Re: U arenaria

From: Michael Homick (greyston@mailhost.oxford.net)
Date: Wed Jan 22 1997 - 12:24:05 PST


Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 12:24:05 -0800
From: Michael Homick <greyston@mailhost.oxford.net>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg323$foo@default>
Subject: Re: U arenaria

Nigel Hurneyman wrote:
>
> If you realy want to kill Utrics, try earthworms! My previously thriving
> colony of U bisquamata was rapidly downsizing, so I had a poke around
> to identify the cause. The first leaf I looked at was not attached to a root
> and had a tiny, translucent baby earthworm apparently attacking it. The
> second leaf was the same, as were all the leaves. I couldn't find a single
> root. While the loss of a 'weed' like U bisquamata doesn't grieve me, the
> loss of the only plants I had of the form with slightly forked leaves does.
> I can't understand how the worms got there - it must have been quite a
> trek from my contaminated pygmies.
> SNIP..

If you found no adult worms and the small transluscent 'worms' were all
about 2-3mm long with a blackish gut line visible, then the chances are
you have an infestation of Fungus Gnats. The adults look like small
fruit flies that flitter around from pot to pot. They thrive on the
moist conditions in which many CP's grow. The larvae also spin webbing
over the soil surface. If the webbing is evident then you have a Fungus
Gnat problem. The larvae can be very destructive!
        Michael



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:30:58 PST