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Nepenthesis

Formerly known as Pineapple
A few weeks ago, all of my drosera started to turn brown on the tips and die back, even the capes. There is one pot of typical capes that is doing fine, but the rest are turning brown... All except the pygmies. On top of this, there are these tiny little white bugs that resemble springtails but they don't move. There are a bunch of them on dead drosera tissue... I think they're eating the dead tissue on the drosera but I could be wrong. I have all of the pots sitting in big trays of water. The water comes up above the half way mark on the pot. I feel like they may be dying because they're sitting in water. Is that possibly the problem? Something that would support that hypothesis is that the little pygmies that have a smaller root system are just fine.

I have a few drosera in my sphag cultures that are doing really well. I am considering pulling the potted ones all up and putting them in the sphag cultures, however I'm worried about those little white bugs. They're less than one millimeter and they're too small for me to see any detail on. I'm not sure if I could get a picture of the little bugs, too small probably to focus on. The only pattern I've noticed with them is that they are on dead drosera matter. Do you think these bugs would be safe to transfer into my sphagnum cultures and Nepenthes pots? Are they bad? Does anyone have a possible ID for the bugs?

In addition, the utrics that are growing on the surface in some of the drosera pots are turning yellow. I am growing everything in HL Nepenthes conditions, 50s at night and 70s-80s in the day currently. 60% humidity in the day and 80-90% humidity at night.

Thanks for any help you can give!
 
So this guy used to have 30+ leaves...

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If you look between those two leaves closest to the camera that are wide apart, you'll see tiny white specs, and they do move, just very slowly. I noticed this morning there were some on one of the old foliage on a pygmy drosera, but now they're gone a few hours later.

s2txfl.jpg


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Just based on your description I would suspect thrips although they tend to move a little quicker, aphids, or fungus gnat larvae. In any case prob not a bad idea to spray them. You might try lowering your water table also. Perhaps just a cm or two of water so it can still wick up the pots. It must be that time of year again. I am seeing pests of all kinds popping out of nowhere in the last few weeks. Aphids being the majority of the problems. Good luck!
 
Have you added anything to your water supply for these plants in the last three months? What is your water quality like, anyway? Do you periodically flush the pots out and put fresh clean water in these trays? There is certainly something wrong here, but I don't think it is insects.
 
Have you added anything to your water supply for these plants in the last three months? What is your water quality like, anyway? Do you periodically flush the pots out and put fresh clean water in these trays? There is certainly something wrong here, but I don't think it is insects.

I would agree. Especially considering the quality of the vendor where these came from, I'm not positive it is the insects. Are you sure they aren't just springtails? I think you should say the conditions these sundews have been experiencing for the past few months. I believe all the ones you have are subtropical, so they probably do not appreciate the UHL-HL conditions of your greenhouse in the winter.
 
Have you added anything to your water supply for these plants in the last three months? What is your water quality like, anyway? Do you periodically flush the pots out and put fresh clean water in these trays? There is certainly something wrong here, but I don't think it is insects.

Nope, I've been using the same water supply for my saltwater tanks, then neps and now these guys since maybe 2010. It is just the drosera and utrics that have the problem. I'm using distilled water from arrowhead in big 2.5 gallon plastic jugs. I fill the trays straight from the pouring nozzle. The thought of high nutrients in the water crossed my mind but it doesn't make sense. Does anyone know how much a TDS meter is?

I would agree. Especially considering the quality of the vendor where these came from, I'm not positive it is the insects. Are you sure they aren't just springtails? I think you should say the conditions these sundews have been experiencing for the past few months. I believe all the ones you have are subtropical, so they probably do not appreciate the UHL-HL conditions of your greenhouse in the winter.

I started collecting dews somewhere around November to December. When I first got them, it was probably the same conditions my GH is now since it is controlled, however the daytime temperatures from mid December through mid February were 60s in the day, now they are 70s and 80s. The place I got them from grows them in the same conditions I do. Might I also add (if I haven't already) that the sarrs are doing perfectly fine. Every seedling, every small one and every huge one.

Just based on your description I would suspect thrips although they tend to move a little quicker, aphids, or fungus gnat larvae. In any case prob not a bad idea to spray them. You might try lowering your water table also. Perhaps just a cm or two of water so it can still wick up the pots. It must be that time of year again. I am seeing pests of all kinds popping out of nowhere in the last few weeks. Aphids being the majority of the problems. Good luck!

Just picked up Bayer Advanced Rose Stuff Dual Action at Home Depot... So I'll pray everything infected a couple times. Given, most of the dews are already dead... :awesome:
 
i think i have the same tiny white bugs......in my case at first i was sounding the alarms but they tend to stay in the media and really do not care about the plants at all. if they do its like u said it appears they just like dead tissue. I have looked and looked but have never seen them on anything green or active. As a result my dews tend to ignore them as i do bc if they are the same ones i have they always come back. lol. i also have white and brown springtails but these little bugs like like white spider mites except u can see them. they tend to hate the light and stay in the dirt.

unlike you however none of my plants have ever been affected.....may be a good precaution to quarantine the affected plants tho.

generally when troubleshooting any problem the best place to start is to identify if anything has changed and start from there.
 
Just an fyi, if that bayer rose stuff is an aerosol spray can make sure to spray it from a good distance and mist over the dews. I used that stuff a few years back and it worked great, except if i sprayed from too close and i guess the aerosol just burned up the plants.
 
Just an fyi, if that bayer rose stuff is an aerosol spray can make sure to spray it from a good distance and mist over the dews. I used that stuff a few years back and it worked great, except if i sprayed from too close and i guess the aerosol just burned up the plants.

Thanks, I'll mist them with it from far away. :)
 
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