FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So my friend reached out to me to ask about some damage on her FTS Flaming Lips...

I had her take some pictures of the white spots she found, and here's what she found:
For context, here's a zoomed-out version: She's been complaining of some abnormal growth for a while, so I'm thinking it's insect damage - But I can't say positively they're aphids, or mites, or what. Any thoughts? She's buying some Bioadvanced 3-in-1 on Amazon already to get rid of them, but I wouldn't mind giving her different advice if I can get some to pass along

Your friend has a couple of issues with that plant.
Number one, yes, there is a bug issue. Those white things look to be aphid skins left over from when they molt. Good news is that a light spray, making sure to get the underside of the leaf, once a week for a few weeks should take care of them
Number two, that plant appears to be too deep in the media. The moss looks to have grown up around it, starting to choke it out. A repot into fresh media will help immensely.

Thanks, Chef. I'll pass along the news... And try to convince her to try neem oil or submerging the plant before dropping the nuclear insecticide bomb while I'm at it

I thought it might be too deep, but I was trusting CalCarn on it... So, fair enough. I already have peat and LFS I can let her use (gotta plant all my seed bank goodies in something...), so that's no problem at all.

Thanks for the second opinion!