What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

SW Giant being Consumed !

Lately i have noticed that my flytraps, in particular the Sw Giant, is being eaten. The damage is pretty light at the moment, just a bit of the leaf part has been chewed, but none of the actual trap.
I can see little green bugs, some of them are white, they are about 2mm big. They seem to be hiding behind forming traps. They move very slowly and cannot fly. I think they might be greenfly, but I am not sure.
Can anyone identify what these bugs are and provide methods of exterminating them ?
 
Well I can't help you identify them but I can help you kill them
wink.gif
submerge your plant in a bowl of distilled or rain water and leave it there at least overnight. That should drown the buggers! Dont worry about it harming the plant they come from bogs and lets face it sometimes the bogs overflow but the plants still live. One thing though you may want to be careful of and thats swishing it around underwater you dont wanna lose any soil  
wink.gif

Take care
 
Sounds like aphids to me. The last attack of these I had I gave my plant a couple of quick sprays of Ortho Rose and Flower Insect Killer. The bugs were gone and my plants were fine. Some people would advise against this, but it worked for me.
 
Hi Dave,

Sounds like greenfly to me. U/C is right. The best non-chemical way to kill them is to submerge your plant for at least over night or for 24 hours so that they will drown. I have done this on several occasions with my VFT's Sundews and pitcher plants and it works a treat! If you wan't to use a chemical spray I use roseclear. Its for killing roses on greenfly but I have used it all my plants without any harm. just make sure you spray in the evening. It does kill live sphagnum however so if any of your plants are growing in this move them out of the way first.
 
Thanks for the advice. I thought it was a bit too harsh to submerge them into water
wow.gif
so I have been trying my luck to remove them physically removing them with a cocktail stick.
Over the last few days the bugs have spread to my standard Vft's
mad.gif
, so I will have to submerge them into water as a last resort. Also I have noticed a large number of very small black flies around the Vft's. They fly very slowly, so I am wondering if the green bugs have learned how to fly, or have turned into flies
sad.gif
.
When submerging the plant into water, I guess the traps will all close, so would it be an idea to feed most of the traps before I submerge it into water ? My S.W.Giant has about 12 large traps from 2 growth points, so I do not want to loose all the traps !
Any help would be appreciated.
 
as long as you submerge the plant slowly and gently, I don't think all your traps will close...

I would go ahead and submerge them first change you get.

I have been experiementing with my aphid infestation (on my veggie plants)

I have been shooting them with a mixture of distilled water, clearys 3336 (For the fungus that grows on their droppings), strong coffe, a few drops of dish soap, and wintergreen amonia.

I can tell you that only after two days, the population has been heavily devestated... and no harsh chemicals have been used.
 
im not sure wha a wintergreen amonnia is,
but isnt dish soap a strong chemical, . ?
unless u bought the cheepa dollar store one
tounge.gif
tounge.gif
 
dish soap, as in Dawn, or palmolive, isn't a harsh chemical...

the few drops are added to make the solution 'stick' longer. It breaks down fast and is non-toxic.

Wintergreen amonia is just amonia with a wintergreen smell added to it, but for some reason that wintergreen additive is deadly to small insects... as is the caffeen in coffe.

I have heard crushed mums work well too...

it's working... that;s all I really care about.
 
Dave, go down to Homebase and buy a spray containing bifenthrin. I had the same problem as you, but a spray of Polysect soon cleared it up with no harmful effects.
 
  • #10
Hey Ram not that I have I problem with critters *knocks on wood* but are you saying that amonia would be ok for vfts? I only ask because I have never heard of that one.
 
  • #11
I'm not saying to bathe them in it no, but I have sprayed my plants down with it and so far have had no ill effects...
 
  • #12
i can identify them. They are spider mites! they love to eat on lush green plants. Drown em!
 
Back
Top