FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have a minor aphid infestation going on in one of my VFT pot, any thoughts on Neem oil?

Orthene, Acephate, Sevin, etc. seems to be unavailabe commercially here in the Philippines.

I've been using it on some D. Capensis that have aphids. It works. Slowly, and you have to re-apply often and everywhere there are aphids, but it works. The issue I'm having is the aphids keep hiding in little folded bits of leaf where nothing can get them. I'm down to just a few aphids rather than a few hundred, though.

Soaking the plant entirely (as in, submerging the pot + plant) in just plain distilled water, or water with a bit of neem oil, should help as well.

Fishkeeper wrote:I've been using it on some D. Capensis that have aphids. It works. Slowly, and you have to re-apply often and everywhere there are aphids, but it works. The issue I'm having is the aphids keep hiding in little folded bits of leaf where nothing can get them. I'm down to just a few aphids rather than a few hundred, though.

Soaking the plant entirely (as in, submerging the pot + plant) in just plain distilled water, or water with a bit of neem oil, should help as well.

Thanks Fishkeeper, I just got my Neem oil and tried them on my infested pots. The aphids seem to hate it as I see them getting frantic. I hope I eliminate them

I am using 5ml oil to 1 L of distilled water. Any thoughts on my mixture?

I have no idea how much I'm using, it's just a couple of dropper-fulls in a spray bottle, but that might be about the same ratio. Be sure to shake the bottle to mix the oil better right before you spray.

The neem oil, although it's dangerous for the aphids, mostly works by making the plant taste poisonous to them so that they won't eat it and eventually starve to death. Hence the need for repeated applications.

Fishkeeper wrote:...The neem oil, although it's dangerous for the aphids, mostly works by making the plant taste poisonous to them so that they won't eat it and eventually starve to death. Hence the need for repeated applications.

How often would you recommend I spray with Neem oil?

I started my first spray yesterday, so far I don't see any aphids crawling. But I have to check again tomorrow morning just in case.

You may want to get a second opinion, but I've been spritzing the rosettes and any aphids I see every day. The stuff smells like someone made soap out of old tires, but it certainly seems to be working.