Mystery Sludge

RSbra123@aol.com
Tue, 25 Jun 1996 01:18:29 -0400

Some plants of mine have a strange black 'sludge' on them It seems to be
growing (?) on some surface moss and on the bottom of some leaves of a d.
adelae. It's also on the pitchers of a couple of heliamphora nutans.

Through a magnifying glass, on the pitchers, some of it is on the tips of the
hairs on the wings. Little black shiney balls. In other areas it's
irregular in shape, sometimes looking like tiny black decayed plant matter.

I once saw a strange insect on the pitchers. They crawled and seemed to have
these 'balls' on top of their heads. I sprayed with Orthene and haven't seen
the bugs since. The sludge receded (with the spray and washing) but came
back. I also used Orthenex (contains Orthene, Funginex, and
Vendex-miticide). Same results. I'm reluctant to over-spray since the
plants are small and immature. I had seen the sludge on outdoor plants but
now it seems to be only on the indoor ones.

Any help will be appreciated.