> Hi, I have a small tank of CP which are doing pretty well, (4
> flowering plants) and I have two questions. First, these plants started
> blooming in series near the beginning of winter and since I am relatively
> inexperienced with CP and since I had just gotten them, I couldnt bear to
> put them in a cold dark place for the winter. Consequently they have not
> gotten thier 40 hibernation winks. Are they going to exhaust themselves
> if I leave them till next winter? Am I going to have to put them in
> hibernation early?
You don't give us many clues what your CP are! They're unlikely to
be Sarracenia or Darlingtonia since these usually flower in Spring.
I suppose they could be Dionaea (Venus Fly Trap) - I just keep these
in my greenhouse all year, and in Winter they get temperatures down
to 45F / 8C. They don't go totally dormant in this, but seem quite
happy. I don't think anyone suggested putting plants in a *dark*
place - whilst it might be harmless if they were dormant, it doesn't
seem very natural. Mine stay in full natural sunlight (what little of
it we get in a British Winter).
Other things your plants might be: Drosera (Sundew) or Pinguicula
(Butterwort). If either of these are flowering in Winter, then that's
probably just what they do and you shouldn't try to force them into
dormancy.
> Secondly, Ive noticed some little bugs in the soil that look like
> little knats (about 2mm long, bitty wing like items). On a quick glance
> through the tank I can spot maybe 4-5 right away. Are these dangerous
> for my plants? Is there a way I can easily idenify aphids?
Could be springtails (harmless, jump, no wings), or fungus gnats
(fruit flies, Sciara fly) which *do* fly. The latter have grubs
which can eat roots so are probably worth zapping with an
insecticide. Aphids would likely be found in colonies on the
plant (not the soil).
-- Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)