Aphids Again!

[jimscott]

A few months ago I immersed 3 pots of D. capensis for a few days, because of aphids. I replaced the media, entirely and all plants recovered and I am now seeing evidence of aphids again! I did make up a new batch of Neem...

 

[RSS]

Aphids lay eggs so once you get them you need to treat for them many many many many many many many many many many many weeks.

Not all of the eggs will hatch at once due to temperature ques, part of the reason these guys are such a pain to get ride of.

Depending on the species, ladybugs just love to snack on these guys. So if your able to get a ladybug or two and are able to enclose them with your plants safely for a few months I've found this to work out really well. Replacing the ladybugs every few days is better for the ladybug if you can manage it.

 

[theplantman]

Imidacloprid works quickly and systemically for aphids. Best and only thing I use. Very low toxicity to us, too.

 

[Adelea]

I released about 200-300 ladybugs into my greenhouse and they all got eaten, many went straight past the aphids, assassin bugs however and a different story, many of these walk straight over drosera and are smart enough to avoid nepenthes, however I'm not sure you can buy them.
Another method I use is white oil, it works well, doesn't seem to affect nepenthes or sarracenia and is cheap, you will have to use it once every 2-3days and for about a month or two (depending on how many there are), it also stops thrips and white fly, but drosera and pings hate the stuff, in my experience.

 

[RSS]

The checkerboard horror!

 

[Tanukimo]

I released about 200-300 ladybugs into my greenhouse and they all got eaten, many went straight past the aphids.

Peter D'Amato mentions this in his book. It also happened with mealybug destroyers. Wouldn't assassin bugs steal prey from the plants? And they don't seem to be safe.

 

[Adelea]

Haha, I forgot about D'Amato's book, that's was where I originally got the idea from, but I thought that they would be better in my much smaller collection then his, how wrong I was, and they are expensive to, about 4-6X the price of crickets.
Assassin bugs come in a huge range here (wild ones) most are harmless and even the "dangerous ones" only give you a bite like a wasp sting, I have never seen them steal from anything other than drosera, but they are not in my greenhouse they are grown outside so I have little control.
I think mealy bug destroyers are called lion ant or juvenile lace wing or something here in Au and they don't seem to get as hammered (eaten) here, but they maybe a different insect, fat little things that make depressions and have large jaws.

 

[Tanukimo]

You are confusing mealybug destroyers with antlions. Antlion larvae make pits in sand and have large jaws, while mealybug destroyers are beetles like ladybugs are.

 

[Adelea]

Ok, I was unsure on that one as a lot of things in Au and the USA have different names for the same thing, or same name for different things (like our Paw Paw is your papaya, but you have another plant called a paw paw that is very different)
I think I made that mix up on this forum.

 

[jimscott]

Imidacloprid works quickly and systemically for aphids. Best and only thing I use. Very low toxicity to us, too.

I'll have to look into that. I am not familiar with it. Bayer makes it...

 

[theplantman]

I'll have to look into that. I am not familiar with it. Bayer makes it...

I also forgot to mention that mixing it at the correct rates is not phytotoxic to Drosera either. Basically whenever pesticides are involved, the people who get into trouble are those without precise measuring spoons. I have a set that goes down to 1/32 tsp.

 

[kulamauiman]

home depot has it. bayer advanced rose 2 in 1. has imadiclorprid and a pyrethrin in the mixture. ready mixed and ready to use..
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/rose-flower-care/products/dual-action-rose-flower-insect-killer

 

[jimscott]

Thanks, Mach!