FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all,

I grow my carnivorous plants under fluorescent lights since I live in an apartment and have no way to get my plants under natural light. They grow just fine; my drosera capensis are a nice red color (I have tons of them), just had some drosera madagascariensis sprout, and I succesfully was able to sprout sarracenia purpurea and drosera rotundifolia under them too. The only problem is that mold keeps growing on the soil (I use peat and perlite, 50/50) and is pretty annoying. It also eats up some freshly sown seeds. I've read that many times this is due to lack of air movement or light, but I'm not sure how I can make this any better in my situation. The amount of light seems fine (since I've succesfully grown these plants under them), but I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions? I live in Santiago, Chile, and so it's winter time here.

Thanks!

I read that a diluted hydrogen peroxide spray can be effective. I used it some on my seedlings and didn't notice any problems. About 1.5 teaspoons per cup of water should be ok. Just spray the soil enough to just saturate the surface. If it gets on your plants that's fine. Peroxide will quickly break down into water and oxygen.

I had a lot of mold when I first put my seeds under lights but after a month or so the mold went away.

Does hydrogen peroxide add nutrients to the soil? Thanks for your quick reply!

Hydrogen peroxide does not cause an unhealthy build up of minerals in the soil. It does oxygenate the soil and make roots more breathable. It also helps sterilize obviously. If you are growing indoors like it seems you are, try to get some more air flow around your plants. A small fan does wonders!

rfauffar wrote:Does hydrogen peroxide add nutrients to the soil? Thanks for your quick reply!

No. Hydrogen peroxide's chemical formula is H2O2. It readily breaks down to water(H20) and oxygen(O2) so the only things it adds to the soil are water and oxygen.

While adding too much of the diluted mix to the soil wont hurt the plant it can kill the beneficial bacteria and fungi that live in the soil. That's why I said to just spray enough to really wet the top of the soil where the mold you want to get rid of is.

This solution can also be used to treat root rot since it both kills the fungus and provides an oxygen boost to the weakened plant.

I think I forgot to say in my first post to use 3% peroxide for the mix. If you only have something stronger than 3% you'll just have to do some math to get the proper ratio.

Yes, even though it says 3% H202, it still needs to be diluted pretty heavily. Pure 3% will certainly be to strong. There is a video on youtube of a person recording watering plants with H202 and regular water. He was watering the H202 with the pure 3% and the plant did not do as well as the plant with regular water.

Ok thanks so much, I'll try that today!

As for what more you can try: increasing airflow by adding a fan (12v are dirt cheap, and easely obtainable)