FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

My D. Capensis have aphids. I've gotten most of the aphids off of the leaves, thanks to neem oil, but the flower stalks are still covered in hundreds of aphids. All the flowers have opened and shut, but none have ripened into seedpods yet. I'm going to cut the stalks off to get rid of the aphids, and I'm wondering if there's any point in keeping the stalks until they dry. Will the seeds ripen enough to be viable, or can Capensis seeds not ripen if the stalk has been separated? Or have the aphids probably sucked all the nutrients out anyway?

I don't think it really matters if you cut off your flower stalk - it'll be sending up a new one in no time at all! My capensis, who's also being plagued by aphids (just a few, constantly) is still sending up a flower stalk, even though I haven't fed it in over a month! I don't think you have to worry about anything. Besides, you can just take some leaf or root cuttings if you want to propagate it and get a mature plant faster.

I have the same issue. Whatever I do, I cant get rid of them completely. They manage to find a place to hide and they only need a few to survive. When I will be able to bring them outside I'll spray them more thoroughly.
Seeds could ripen if you cut the flower stalk and place it into the water for a week or so. If they are almost ripe, I'm sure they will be viable as the seed pods mature.

What I did notice lately is, if I use a sprayer and sprinkle them with distilled water just enough to wash the dew off the traps so it starts flowing down the plants, they usually return only in small numbers. The thick sticky diluted mucilage seems to be eliminating them quite effectively. They are all quite large and growing in the same pot. They have a lot of healthy leaves and a lot of mucilage. You may not have the same luck.

I decided to just go ahead and remove the stalks, there's already another one or two on the way.

I've managed to get the aphids on the rosettes down to just a few per plant, but I'd like to get rid of them entirely so I don't have to worry about them eventually coming back. Or spreading. Would submerging the plants and pots entirely in water with a bit of neem oil drown/poison the aphids into extinction?

I have submerged Capensis under water for 24 hours before to help get rid of aphids. Works very well and will not harm the plant.

Will soaking also not harm Spatulata? The aphid-covered flower stalks leaned over some of my other pots, and now I have aphids on my poor tiny Spatulata plants.
And is there any point in adding neem oil to the water, or will the aphids drown anyway?

They drown. Well, some will float to the surface to get some air and then crawl away if you don't get them. I usually take away the submerged plants and have them somewhere isolated, usually in the bathroom.

I have submerged Capensis under water for 24 hours before to help get rid of aphids. Works very well and will not harm the plant.

Does that actually work for you? I've tried it three times and it's never worked at all. For a week or so it seems like they're gone and then you see one on a leaf. Do you hold them down or anything?

mo_carnivore wrote:

I have submerged Capensis under water for 24 hours before to help get rid of aphids. Works very well and will not harm the plant.

Does that actually work for you? I've tried it three times and it's never worked at all. For a week or so it seems like they're gone and then you see one on a leaf. Do you hold them down or anything?

It has worked for me in the past. Some will drown, others will float or swim to the top. It's not always a perfect solution on the first attempt and probably needs to be repeated a few times before they need to be dunked again. I just use systemic pesticides and dont have aphids occurring where i grow. Dunking is a very safe method if chemicals are not being used, just has to be done a few times.

Neem oil has been pretty effective for me so far, it's drastically cut their numbers. I just mix it into the water. No specific concentration, just a dropperfull in a spray bottle full of water, shake like heck, then mist everywhere I see aphids and just about flood the rosettes to be sure. It's taken the numbers way down, but I want to have 0 aphids.

After flooding them, their eggs survive. When still small, you can repeat the whole thing and they should be eradicated.