FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all,

I noticed an adult thrip on my pitcher plant that I have on my balcony, and upon further inspection I found a few tiny white bugs crawling inside one of the pitchers. Yuck. FYI, this plant is in the middle of all my CPs, in the same water tray -- two sarracenias and four flytraps.

Immediately after finding them, I ordered some insecticide and need oil, which should arrive in the next few days. But, I'm not sure how to apply them.

Do you spray insecticide (or neem oil) inside the pitchers? Or, just around them and in the soil? Would it be better just to cut off all the pitchers, since dormancy is just around the corner? Same question for flytraps.

Trying to read up and double check everything to avoid killing my plants accidentally. Here is a link for the insecticide I'm planning use (a bit limited since I'm unfamiliar with the types of insecticides available in France). The active ingredient is pyrethrin: https://www.amazon.fr/Solabiol-SOPOLYPA ... 082JCV416/

I have not found neem to be effective on thrips. I have not had particularly good luck with pyrethrin either, since the plants I've treated (Nepenthes) got seriously stressed after enough applications to deal with the bugs (and then they showed back up from eggs several months later anyway.) Always follow the label directions when using chemicals.

That's some bad news. Have you found anything that works against Thrips that doesn't stress out the plant?

I think I've only seen thrips once here in southern Oregon and I sprayed them with our standard insecticide: Acephate 75 mixed at 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon per gallon. It quickly got rid of them. I've never seen it stress out plants other than Drosera, which typically lose their dew for a week or so after spraying.

So... I may have been wrong about the thrips. I only saw one adult thrip, but now I'm zooming in on the tiny white pests in my plant and they look more like mites. Definitely 8 legs. Advice?

It does look like a mite but the easiest way to tell what pest you have is usually from the damage they are causing. If you don't see any damage, you're likely worrying about something that isn't a threat to your plants.

Can you post a photo of any damage you see on the plant?

IIRC those white mites are just living off of the dead bugs in your pitchers. The mites that cause problems are in general much much smaller. Some even require a microscope to see! I second Matt on waiting to see damage.

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