the right one, the instructions on it arent for my situation.  In my situation the fungus is on the perlite, not on the plant itself, I already applied it directly to the perlite, is that a problem?
ANSWER: Hello Howard,

I do not have a website, you might be talking about Sarracenia Northwest. In any case, sulfur based products do come in a powder and can also be used successfully without harming the plant. In any case, the liquid fungicide can be used on soil and plants as well. The fungus is growing on the perlite, so the perlite will soak up some of the fungicide and keep killing off the fungus for a couple weeks. It will not harm anything to spray the soil, I have done that several times myself with no ill effects on my plants and the fungus died off within a day or two. Once you have the plant situated in good light, open air, and the present fungus controlled, you should have less problems with fungus as light and open air reduce the incidence of fungal growth.

Keep up the good care with your Flytraps,

Christopher


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QUESTION: When i put a saucer of distilled water under my (carnivourus) plant, the water turns yellow after a few hours, is that normal?
ANSWER: Hello Howard,

The peat moss does that. When the water drains through the moss, it takes some of the tannins from the moss with it and it stains the water yellowish or brownish. This will not harm anything. Eventually, the tray the water is in and the perlite on the soil surface will all show signs of staining from the moss after several weeks. This is why I was concerned about your yellow spots on the perlite appearing overnight. Only mold grows that fast. Another thing to look out for that is of concern would be a clear gelatinous mass in the water tray or on the moss surface. That would be a slime mold. It will smell fishy and look horrible, but you can easily detect and get rid of it by cleaning the tray out once a week or so and scooping it out of the soil. Fungicides will also destroy this mold.

Keep up the good care with your plants,

Christopher

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QUESTION: Every day i add fungicide to my soil but the yellow mold still keeps on growing, i even changed the soil and it's still growing, whats another method i can use to get the mold to stop growing or can you recommend me a stronger fungicide and how to use it because I'm bad with instructions.  I also think the mold is killing my adult plant, 2 leaves are slowly turning black.
ANSWER: That brand of fungicide is only supposed to be applied every 7-14 days and only by spraying lightly over the surface to be treated. Spraying too much on your plant and in it's soil can lead to toxic reactions and could kill the plant anyways, hence why they say to use it sparingly and over time. All things in moderation. It has only been a couple of days, give it time to work. If the neem oil does not do the job, you can try sulfur based products as well. Those are the main products that are considered safe to use on carnivorous plants. Sounds like you have a bad batch of fungus infected soil. You can try boiling the soil in distilled water for 10 minutes or so to sterilize it and then let it cool down and use it to repot your plants. That would remove most of the infectious organisms for quite a while.

Christopher

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QUESTION: As a money saving question, where do you purchese your distilled water, or do you sue hard water and minimize the effects in your e-book?  Also before, when I over used my fungicide i left a big drop of fungicide and an hour the trap was activated, will this damage my plant?  Also is it safe to boil it when there is still fungicide in it becasue I'll still cook with that pot and i worry fungicide will stick with the pot and it'll poison the food?  Also do you know if the mold is spreadable through the air because i ordered some plants from you guys and they're only going to be a few feet away, will they be affected?

I'm sorry I'm showering questions on you but I really want the answers to save my plant
ANSWER: 1.  I just buy distilled water at the store from dispensing machines that I am sure do not have mineral impurities in the water. Usually steam distillation, deionization, and multiple filtration methods result in good distilled water.

2.  The Venus Flytrap will probably reopen that trap within 24 hours or so since nothing alive is in that leaf. I am not sure how toxic the amount of fungicide you used will be. If you only used it for a couple of days consecutively, it might be alright, so long as you hold off on applying more for a couple of weeks.

3.  I would disuade you from using a cooking pot. Use an old pot or one you will not use for cooking food. The fungicide contains irritants and toxins that can be poisonous for human contact and consumption even though it is a natural product. In addition, if you are using the brand with pyrethrines, that is a water based insecticide that you definitely do not want getting in your food. Even better is if you can use fresh soil in an old pot not used for cooking. If that is not available, you can boil the water separately, then pour it in the soil in a separate container and cover it to keep the hot steam inside for a while. That should serve to sterilize it well enough.

4.  Mold sends up fruiting bodies, like plants send up flowers and produce seed pods, and reproduce by sending out microscopic spores that drift in the air. That is the source of a lot of our allergens. No matter what you do, those spores are all around us all the time anyway. The main thing to do is just reduce their number and set up your plants so that they get as clean a soil as possible, good light, and open air to reduce the chances of mold growth.

5.  I think you are referring to Sarracenia Northwest when you indicate that you have their e-book and have ordered plants from them. I am not affiliated with Sarracenia Northwest, however; I do order from them as well and have their e-book too. They are actually where I learned some of the finer points of carnivorous plant cultivation after a lifetime of experimentation on my own.

In any case, the fungus seems to start on perlite, then attempt to spread from their. If you have seedlings near that perlite, just remove the perlite from the soil surface as much as possible and that should minimize potential contact with your young plants. The perlite under the surface does not tend to induce that type of mold from my experience, only the perlite on the surface.

Christopher

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QUESTION: I have a question about a totally different subject now. It's about the White top pitcher tarnok, I hear that the flower is sterile, is there any way  i could reproduce it or make a hybrid?

Answer
Hello Howard,

When you have new questions of a different subject, you can just make a new category instead of followups so other people will be able to see what string of questioning leads to which answers.

1.  Hybridization can occur only with plants that are not sterile, so the Tarnok would be a dead end for this process.

2.  Reproduction of sterile plants can be conducted by makeing rhizome cuttings and dividing adult plants that clump. Both methods will require time and patience as adult plants need to grow for a couple of years before either method is attempted. If you wait a few years, you will note that several crowns are growing in a large ever expanding clump. You can occasionally separate these clumps of new plants by cutting them apart when they all have grown good root systems. If you have a large adult plant with a ong stout rhizome, you can cut it in sections about an inch long and notch the rhizomes to increase the strike rate of new plantlets growing from them. Either method should be done in early spring just as you repot the plant after dormancy so that the newly cut rhizomes have a chance to regenerate before winter hits again.

Christopher