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mold on D. filiformis giant hibernacula

I've got a pot of D. filiformis that have a cluster of hibernacula, and due to the unusually foggy, wet days here, both this and some of my S. rubra are taking a hit from mold right now. I 've used systemics in the past, and now I'm trying to veer from that - I've used an RTU bottle of sulphur/pyrethins as a test, but wondering if anyone knows of something better. Plants in question are outside, in sun - when it's there, and not overly wet...everyone else looks great!
 
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I use powdered cinnamon when I have a minor mold outbreak during dormancy. It works pretty well. If the mold is really bad, you may want to look for something better.
 
Thanks, I will try that - the mold is just beginning, kind of like a cold trying to get into you.
 
Just sprinkle liberally over the crowns and wherever you see mold.

If they are in pots, try moving them to a drier location that gets a good amount of sun and air movement. Perhaps under a poarch or something.

IIR, S. rubra like to be on the drier side during dormancy. I have never had a problem with my D. filiformis, but if mold is forming it is probably too wet.
 
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Curiously enough, many molds and fungi are not pathogenic, not even opportunistically so. Though many fungi are highly beneficial, helping to decompose organic detritus into humic acids and available nutrient compounds. Many even form symbiotic relations with plants. It's curious that so many growers see what they believe to be the hyphae of a mold or fungi and automatically panic, assuming their plant is being attacked, when it may just as easily be experiencing benefits from what is assumed to be other than beneficial interaction.

What leads you to believe your plants are, "taking a hit"?

BTW, "unusually foggy, wet days here,". Where is here?

Whenever my plants were experiencing damage, possibly from pathogenic fungi or molds, it was usually way too late to rescue anything with treatments.
 
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D. filiformis are very susceptible to crown rot while dormant. The maximum period of vulnerability I find is when they are coming out of dormancy. It is very important to keep them relatively dry until full growth has resumed. Very sandy mixes and a sand mulch will help especially with the NJ Pine Barrens plants. Proper hygiene helps too - remove as much dead material as you can after they go dormant.

I have never been able to rescue D. filiformis once fungus/mold has started on D. filiformis when dormant or coming out of dormancy. A couple times I thought I did only to watch them rot away a few weeks later. The most common fungus/mold that hits mine forms nearly invisible (too the naked eye) short thread with a white/cream colored ball at the end - about the size of the period on the end of this sentence. Sulfur will knock this stuff out but it will always come back in a few days.
 
I have used RootShield® brand, Trichoderma harzianum inoculum powder, it is a fungus. One of the first times I ever used it was on a small group of Pinguicula jaumavensis plants that were rotting in transit and were seriously affected by the time I received them. In desperation I dusted the rotting plants with the RootShield® powder, I carefully coated all surfaces of the rotten and non-rotten plant parts with the powder. These small plants were so seriously affected by decomposition, I really only did this in a desperate attempt to try to salvage some viable material I could perhaps propagate from. To my surprise, the rot was entirely arrested, and after I planted them, all the plants quickly recovered.

I have used this product - I will continue to use it regularly. I believe it has positive beneficial affects. I do not think it is as good as sliced bread, nor that it can cure all ills. It is just one tool, of many, that can useful in the horticulturists toolbox.
 
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I've tried a couple Trichoderma based products on ailing D. filiformis, one of which is very popular with Cephalotus growers to no effect. The FAQ on this product warns not to apply if there are active fungal infections although one user swears it cleared up an infection on his Cephalotus. Yes, the product was fresh from the manufacturer. Either the infections were too far advanced or the product was ineffective. I had been dosing per instructions the D. filiformis prior and during dormancy in hopes of heading it off. However the person taking care of watering my plants when I was recovering from surgery could not come by every day so I had left instructions just to keep everything in enough water that it didn't dry out between visits even though it meant losing my D. filiformis collection and others.

However these products use different strains and/or species of Trichoderma so your mileage may vary depending on the product and the source of the infections.

I've since obtained a tiny amount of Benomyl and a larger amount of Cleary's 3336 systemic fungicides for my arsenal. These seem to be the favored fungicides of many of the CP growers I'm in communication with. Unfortunately Benomyl is no longer available in the Western Hemisphere.
 
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I live in Carmichael, Ca. I believe my plants are taking a hit from the fungi in question, because the area around the hibernacula turns from green to brown and rots the area in question out - I have gone through and cut out affected areas - the fungus/bacteria has a fuzzy, white color, but it does not spread like it does on the S. rubra. Days here lately have been unusually wet and the fog stays for most of the day - even things that are under cover are wet, so nothing dries out well. Also, I've noticed this happened before, when this particular plant bulked up like this. I'm afraid I'm a gonna bust out the Benomyl and hit that and all of the S. rubra as a precaution.
 
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  • #10
Many years ago I experienced a few problems with Sarracenia rhizomes suddenly turning to mush, but I've never seen anything like you and "Not a Number" have described with D. filiformis, not even when I was growing them outdoors in the Pacific Northwest. Though, most recently (past few decades), I usually unpot my D. filiformis hibernacula and store them in the refrigerator, in a ziploc bag with a little, barely moist, LFS.

I do remember that thirty years, or more, ago, I frequently used a product called benomyl or benlate, but, word was, a batch was contaminated with something that made it lethal for many plants it was used on, after that it went away.
 
  • #11
Are you sure it's mold? can you show us a picture? This species forms what looks like mold but it's what I would call stiplules. That may not be the right term for it, but seems to be normal.
 
  • #12
Yes, the D. filiformis var filiformis "Florida Giant" (and others) often forms a fibrous cover over the hibernaculum. It looks like cotton candy or candy floss as the Brits call it.

D. filiformis var filiformis "Florida Giant" Breaking dormancy. You can see the fibers surrounding the leaves.
01890020.jpg


Funny you should mention it but my Sarracenia particularly my S. rubra and any hybrids with S. rubra in them were infected with a persistent white fuzz - different from what has done in my D. filiformis. I treated all my plants with Cleary's 3336 and it appears to have cleared it up. Maybe it's something regional to CA like San Joaquin Valley Fever which is caused by a fungus.
 
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  • #13
Here's the funny thing, I'll try to get a picture of them - we're getting nuked today - I can't afford to take any more chances. The funny thing is that my hibernacula are all green ball-like nubs - leaves getting ready to emerge and they are clustered up tightly next to each other - there are 21 that I counted - I'm gonna have to wait to take a picture - they have moss growing around them- but not smothering them or on them for that matter and since I've cleaned all of the DEAD material from last season around them, all you see is GREEN with a few tiny white areas - and yes, I have not mastered the fine art of the upclose photo, I do believe given the big guns (benomyl and protection all the way around) will halt it - I've grown long enough to find out what's savable and what isn't -I'm not trying to sound arrogant, really. I've talked to some professional growers in the NorCal valley, and they have said that S. rubra and it's group are prone to die off from fugus in the winter time, and with no prior problems - I've got S. rubra subsp. rubra, S. rubra subsp. jonesii and S. rubra subsp. wherryi in sizeable clunps and last year for no reason, no warning I lost the whole strand of S. rubra subsp. jonesii, where the S. rubra subsp. rubra in the tub next to them were fine. I've replaced them since, but this particular plant does (hopefully) look saveable..the growths on there are firm and retaining their color, not getting mushy and turning pale green-yellow...I'm not saying it's in the bag, but I'm gonna try like hell to put it in there!

---------- Post added at 09:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------

I just found a lonely bottle of Physan 20 next to the benomyl. Now the dilema is which one to use! Honestly, I know physan is a GREAT greenhouse disenfectant and I know some use it as a anti fungal spray, but I personally have never used it in that capacity, whereas benomyl I have, but I was really trying to avoid any systemic usage, but sometimes.....
 
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  • #14
I've tried Physan 20. Ineffective - it might clear it up for a week or two but it comes back even with repeated sprayings. Besides I think Physan is copper based. I think Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin found copper based stuff to be fatal to some carnivorous plants.
 
  • #15
Besides benomyl, the solution I used, back when I was in the Pacific Northwest, to protect my Sarracenia from rhizome rot, was to plant them in media composed of at least 40% shredded redwood, Sequoia sempervirens bark. I even planted some of them in 100% redwood bark with a topping of live Sphagnum and never had another issue with Sarracenia rhizome rot. BTW, benomyl killed any live Sphagnum it contacted.
 
  • #16
I've not had a problem with rhizome rot, just that white fuzz on the pitcher tubes. Cleary's seems to have gotten rid of it finally.
 
  • #17
You guys are awesome - thank you for your input and advice! - I'll keep a look out for the Cleary product. In the meantime, what I did was: go through my entire collection to make sure no one was getting overlooked, and thankfully all I saw for the most part was a little sooty mold around the base of some of the Sarracenias, which I'll spray here pretty quick for mealies and scale - I only had a problem with 2 small rubra divisions, and the Drosera, so I made a soil drench with benomyl for the 3 plants mentioned and doused them pretty good with it -( I've got a picture of it, but still learning the new computer) and placed them in solitary - and they're up where animals can't get around them (take no chances of poisoning anyone...), so hopefully....
 
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