FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Im fearing it is. I have the dunecraft set planted in there so theres also some pitcher plants and stuff planted. Is it algae or what? Im sorry its so blurry.

looks like algae to me.


allen,

yup.. it looks like it is

Yeah, algae is bad news.
There is a couple of methods to kill algae without leaving fungi or any mould.
the method that I am using is a lime-sulpher mix combined with 24hr UV lighting.
See the UV kills the algae and the lime prevents mould.
it's worth a try, works for me!

what can algae do?

i have a bit of it in my pots right now too but i am pretty sure i have devised a plan to flush it out. It is caused by minerals, even trace amounts of them, in your media. In my case, i mixed long fiber sphgnum into my potting mix and did not rinse it (it came out of store bought VFT pots that probably used tap water). So some small amounts of some kind of minerals got into the mix and the algae has formed...which also means that the algae is feeding on said minerals. The general concensus i am getting is that it is not GREAT to have it, but it may be basically harmless. Decrease your watering regiment for a bit and let the sun bake the algae. I am alternating top and bottom watering so that the algae will dry out and then i can flush it out the bottom. Seems to be working so far.

I top watered my plants last year and they all did really well. I think that bottom watering (especially if the plants are kept out of the rain) during the summer can actually be worse for mold/algae. As you said, they don't get flushed out..

Nothing harmful kevin.

They even take up some minerals out of the soil. Ofcourse when they die, the organic material is reabsorbed by the soil.