FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ello, from my recent 'trying' to grow VFT's from seeds I came to the conclusion rain water may NOT be best for seeds and seedlings.. since I had moss and slime and even mold everywhere.

But, since I live in England and rain water is.... well, EVERYWHERE.. I would still rather use it than go out and buy Distilled water and since there are no minerals in rain water R.O unit seems a little extreme..

In an effort to not repeat the moss/slime/mold problem for when I take the seedlings out of the seed trays and into their own pot I was wondering if Boiling the rain water would help at all with it?

Most definitely. Boiling should kill most of the microorganisms that would be found in rain water. It probably won't kill all of them though.

Hello,

Try adding some fungicide/biocide when using the water for seedlings. The ones that is used for Damp Off disease in seedlings.

hb

Any advice of which fungi/biocide to use?

or is there any I shuold Avoid?

also, would i Boil THEN add the fungi/biocide or put it in and THEN boil after?

For most chemicals it won't make a difference, but if it were going to cause a problem then it would be best to boil first then add the chemical.

I use No-Damp, fairly cheap. You can order on Ebay if it's not available in the UK.

hb

we use tap water and let the water in a bottle several days. Is this good for seeds?

Nguyen, I don't know what tap water is like in Vietnam, but in the U.S. most tap water will kill Venus Flytraps because of the "dissolved solids" (mineral salts, etc.). So for Venus Flytraps and other carnivorous plants most people use only rain water, distilled water or water from reverse-osmosis units.

Steve