FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone, after all the help and advice, I successfully ( I think lol) slip potted my VFT while miraculously only setting off 2 of the 9 traps

But... while I was settling the soil around it, I noticed a red little spidey looking thing run around the baby shoots in the middle and then around a trap. I tried to catch it and remove it, but it went and hid somewhere out of sight and reach.

I did mist the plant with water after repotting, so I don't know if by any luck I blasted the little critter off somehow, but I'm assuming that I didn't.

It was visible to the eye. Like 1mm. I could see it run around. A few days ago I found a tiny single web between traps and thought it may just be a little house spidey trying to make a home, so I gently swabbed it off with a cotton bud and didn't think anything majorly of it.

Is this little red thing a spider mite?

What steps do I take from here??

Also, now that I've repottted the plant, is it still cool to sit by the open window like it is, not completely in direct sun and just getting sunlight the way it is?

Or should I have it behind a window for the next week?

I'm guessing because I slip potted it and didn't ever remove it from the original medium, it's under a whole lot less stress than it would be and may be OK with the light it is getting in the picture?

Thanks for any help and advice!

EDIT: Also, I hope I didn't see this right, but I think I saw a tiny thrip larvae (I had them in mini African violets about a month ago) crawling around in the center....

If they were running around very quickly, they are not spider mites. Red spider mites are tiny little specks that don’t move. They almost look like red or brown dust. Sounds like you have whirligig mites which are beneficial predators.

Beneficial predators! I'm OK with those Would you happen to know if they would take care of any thrip larvae if there were any present?

Are you planning on keeping it indoors the entire time? They’d do much better outside. You can acclimate to outdoor growing by giving it direct sunlight for a few hours and adding more hours weekly until it is in direct sunlight full time. If growing indoors, you’d need to get strong grow lights.

Can you take a picture of the pests you’re seeing? Thrip larvae look a lot like Springtails. Globular springtails can look like mites. From the photos that you posted, your vft don’t look like they are suffering any pest damage.

Sadly, for the moment, we don't have any outdoors place to put him. The best I can manage is if I open the window fully and put him on the inside windowsill ( no space outside), it gets hit by some direct sunlight that way. We usually get direct sun in the morning in the kitchen and then in the late afternoon in the lounge, so I tend to move it around to chase that.

The best pic I have of the little white thing I saw is actually from one I took on my mini African violets over a month ago. It looked like that. Sorry it's not the best quality. My phone cam isn't the greatest.

Focus on the petals of the bloom. You'll see two crawly things in white. They were manye 1mm in length and long shaped.

Those could be springtails. Next time you see one, poke at it and if it jumps away or seems to instantly disappear, it’s a springtail and harmless.

You’ll probably have to buy some growlights. Constantly moving your plant around to chase sunlight isn’t good for it either.

I've poked the ones on the African violet before and they did not jump. They either crawled onto the cotton bud that I tried to swab them off with or they crawl (more like slither like a teeny maggot) and hide somewhere in the plant.