FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello,

So recently I did a SASE and unfortunately got back plants with mealy bugs. At the time, I hadn't realized it. As soon as I did, I sprayed with Neem oil for a few weeks (didn't realize they were mealy bugs at the time). Without any luck, I did further research and have concluded they are mealy bugs. They have spread to my sarracenia and a few flytraps. I can see them on the Sarracenia and I have noticed red markings on my VFTs which is characteristic of them. I've read that I need to apply orthene. I have a few questions about this. First, can I use this even though it says for Fire Ants? (http://www.amazon.com/Ortho-Orthene-Fir ... ds=orthene) Second, I grow these plants indoors under light; is it safe to use Orthene within the home or is this dangerous/ toxic? Third, being that they grow indoors under a light, I can't really separate them from the rest of the plants. What would you recommend? It's still not quite warm enough here in Ohio for them to go out yet (low of 32 here tonight, possibly could drop lower). Fourth, I'm about to move the affected plants outside to a mini bog garden in the next two weeks or so, can I treat them by soaking them before transplanting?

Any other tips or suggestions would be much appreciated. They've spread more than I would've wanted them to.

That would probably work as it is 50% acephate. I use 75% acephate like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Ant-Killer-w ... s=acephate

But yes, the smell is horrible. I'd stay out of the area for at least a day after spraying. Or you could just move them outside to spray them

Matt wrote:That would probably work as it is 50% acephate. I use 75% acephate like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Ant-Killer-w ... s=acephate

But yes, the smell is horrible. I'd stay out of the area for at least a day after spraying. Or you could just move them outside to spray them

Ok, thanks! Is there any special way to apply this stuff for CPs? I know mealybugs often are just below the soil by the roots, so should I place some on the soil itself? Should I flush it after a few days with RO/distilled water? Sorry for the questions, I've just never used this before and would hate to kill my plants.

Try bayer insecticide - imidacloprid based . ... . .

I just used that (ortho) for what I feared were red spider mites. Whatever they were, it got rid of them. I used about 1/2 teaspoon of it dissolved in a quart of distilled water and sprayed them 4 or 5 different times. It stunk up my garage, where I mixed it, pretty good but I couldn't smell it in the spray.