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Green slimy stuff on lfs?

Hi Folks,

Most of my Neps have an inch or so of LFS as the top layer of the mix.  In some of those pots the LFS has turned green (yay!) and slimy (ick!) in patches.  My first thought was that the LFS was coming to life, but I doubt it is naturally slimy.  It must be some kind of mold, huh?  Should I be worried?  If so, what can be done to get rid of it?

Funny, because all of my VFT's and Drosera in peat/sand have that nice cushy moss that you love to walk on in bare feet lining almost the whole pot.  You know, the kind that looks like little spruce trees?  I wish that would take up residence in my Nep pots...

TIA,

-N
 
sounds like algae, are you fertilzing the neps at all?
 
Hmmm. I did give them a dilute cocktail of 30-10-10 orchid fertilizer and Superthrive a while ago. And IIRC, it was around that time the slime arrived.

Oy, The Savage Garden p. 23 first paragraph.

I thought algae only grew on water. You learn something new every day.

Thanks for the help!
 
algae can grow on most any damp surface. generlly it doesnt grow on LFS unless fertilizer of some sort is involved. glad i could help. good luck
 
I've had the same experience and I don't think it caused much of a problem. Try top watering to leach out any nutrients and dump the water after it has drained.
 
I have a little algae growing in some of my pots. Typically, it won't cause problems unless the plants are small (e.g., pygmy dews) and/or the algal mat becomes so thick that it prevents the pot medium from "breathing" (i.e., air cannot find its way into the medium and it becomes anaerobic and nasty).

If you're fertilizing, try to avoid spraying onto the LFS. This should help.
 
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