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Worms in the substrate

Hi all,

Looks like my Regal Red vft didn't survive.  So i was digging through the substrate and I saw a bunch of little white worms.  They are about 5mm in length, white slimy body.  They are somewhat see through, so I can see the squiggly black intestines inside.  For the most part, its white, with a black head.  Any clue as to what this worm is?  They are not found on the surface, but perhaps 1/4" below.  Are these things partly responsible for my vft's demise?
sad.gif
 I kept this vft in a glass cup, so there's no drainage, and i have it outdoors.  Most of my other cp's are grown in pots with the tray method.

larry
 
Hey Larry,
I'm sure the little white worms led to your VFT's death, but I think the main cause was root-rot from keeping it in a small, undrained container. The worms may have been attracted to the VFT's rotten, mushy roots and 'set up camp' there. Don't use undrained containers much smaller than bog gardens, which offer plenty of extra places fro water to 'escape' to. Stick with only small drained containers and large undrained artificial bogs for your VFTs.
I suggest you either feed those worms to a Nepenthes or stomp them into transparent, intestinal pancakes. Revenge is sweet.
Chris
 
Hi Larry,
Just a few years back I lost 10 large flytraps in a 8in pot to the same kind of worms:( I believe they devoured the roots of the flytraps which led to the flytraps demise.
 
They are probably fungus gnat larvae. Fungus gnats are those little fruit-fly things that are probably buzzing arround your plants and getting caught by sundews and pings. Conventional wisdom is that they are mostly harmless, but I think small plants and seedlings can sometimes be affected by them.

I agree though, that they are more likely a symptom rather than a cause. I find that most CPs do just fine if you let the trays dry out between waterings.
 
...'5mm worms'...probably not the same kind of bugger that killed my flytraps.
 
Ive seen those too in a plant that I bought from the store I kinda just figured they were just tiny baby earth worms. I've pulled them out when I saw them only cause they add nutrients to the soil and tried to get them into a nep but the suckers are so tiny its hard not to pinch them in half with the tweezers then they get stuck on the side of the pitcher and its a pain to get them down. And you gotta get them down cause you dont want them falling into the nep soil or on the floor. Save yourself some trouble and just pitch tose tiny puppies out the window. Oh and none of the 3 plants that I bought and found those in have died they are all pretty healthy. So it more than likely was the undraining pot. Its realy easy to kill a plant in one of those its one of the reasons I took all of my vfts outta the tank I had them in.
 
Thanks all,

Those worms really bothered me
mad.gif

Hope I never see them again.  That was the only cp I grew in a undrained container, I've learned my lesson
smile.gif


I do notice small winged creatures crawling allover the base of my sarrs.  Haven't found those worms in the substrate, so its probably not the larvae of these buggers.  They don't seem to be harming the plants, and some do get trapped by my Sundews
smile.gif
 Ah, sweet revenge!

larry
 
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