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bugs/neem

thez_yo

instigator
I just sprayed everything down with neem because I noticed a handfull of my plants had creepy crawlies (one bad shipment, etc.). The one thing in particular that I noticed was that the N.inermis growing tip had them fighting for space because it got attacked the hardest, with N.platychila coming in at a close second with them crawling all over its leaves. I think N.hamataXsibuyanensis was showing signs of bug damage first before anything else, followed by the N.spectabilis, then the N.platychila and N.mikei, and lastly the N.inermis being visibly infested with N.macfarlanei showing a stunted leaf and damage last, and N.flava just starting to get infested. Other plants seemed completely unaffected (N.chanianaXveitchii, N.truncata, N.thorelliXcampanulata, etc.).

I was wondering which plants of yours you've noticed have the most bugs, or that you have to spray down more often than others? For example, I've heard that N.hamata is particularly prone to spider mites, and I've also seen my S.purpurea, but none of the other Sarrs, infested with aphids before I bought one of those bags of 250+ lady bugs. Or how about plants that never get bugs?

The stuff works really well - I woke up to one of my drosera pots hosting a fly that seems to have forgotten how to fly. I hope I haven't just irradicated my food-stock for the plants - a fresh and healthy supply of fruit flies :-))
 
The only pest I seem to get on my Neps is scale, which mostly seems limited to the aging leaves on my Deroose's Alata. Last year I kept finding aphids in that area, but they were entirely confined to my Drosera gigantea that lives on the highland shelf in winter. I mist with diluted rubbing alcohol whenever I see aphids. As for the scale, it doesn't seem to do any harm. One of these days, when I untangle Deroose's Alata from the lights/rack/neighboring plants, I'll wipe all the leaves clean with alcohol. For the time being, I'm not worried about it.
It would be advisable to identify whatever bugs you've got. I think that neem oil is one of the more broadly applicable pesticides, but some bugs don't respond to some kinds of sprays. (Caterpillars and acephate, for example.)
Best luck - bugs are no fun. (Except when it's your plants eating them, and not the other way around.)
~Joe
 
At one point I was convinced that Dionaea muscipula "red dragon" was more aphid resistant. Apparently aphids aren't fond of the red pigment. Then I thought maybe the plants had been sprayed with an insecticide with a long residual months before I bought them.
 
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