FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sundews69 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 07, 2022 9:48 am Oh, well dryness mixed with light intensity is usually the problem for me.

Looking at the "burned" spots it definitely looks like something that was left slightly too long long beneath the broiler in the oven. It "looks" like it's some type of cyanobacteria...it is dark colored, appearing blackish but could be very dark blue-green, and wet/shiny-looking. ???

I believe @TrapsAndDews and @thepitchergrower are on the right trail. Googling "humic acid sphagnum moss" is turning up several hits regarding humic acid affecting sphagnum moss and even more advanced plants.

Besides what was quoted above to do about the humic acid buildup, I've seen it stated to use less peat moss...I guess this means go with more pure sphagnum moss...???

Also, plants can acquire the buildup just like the moss can and might be confused as "rotting" or "burning". One user uses a turkey baster to rinse the crowns of his sundews with distilled water, followed by a gentle wiping using a wet q-tip and then another rinse.

I think I'm going to use the paper towel and then give my sarrs a good flushing!

Paper towel pieces soaking up humic acid...

I'm not sure how much the paper towel dabbling helped, but I don't think it hurt anything! It did show that there was *something* to be absorbed or washed away there, though. After I took the paper towels out I then moved the pots over to an area where I could flush them good with some rainwater. Naturally lots of tannin and whatever came out. I did probably four flushes. I took the picture after the darker water had spilled over the edge and I also spilled, shaky as I am<grin>, clear rain water onto the surface so the actual flushed water was much darker than what this shows.

Dagnabbit!!!! Everytime I want to hit the "Submit" button I end up hitting the "Preview" button. And the last time when I wanted to preview my post I hit the "Submit" button!!!!

Ok, here's the shot of the drainwater... Here's a before picture, pre-papertowel and pre-flush... And, here's a shot of after the clean-up job. I'm not sure how much difference it will make, but I think the flushing will do the plants good in helping remove impurities regardless if it helps or doesn't help with the humic acid. Btw, this is a luxury-edition seedling pot that I ordered from Aliexpress...it came with its own flying ferilizer bag.

@Nikson, my apologies for hijacking your thread! I'll chill for a while.