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D. capensis & aphids

I just can't get rid of the aphids on my D. capensis. I've been killing them with alchohol and by smashing thier green little bodies! They just won't go away. I've moved the plant outside to let mother nature help but I'm getting frustrated.

I've read that submerging the plant will drown the little suckers but will it drown my plant too? I would prefer to not use chemical but I may have to.

Any ideas out there?

Thanks for the help.
 
Hi Glenn,
Go ahead and submerge your capensis. One of mine was completely underwater for two days. It rained while I was away, and the drainage holes were stuffed up! Well, it wasn't too happy (looked a lot like Droopy Dog&#33
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, but it did recover (see my post about some piccies....that's the flood victim&#33
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. I good dunking should help you rid the aphid problem. I would not, however, recomend you leave it submerged all day...;)
 
Actually, can't you leave them underwater for like two days to make sure you really drowned 'em? I mean, geez, it's a capensis. I have some that popped up from roots in an undrained container, and they were underwater for at least 3-4 days before it dried out enough for the leaves to peak through.

You could try a half day at first and see if that helps, but they could find little air pockets to hide in. How is your plant normally watered?
 
Hi Vertigo,

I have them in trays of water 1" - 3" deep. On occasion when I'm filling the trays, I will water the growing media. I have the plant growing in LFS.

I'm going to try dunking the plant for a few hours and see what happens. The plant can't look any worse than it does right now. It is all twisted and shriveled.

The part that gets me is that the thing flowered twice and the aphids killed the flower stalks both times!
 
Hi Glenn,
If you see it start another flower stalk, clip it off until it is healthy again. I would let it focus its energy on recouperating at the moment.
 
Yeah Glenn, I agree with schloaty. But, if you have them usually sitting in up to 3" you could probably leave it drowning overnight. How tall are your pots btw? If they're in live sphag, and are used to a higher water table, I wouldn't really worry about, especially if it looks like #### already. The worst case scenario with it is that it gets way too stressed, and you end up with at least 6 more from the roots.
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Heck, I have to pull mine out of the pots every so often and prune the roots like it was a bonzai. D@mn thing put it's roots down like a foot and a half in a four and a half inch pot.
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But yeah, if they're damaging it already, and you think it's on the way out, soak it. Drown them all!

Do aphids eat sphagnum btw? Hmm, you'll have to make sure you get them in the moss too.
 
My D.Aliciae's were infested aswell
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- the plants were all on my windowsill! I moved it into my mini green house. The next day they were all on the top of the plants. Then, the day after that - they were gone!
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Obviously they don't like hummidity?
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After tonight I will be known as Glenn the aphid slayer. I'm drowing the little @#*!&$#s. I have the plant in a seedling flat which is probably only 2" tall so my water level probaly stays around 1" unless it rains. I don't know where I can up with three inches. My wife would probably say its just like me to exagerate. The pot the plant is in is around 6" tall. Chopping off the flower stalks until the plant is healthy is a very good idea, I should have thought of that one.

Thanks for everyone's help. I'm off to drown some bugs.
 
Yeah, I had some D. aliciae that was infested with all sorts of things, well, everything but aphids. So, before they dropped off, and got eaten by their food, I put it outside in a container that was an inch to two inches taller than the pot and actually flooded it with water from a hose. (I figured, screw it, plants have two choices, live and grow, or rot and not) The next day it rained, which nicely flushed the tap water...I let that pot soak for 4-5 days, completely covered. Now they sit open in the sun, a really pretty red dew gleaming off the surface, and the growth is really coming back strong. Hehe, oh yeah, it also had that fungus that it's susceptible to that turns the leaves red and leaves it barren of dew. All better. Aren't you glad to hear it schloaty?
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Weird color green now though, but it's a great contrast to the red.

Hehehe, that's the attitude I like to hear glenn. They're supposed to be food, not eat the eator. Other than that...lady bugs like to eat them...a lot.....Lady bugs could stick to the leaves and eat aphids until the plant eats them, which would be like gut loading a cricket before feeding time.
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  • #10
Another effective way of getting rid of these pests is by putting the plant in a Ziploc bag with a small flea collar in the bag with it. Just make sure the collar does not touch the soil or any part of the plant.

Good luck and keep us posted!
                                     FTG
 
  • #11
i didnt know that you can submerge dews for two days and still have them alive
 
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