FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

What insecticides are safe to use to treat the soil of carnivorous plants. (Not fungus gnats)

As a reference: Recently while unpotting some plants I had in a bog garden (large plastic pot) I discovered an active colony of small, young termites. The plants do not seems to be harmed, but clearly I want the problem eradicated in that pot and potentially any other pot I have nearby but leave the plants as unharmed as possible.

Myself and others here have used Captain Jack's with success.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=captain+jack ... _sb_noss_1

I don't know that Captain Jack's works on ants. For ants, and I would think termites, I submerge the entire plant, pitchers and all in water for 3 or 4 days. I take it out and let it drain a day or two and then repeat as necessary. For my 15 gallon bog containers, I plug the drainage holes and flood the entire bog for 3 or 4 days. Daily I use a spray of water to wash away any ants that have climbed above the water surface.

I will tell you, if the pots are on soil then you will need to relocate them or they will just get reinfested.

My bad. I guess it helps to read the label.

When I was growing a few vegetables in large pots I would get ants (we have a bad argentine ant problem around here) in the pots. I tried to figure a way of keeping the ants out but not getting the poison in the pot since it was edibles that I was growing. I thought about it a while and discovered a strategy that works well. I had some old ~1/2" thick foam pads that link together for kids play pads or exercise mats. I sprayed these with Ortho's "Home Defense" bug spray that comes in the gallon jugs and has a sprayer (battery or hand pump) attached. The poison would soak in slightly and coat the foam very nicely. It created a barrier that the ant's refused to cross, kind of a "no ants zone"...and I didn't have bug spray in my vegetables. It worked good for me. And, as an added benefit, for people living in hot areas the pads do a nice job of insulating the pots from whatever heatsink they may be sitting on.

Intheswamp wrote: It created a barrier that the ant's refused to cross, kind of a "no ants zone"...and I didn't have bug spray in my vegetables. It worked good for me. And, as an added benefit, for people living in hot areas the pads do a nice job of insulating the pots from whatever heatsink they may be sitting on.

This is brilliant. I may be doing this next season.

I had to reapply the spray to the pads a couple of times a year, but no biggie.