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Pest

OMG, I just descoverd a very likely reson to Snapper's lack of redness. Their are little itty bitty bugs on it. They must hide most of the time and just came out to steal my plants dinner! I am 99% sure they are spring tails. Then are about 2 mm long and .5mm thick... or a bit smaller really. They are also grey. Did I get the bug right? Should 24 hours onderwater take care of it?
 
Hi again Darcy
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,
I don't know if you have springtails or not (all itty bitty bugs look the same to me
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 ), but 24 to 48 hours underwater usually does the trick.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (BigCarnivourKid @ Sep. 21 2002,07:15)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hi again Darcy
smile.gif
,
I don't know if you have springtails or not (all itty bitty bugs look the same to me
biggrin.gif
 ), but 24 to 48 hours underwater usually does the trick.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Thanks
smile.gif
The buggies are hiding again but I'll soak my plant as soon as it fineshed it's current meals (wich have sent it on a hyper growth spirt and begun turning it's traps pink again&#33
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Most bugs you find in and around your plants will not hurt them at all. What is important is recognizing when you have a pest that is doing harm. Although a day underwater will not hurt your vft so go right ahead if you like. But don't expect to have plants and have them 100% free of insects.. you will fight a losing battle.

Red/purple/pink color is directly related to light intensity and duration. The higher the light intensity and the longer the period during the day.. the more color. However note that some vft varieties remain green or with only a little blush of color even under full sun during the entire day.
Tony
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Tony Paroubek @ Sep. 23 2002,4:05)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Most bugs you find in and around your plants will not hurt them at all.  What is important is recognizing when you have a pest that is doing harm.  Although a day underwater will not hurt your vft so go right ahead if you like.  But don't expect to have plants and have them 100% free of insects.. you will fight a losing battle.

Red/purple/pink color is directly related to light intensity and duration.  The higher the light intensity and the longer the period during the day.. the more color.  However note that some vft varieties remain green or with only a little blush of color even under full sun during the entire day.
Tony[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I know light determins color. What I was saying is that light did NOT change but MY flytrap lost it's color. I'm not talking in general, I'm talking about my proticular plant
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I think it didn't have enough nitrogen to properly make USE of the light because as soon as I finally got food in it, BANG! color starts coming back
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If you want to get rid of the spring tails ( or fungus gnats ), get a sundew or butterwort!

It does the trick every time. That way, you don't have to dunk the plant for a day.

I am with Tony...light is all that I know that will turn the color in the traps ( or plant )...

I haven't noticed when they feed, they change coloring in their traps.

The plant gets the red coloring to mimic a flower, so bugs can stop by for some pollen....the more sun, the more color.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (jaie @ Sep. 24 2002,08:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">If you want to get rid of the spring tails ( or fungus gnats ), get a sundew or butterwort!

It does the trick every time.  That way, you don't have to dunk the plant for a day.

I am with Tony...light is all that I know that will turn the color in the traps ( or plant )...

I haven't noticed when they feed, they change coloring in their traps.

The plant gets the red coloring to mimic a flower, so bugs can stop by for some pollen....the more sun, the more color.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
uh, I don't know how else to explain this to you guys. If you ever go out and get a plant biology book you'll see that red maximises ligth gathering with the way it double reflects the light (hard to explain) and that in order to USE extra light the plant must have enough nitrogen. Most plants get nitrogen from soil, flytraps get it from insects. So that means my plant was running low on nitrogen and didn't want to waist energy to turn red if it couldn't use the extra light anyways! their, does it make sence to people now?
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I'll have sundew soon I hope.
 
The pest may be the so feared red mite. (they eat the plants, and apear as little red dots
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Spectabilis73
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Spectabilis73 @ Sep. 26 2002,6:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The pest may be the so feared red mite. (they eat the plants, and apear as little red dots  
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                                       Spectabilis73[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
no, I know what those look like. I know my insects... and arachnids quite well. These are not mites but some other creature. I'll deal with it though
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  • #10
Hiya Darcie,

Sounds like you know what you are doin with the plants, but wont dunking the plant stress it pretty bad?

The only bug that I could think of that it sounds like is a uh . . . oh sh!t I forgot its name. Oh my Ent prof would be pissed. I think its a mealey bug. Anyway they don't move much and they KINDA look like a very very small rolly polly. They are extremely bad for any plant and spread like wildfire. All my Hort teachers and Ent teachers told me to toss out any plant that had them so I wouldn't risk spreading them around the house. They kill almost any plant they touch. It does take a while but you will see it if thats what they are. They also might get a little webbing around them.
 
  • #11
Oh and btw I am pretty sure that spirngtails only eat decaying vegetable matter and you should be able to see a tiny little "spring tail" on its abdomen. For your sake I hope thats what they are.
 
  • #12
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (skinadroj @ Oct. 01 2002,08:46)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hiya Darcie,

  Sounds like you know what you are doin with the plants, but wont dunking the plant stress it pretty bad?

The only bug that I could think of that it sounds like is a uh . . . oh sh!t I forgot its name. Oh my Ent prof would be pissed. I think its a mealey bug. Anyway they don't move much and they KINDA look like a very very small rolly polly. They are extremely bad for any plant and spread like wildfire. All my Hort teachers and Ent teachers told me to toss out any plant that had them so I wouldn't risk spreading them around the house. They kill almost any plant they touch. It does take a while but you will see it if thats what they are. They also might get a little webbing around them.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Oh yes, those bugs are horrid. I battled them many a times in my life and lost every plant with in two years (school plants not mine) Anyways, I can safely say they are NOT cotton scail (that the word your looking for?) I have determined that these things are in deed eating deadstuff, they are mostly interested in my plants left over food so I'm not worrying about them. They are quite active little critters and the only detail I can make out is the head, might attually be the eyes I'm seeing. When I said small I ment it to they are extreamly tiney like a mm long and their width maby .5mm or less.

-Darcie
 
  • #13
Well if the are eating JUST the dead stuff then thats a good thing. You should put them next to some of you other plants and maybe they will spread.

I think that we are talking about the same thing, but thats the problem with common names. Same thing with the goofy mosquito hawks.
 
  • #14
Hi,

I've had springtails in many of my plant pots and trays, and so far, I've never seen them do any kind of damage that I can notice. I've even had them with tiny seedlings without any problems.

I've had the small kind you are mentioning, but I also had a larger black one that was about 1.5 mm in size. The latter heavily infested a couple of Utric. trays I had. The plants were fine. I've always assumed that by eating dead matter, and perhaps bacteria and mould as well, they were helping to keep my collection a little cleaner.

They can become a nuisance whenever you check your plants though, since usually a bunch of them will jump right for your face. (g) But I don't know how feasible it is to try to get rid of them. I've even seen them living on the top of my aquarium water, probably feasting on scum and algae. A dunk probably won't do much in the end. And I have the feeling they are everywhere anyway. (in your walls, under the carpet, behind the fridge, etc.) New ones will just take over where the old ones left off.

JMHO.

Chris F.
 
  • #15
Oh! And sundews won't help at all. Butterworts will nab a few, but they won't eradicate them.

Take care!

Chris F.
 
  • #16
But don't u understand! u don't need to get rid of all of them,the plant can happily survive with a few pests living on it-eventually they will leave if u submerge the plant in water-can u not c that chemicals will harm your plant and the environment more than a few aphids?....but what would i know...
 
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