Yossu

Yup, that's the little fellas. Glad to hear they are harmless. That way I only need worry about removing the maggots, and finding their source. being somewhat bigger, that should be easier. Thanks for that

Yeah, I was thinking that. I have no idea where they came from though. I wonder if something fell in the water and died, and the maggots were attracted by the rotting body. Ugh, makes me shudder to think about it! Do I need to worry about my plants, or is this just something that's likely to be in the water? Thanks for the reply. Guess I'll have to empty it all out. Not sure how I'm going to do that, but it had to happen at some point!

Had a look in the pond in my greenhouse yesterday, and spotted what looked like a maggot being attacked by a swarm of tiny brown creatures. I've seen lots of these brown things, they scuttle around the bottom of the pond. At the time, I couldn't work out if the maggot-like thing was alive and struggling, or if it was the little brown things that were pushing it around. Just been out there again, and the battle is still going on. Or at least, the brown things are swarming around the rather lifeless looking big thing, so it could be that the battle is long over, and it's just the feasting that's still in progress! Anyone any idea what either of these things are, and is it anything I need to be concerned about, or do I just leave them to it? Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, it's pretty hard to get a clear picture under the water... Those brown things are around 1mm long.

Much as I would like to see some in the wild, I would be hesitant before publicising sites. All it takes is a couple of careless/thoughtless visitors, and an entire site could be wiped clean. I can just see the eBay listing now... "Fresh and UK-grown carnivorous plants!" all for about £500 each!

Hmm, when I clicked the "Submit Reply" button, it added my reply to the thread, but left the editor open with a red message telling me I can't submit multiple posts within a few seconds. I definitely only clicked it once. I refreshed the page and clicked Reply (to add this comment), and the editor opened with my previous reply still there. Looks like a bug to me. I'll see what happens when I try to post this one. Edit: Worked fine that time. Oh well, maybe I had a senior moment!

First time looking at the new forum today, and my reaction was disappointment at the way the "New content" has changed. Before, I could just look at new/updated forum threads, but now the list is cluttered with all sorts of other things as well. Also, it used to show just the threads, now it shows individual posts, so one thread could end up in there multiple times. Preferred the old display for that. As for the thread display, it's OK. I preferred the old, but everyone seems to be moving towards this minimalistic design, so I guess it's just me that's old fashioned! Most important thing is that the content is still great!

That's absolutely brilliant! Looks really realistic. Might have a go at something like that myself. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the advice. As is happens, we had the radiators balanced just recently, and it made a big difference to the room. Just wish we'd had it done years ago! Not that this affects the plants though, as they were out of that room some time ago. Thanks for the advice.

I can't say for certain that this was the cause, but my two Helis (which had been growing really well) suddenly took a turn for the worse in the recent heatwave. See this post for details. Despite looking pretty dead, once I moved them into the greenhouse, they seemed to recover. So based on my limited experience, I would say that you need to be careful with them during a heatwave, but don't give up on them if they do suffer. Stick with them, and they'll come back. Course it's raining again now, so no need to worry!

Just got back from holiday, to find that the H. Hextradoxa looks pretty good. The old leaves are still there of course, which spoils the looks, but there are enough new leaves growing to give me confidence that it's recovered. The H. Minor still doesn't look too good, but I'm hopeful that it too will recover. Haven't unpacked and sorted enough to have the mental space to get a picture of it, but will hopefully do so in the next day or so. Thanks again to all for the help and advice.

As I said before, completely not how I imagined Poland! You make a very good advocate for your country!

If you explain that you're willing to pay for the water butt, and leave it there when you leave, then he might be OK with it. Tell him it's environmentally friendly to use rainwater, and it will increase the value of his property!

Thanks to everyone. On reflection, I think I'll leave it where it is. It's warm, and gets plenty of light. The only thing it's missing that it would get in the greenhouse is an abundant supply of insects. That could account for the slower growth, but could be fixed with some careful and sparing feeding. Thanks again.

Oh, that's interesting. I thought they had to be kept in the warm.

Thanks, we'll see how they fare in the heatwave we're supposedly having next week. I'm leaving them in the greenhouse for now. No point in bringing them back in if the house is going to be so hot again. I reckon that's what did them in before! Thanks again to all for the advice.

Could try it I suppose. When I first got them, I looked them up and got the impression they were from warmer countries, so kept them indoors. Same with a few others. Can they cope with the low night-time temperatures we've had recently? According to growsundews.com, they are OK down to about 60 degs F, but it's been colder than that at night recently.

Wow, those Drosera intermedia look fabulous! Wish mine looked like that!

Hmm, I wonder what I'm doing wrong? Mine are fine, but are only about 4cm high each. They are growing nicely, and have baby plants appearing near the bottom, but they aren't tall. I don't feed them at all, and keep them in a water tray inside, under some daylight CFLs. Any ideas how I get them to grow more?

No, the plant seemed to be recovering, so I decided not to risk disturbing it.

Well, whilst I haven't seen any major miracles, I think I may have seen a minor one! At least, not on the H. Minor, but the H. Hextradoxa looks like it's making a decent recovery. A few of the old pitchers are clearly dying, but most of the others look like have recovered, and there are quite a few new leaves growing. The H. Minor isn't in as good a shape, but there are a couple of new leaves growing, so I'm hopeful it will recover. I'm leaving them both in the greenshouse for now, as the temperature out there isn't going to get too cold, and it avoids the risk of them overheating inside. Thanks again to all who advised. I'll try and get some pics soon.

Shame about that blue dragon fly, looks like the plant won't get much of it! Thanks again for sharing.

Hee hee, I remember this one! It was when Stiff Records started, and they did a Be Stiff tour, featuring Lena Lovitch, Rachel Sweet, Jonah Lewie and two other acts I've forgotten. Each had about 20 minutes. It was brilliant! Thanks for digging that one out!

Their fertiliser might be as good as their cars, but then it might be as lousy as their music! No offence to any Germans listening, and yes, I agree that Beethoven (a German) was one of the greatest composers ever. I was referring more to modern German music

How long does it take for them to get to that size? Mine are a few months old, but don't seem to have grown much since they first germinated.

Thanks, but I don't know how I would get anything small enough to put on them. They are only about 2mm each, which means the individual leaves are no bigger than 1mm. Hard to find anything that small to feed them on, and even harder to get it in the right place without bashing the plant!