FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone, upon viewing my flytraps today I believe I stumbled upon spider mites. I am nearly positive it is spider mites because I had to look very closely just to actually see them and they are red. The traps on the plant have opened for maybe a day and then would die back. The I have also seen that the mites have spread to surrounding flytraps. The plants I am referring to are in a large pot with a 50/50 mixture of sphagnum peat moss and perlite. I have kept it moist but not sitting in water. They have been grown indoors under a T5 grow light over the winter. It is dry outside here in Nebraska, but we do have a humidifier built into our furnace that has been running whenever the heat comes on. I was hoping the moisture from moss would raise the humidity level around the plant.

So my questions are:
What insecticide is most recommended for eliminating these pests without hurting the flytraps?
Does the insecticide need to be diluted?
Do I simply spray the plants and media with the insecticide? Do I have to avoid the roots?
Should I spray my plants in other pots near the flytraps? Is it also safe on Drosera capensis and Sarracenia purpurea venosa?
What can I do to create a better environment for my flytraps to not have to deal with this situation again?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time having to deal with pests on my plants.

Can someone also help me with how to upload pictures on the forum? I would like to post some to help everyone out. My images are JPEG's taken from my android phone.

I upload my pics to photobucket.com and then copy the IMG code to the forum.

I would read through this thread and see what others have used.

I found this video to also be helpful:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbRCdJ8ZNF0[/youtube]

here is a product that has 3 different active ingredients in it (Imidacloprid - 0.47% Tau-luvalinate - 0.61% Tebuconazole - 0.65%) to work against insects, mites, and fungus. The only thing I am not sure about being safe for CPs is Tau-luvalinate, so see what others say.

Thanks for the help. I ended up using photobucket. Great video, I just wish they would zoom in on the label of the insecticides instead of just the warning and percentage.

The picture below has a bristletooth, fused tooth, and dente. I believe the spider mites started on the dente
and are spreading already to the bristle and fused tooth plants.




Here is the entire set up. The most affected plants including the three above are located on the right side of the green pot. Just to help give an idea how close these plants are together.

You may need to apply an insecticide several times over the course of a few weeks to get rid of a red mite infestation. If insecticide doesn't work, you will need to use a dedicated miticide (made just for killing and prevents mites).

Much appreciated Pieguy. I am off today to look for dedicated miticides since spider mites appear to be the only problem on my plants.

Good luck. Those are some good looking plants aside from the damage.

I checked up on the product I posted above. It is safe to use on your VFTs. Here's the link: http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/bayer ... -2980.html

Hey guys, just went to Lowe's and bought the exact insecticide that was first on the row of products featured in the video. Thanks for all the help again everyone. Starchy, wish I would have saw your post earlier, while I was at Lowe's I had the hardest time deciding which one to get. The Bayer one shown in the video was actually slightly different than that 3-in-1 product in your link. They seemed to do the same thing but the one in the video was offered in spray form. I did just spray it a couple of minutes ago and it was a very thick substance. I was sort of expecting it to have the viscosity of Windex or water. It has got me slightly worried that I have applied too much to the plants. It's chemical makeup is .2% sulfur and .01% Pyrethrins. I will keep everyone updated on the situation.

xr280xr wrote:Good luck. Those are some good looking plants aside from the damage.

Thank you! All the flytraps in the large green pot are seperate cultivars, the ones in the tan pot are my giants. B52, A2, King Henry and Low Giant are in there. The clump of the venus flytraps in the smaller white pot are all typicals sent by Jeremiah Harris. I got the typical capensis in the back and that clump of flytraps for 22 bucks after shipping off his website.

akinkysnorlax wrote:Hey guys, just went to Lowe's and bought the exact insecticide that was first on the row of products featured in the video. Thanks for all the help again everyone. Starchy, wish I would have saw your post earlier, while I was at Lowe's I had the hardest time deciding which one to get. The Bayer one shown in the video was actually slightly different than that 3-in-1 product in your link. They seemed to do the same thing but the one in the video was offered in spray form. I did just spray it a couple of minutes ago and it was a very thick substance. I was sort of expecting it to have the viscosity of Windex or water. It has got me slightly worried that I have applied too much to the plants. It's chemical makeup is .2% sulfur and .01% Pyrethrins. I will keep everyone updated on the situation.

Sulfur is typically used more as a fungicide, and can wash off the plant with waterings. It also tends to not last as long as some other products. Keep a close watch on your pests (which I am sure you would do anyway without me saying so), and be ready to get something more powerful, if needed. Good luck!

I am prepared and ill be looking over closely. I have read that some of these products may need a supplemental miticide. The whole thing of spraying something on my flytraps other than some distilled water still makes me sketch out. I'd thought I would mention I add some H202 (very diluted) to my spray bottle of distilled water to sterilize the flytraps and oxygenate the soil. I have experienced no problems with that combo so far, I am wondering though if it is helping the mites or if it is helping me get rid of them.

Just thought I would let everyone know that so far the spider mites seem to have receded. I am doubtful that they have been completely eliminated, but their numbers have definitely been wiped out. I have applied Bayer insecticide to all plants in the green pot and media. I let the pesticide dry for about half a day, then spray misted the living hell out of the plants. I have also put a humidifier next to the set up. After researching spider mites I figured out they actually thrive in dry, stagnant air conditions. So I pretty much made the opposite setting surrounding the pots. Humidity from spray misting and the humidifier along with the humidifier increasing air movement seemed to do the trick. I will keep everyone updated with the situation in the next couple of days. Also, no mold has arisen because of the humidity and the dew droplets are now huge on my sundews haha

great news! keep us posted.

If spider mites thrive in stagnant air conditions does that mean I need a fan or something? The moss already on its own make it humid, so by adding wind will this keep them away?

Why do you keep necro posting?