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Post by quatchi on Sept 29, 2011 14:55:20 GMT -5
Edit: sorry, but this should probably be in the Pests section. My bad
Hey guys,
I'm just having some small issues with aphids on my VFT's. Nothing major yet, but because everything is in one planter, I want to avoid them spreading to the rest of my VFT's. I've just been picking them off to this point and feeding them to my dews or killing them, but I'm getting tired of this.
So I'd like to get some input on how to get rid of them or kill them without pesticides. I've thought of using a crushed garlic and water mix, but this is just a thought, I don't know if it'll be effective. I'm also thinking about leaving them out until a decent frost kills all the aphids. Would this be effective in getting rid of them on my plants?
If you don't have any natural way of getting rid of them, as a last resort I'm open to pesticides.... but ya. Let me know what you think, but keep in mind it's not a huge problem at the moment.
Thanks!!
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Post by labine on Sept 29, 2011 15:44:51 GMT -5
I use distilled water and a couple drops of dish soap in a spray bottle. I do it a couple times to makes sure they are gone.
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Post by doublezero on Sept 29, 2011 16:43:45 GMT -5
This is what we use on water lilies and other pond plants. Works well.
Make a stock mixture of 1 TBS of dishwasing detergeant with 1 cup of cooking oil Then take 2 teaspoons of the stock mixture and mix with 1 cup of water Spray plants in the OR with heavy infestation, take plants out and spary under pads as well
Spray every 10 days until aphids are gone
Hope this helps
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Post by lloyd on Sept 29, 2011 17:22:35 GMT -5
If the VFT's are outside I would leave the aphids alone unless they look awful (the plants, not the aphids) in which case I would just spray the bugs off. If they are inside, isolate them (aphids love pings, I've found) and use Al Bickell's standard strength Neem recipe. Careful though, VFT's are sensitive even to oils and soaps.
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Post by quatchi on Sept 30, 2011 0:29:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips guys Lloyd, if I leave them outside until a light frost hits, would this be enough to kill off the aphids and their eggs (if they've laid any)?
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Post by lloyd on Sept 30, 2011 15:06:24 GMT -5
If the plants look good, ignore the aphids. Outside plants usually look after themselves. I would put them in their winter place when the nightly lows are 3C or less for 3 or more days in a row.
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jimscott
Seedling
Je n'aime pas 'CITES'!
Posts: 88
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Post by jimscott on Oct 26, 2011 11:10:38 GMT -5
I've tried a variety of approaches. If you have one small plant you could kill them by immersing the pot in purified water and drown them. If you have a bigger problem, you can purchase Neem Oil and make up a batch to put into a spray bottle. Spray the leaves and soil every couple few days. The effects aren't immediate but after a few weeks or so the aphids and their young will disappear. Neem Oil is not a pesticide but a naturally occurring oil that causes the aphids to stop feeding and reproducing.
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Jun
Seed
Posts: 11
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Post by Jun on Oct 27, 2011 7:43:19 GMT -5
My single D. filliformis FR died from aphids when it was emerging from dormancy. The aphids then moved to my D. prolifera, so I used a Neem oil solution and it works. Just need to do a repeat spray until there are no more signs of aphids. I've also tried the drowning method, but in my case I used my aquarium since I have this small voracious fish that likes to scavenge on any kind of food. Within a day all the aphids are gone and my plant was safe. Hope your plants do well.
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Post by dvg on Nov 3, 2011 19:25:44 GMT -5
I've used the immersion method before with success as well.
My vft's were completely immersed into distilled or RO water for 3 days and at the end of that time were removed and i didn't see any more aphids on them after that.
dvg
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Post by quatchi on Nov 8, 2011 15:58:39 GMT -5
Thanks for the help guys. I thought I had the aphids under control, and then I noticed they kind of came back. I'm going to get some neem oil and then get rid of them. They're in a planter, so I don't have the space to submerge them. Also, what are your thoughts on acephate as an insecticide? I also have a problem with spider mites. Does anyone have a suggestion for a miticide? I've heard of either cinnamon or cayenne pepper working, I can't remember which, to get rid of mites. I don't know whats available, or how best to use it for CP's, so I'd like your input if you don't mind . I'll also browse some of the old threads to see what people have done. Thanks for the help! Mauro
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Post by dvg on Nov 8, 2011 19:25:46 GMT -5
Hi Mauro, Neem oil also works for spider mites, but you might have to spray 2 or 3 applications to keep them in check. I've had success with using a Superhot pepper powder mixed with water and sprayed onto my Darlingtonia earlier this year...capsaicin is a natural miticide and worked well after just two or three applications. You could also soak some tobacco in water and use that as a spray...the nicotine in the tobacco is poisonous to the mites. Maybe google some of these ideas to find the optimal mixture strengths. dvg
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Post by lloyd on Nov 8, 2011 22:40:44 GMT -5
Al Bickell swears by Eucalyptus oil for spider mites. The concentration is in his Neem recipe (on the forum somewhere-if you can't find it, I'll look it up for you). I wouldn't use any insecticide in the house but outside is Ok although I hate them, they are toxic and yucky.
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Post by quatchi on Nov 9, 2011 0:58:21 GMT -5
Neem is safe, you can eat it, if you don't mind garlic-peanut breath. I've kept my neem (pure oil, like margerine in the fridge) for years and it still seems to be fine. Also the smell, to me, is fairly minor and "weird-foody" rather than nauseating chemical. The bottle doesn't smell in the fridge. I keep the recipe in a spray bottle in a zip-lock in the fridge and it doesn't smell at all. Here's Al Bickell's recipe: 1 litre water 2-3 cc Neem oil few drops of Eucalyptus oil (for red-spider mite) 1 tbsp light mineral oil 5-6 drops dishwater detergent Shake vigorously to suspend oils. Keep in fridge to keep fresh. Must be room temperature to keep Neem oil liquid. For scale use double the Neem concentration. In my experience the normal strength is fine on Mexican pings and larger Sarracenia. The higher strength is toxic to VFT's and small Sarracenia but they do bounce back. I have never tried it on utrics. Sundews do not like it and I would be careful trying it on them. Rob, you could try Al Bickell recipe for your Neps. I've heard good things about but haven't actually tried it myself. It should work well on Neps, but as Lloyd noted above, be careful with getting overspray on some of the more sensitive CP species. dvg I found this on one of the old threads. All the problems I'm having right now are on my VFT's. I also noticed a some scale today... I really need to take some better care of them obviously. Lloyd, I noticed you mentioned that VFT's are sensitive to neem oil (especially at scale concentrations, like you said), so what would you recommend? Are the mineral oil and soap necessary in this mixture? What would they do to a VFT? DVG I'm definitely going to use some capsaicin to get rid of the mites, but how sensitive would VFT's be, and in what concentration should I add them to water, especially if I'm going to use it in Al Bickell's mix? Anyways, sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to find a good way to keep everything in check. And btw, these are all outdoor plants, but would all the pests (spider mites, aphids, scale) be kept in check by cold weather? Once again, thanks for all your help and input!! Mauro
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Post by dvg on Nov 9, 2011 13:55:41 GMT -5
Mauro, cold weather will slow those pests down, once their oil gets a little thick, and even if it doesn't completely kill them they will be substanially slowed down, depending upon how cold it is where you're at there in BC. If you're planning on adding hot pepper powder to your sprayer, i'd use at least enough hot pepper powder to see good amounts of red speckling on the plant you're spraying. When i sprayed my Darlingtonia, i was using a powder derived from Superhot peppers, so it was probably the strongest test for Capsaicin on a plant and it didn't appear to harm or mark the Darlingtonia in any way, so it's probably safe to use on the vfts. I did rinse off the hot pepper powder off of the plant within a day or two, though. dvg
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Post by quatchi on Nov 9, 2011 14:46:34 GMT -5
sounds good DVG! Thanks!
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