OK folks, I have a terrarium that is about 3 feet by 2 feet by about 18 inches tall. The utrics and Drosera in there are all in live moss and were it not for the aphids that persist despite neem, soap/oil spray and total immersion in water for as long as 5 days... they and the D. prolifera would proliferate. I am leary of using serious hard chemicals as this was my preferred method way back and now exposure to most of them gives me nasty headaches and dry mouth... occasionally even a sort of twitching in my muscles that I can't control. I must be careful with these chemicals and not breathe fumes. The suggested systemics so far have all been ones that I seem to react to... I was ever so careful back then but as they say, a little dab will do you, and the stuff always leaked around the edge of the sprayer, and some-how always seemed to get past the gloves or mask...
Having said this, I decided to give dry ice a try. It being frozen co2 I figured that it would kill all non-plant life asap and promote healthy plant growth. This is day 2 of dropping roughly a pound of the stuff into the water (about 6 inch deep water, the plants are on bricks to be closer to the lights, hence the deep water). It did not freeze anything, but instead bubbled furiously and released interesting clouds of dense fog. I assume this is pure co2 or, being that I dropped the stuff in the water, did I screw it up some-how? I ask because the aphids seem to be totally unfazed by it. The fog lasts for about 20 minutes or so, and as the terrarium is pretty much sealed, it builds up pretty thick before clearing up. The damned bugs just hang on and seem to survive just fine. As I have to drive 60 miles to get more, and in the freezer it doesnt last too long, this has to work or I have to get into nasty chemicals that I really dont want to buy. I only need a small bit and dont know what to do with the large left-over quantities anyway. So... let's discuss the dry ice trick and see what I am doing wrong. I will be getting more tomorrow and will see if putting it in a plant pot not in water, and letting it slowly leak into the terrarium works better, ie not mixing it with the water.
Your thoughts ladies and gentlemen are much appreciated. I want to get these plants really going well as I need to repay a plant give-away somehow and it wont work if they are either dead or buggy.
Thanks in advance
Andrew
Having said this, I decided to give dry ice a try. It being frozen co2 I figured that it would kill all non-plant life asap and promote healthy plant growth. This is day 2 of dropping roughly a pound of the stuff into the water (about 6 inch deep water, the plants are on bricks to be closer to the lights, hence the deep water). It did not freeze anything, but instead bubbled furiously and released interesting clouds of dense fog. I assume this is pure co2 or, being that I dropped the stuff in the water, did I screw it up some-how? I ask because the aphids seem to be totally unfazed by it. The fog lasts for about 20 minutes or so, and as the terrarium is pretty much sealed, it builds up pretty thick before clearing up. The damned bugs just hang on and seem to survive just fine. As I have to drive 60 miles to get more, and in the freezer it doesnt last too long, this has to work or I have to get into nasty chemicals that I really dont want to buy. I only need a small bit and dont know what to do with the large left-over quantities anyway. So... let's discuss the dry ice trick and see what I am doing wrong. I will be getting more tomorrow and will see if putting it in a plant pot not in water, and letting it slowly leak into the terrarium works better, ie not mixing it with the water.
Your thoughts ladies and gentlemen are much appreciated. I want to get these plants really going well as I need to repay a plant give-away somehow and it wont work if they are either dead or buggy.
Thanks in advance
Andrew
