FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum but not to growing carnivorous plants. This year due to quarantine I finally became motivated/acquired enough time to organize my collection and I'm realizing that my flytraps are collecting maybe dust/mold in their traps.
https://ibb.co/6JdKfdW

https://ibb.co/m95qGFc


The white dots I know were aphids but they are usually only a problem in spring while during summer they diminish.
I keep the plants under a 30% shade cloth during summer when temps reach over 85F, they get plenty of air circulation and water but they are right above a street where a ton of cars pass by and throw dust around. So anyone know what may be causing this? I dont think its too harmful as I think they've had this on them for a while now but it goes away in winter and comes back in the summer only.
Thanks,
Vanessa

hahaha! I know they look bad, I intentionally took a pic of the worst looking ones, its weird but not all of them have this. So its just spreading huh? Do you know what exactly it is? Some type of mold? Would i have to spray to ALL the traps for preventative purposes? I have bayer 3-1 it should work right? I sprayed to some of my drosera but some died so im guessing I just sprayed on their carnivorous parts?

Oh alright! I am quite reluctant to use any type of pesticide but I guess I have to with these huh? Do you recommend just spraying the middle parts once? In the evening or any specific time of day?

I have a few hundred flytraps so would spraying all of them be the only solution? Im not even sure if I'll have enough bayer for them all

Hopefully Matt takes a look at your photos to see. He does sell some VFT-safe pesticide on his site but I'd wait to get a better idea of what it is.

Adriana wrote: ↑Wed Aug 12, 2020 11:06 pm Hopefully Matt takes a look at your photos to see. He does sell some VFT-safe pesticide on his site but I'd wait to get a better idea of what it is.

Hopefully, I am just very curious how it got there? Like what conditions caused it in the first place? I always believe in treating the root of the problem first so hopefully I can get insight on better care for prevention in the future.

I'm not so sure if aphid are the problem? Or maybe the transmitted the fungus/disease? There doesn't appear to be many aphids on the plants anymore, those older traps were from spring growth so the newer ones do look a bit healthier. Those two are also my worse looking ones, so maybe it depends on the type of flytrap? I notices some cultivars have not been infected yet and I'm unsure if they've just been lucky.

I would definitely give them a spray with your preferred insecticide. We use Acephate 75, which is not as eco-friendly as neem oil but works very, very well and gets rid of most pests. It will make quick work of aphids. And yes, I'd suggest spraying them all at the same time.

There also appears to be a bit of fungus on the plants in the second photo. Again, I'd treat with your preferred fungicide at the recommended dosage on the bottle.