Carnivorous-Owen Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Hi, I have HUNDREDS of little white mites all over my Pitcher plant. They are on the outside of the plant, the soil, the pot, the water dish and basically everywhere! I have new pitchers growing and they are about to come out and are real green and they are just plastered into these tiny white mites. What is the best way to get rid of them? What is the best way to prevent them? What are they called? AND What do i do when the pitchers have gone brown (dying) and red at the top of them. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnepenthes Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 Do you grow your plants outside? Sarrecenia are very easy to grow in general, so you probably might want to move the plant inside, I'm sure your plant will not be affected. If it is a problem in your home, don't overwater your plant to wash them off. It could damage the sensitive pitcher.Try Diazinon. It is reported to be very effective and safe for Sarracenia. Also Isopropyl alcohol is very effective, use it by putting it in cotton swabs and dabbing the feasting target. As for prevention, you probably need an exterminator if the problem is in your house, but if it is outside, you can only perform this maintenenece to control the problem, but until the weather changes and makes it inadequate for mites feasting, I'm afraid there is no sure fire way of prevention. I am not sure what mite you are describing because spider mites are the only known mites to attack carnivorous plants, and they are red. You may simply remove any browing pitchers. Once most of my collection got infested by fungus gnat larvae and when the infestation receded, I removed all the brown matter, there were tiny green leaves that soon rejuvinated the plant. If half a leaf is brown and half green, just cut off the brown part and leave the green part to photosynthesize. Best of Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31drew31 Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 (edited) Are you sure these are mites? Are your plants suffering? They sound a little like springtails. Do they jump when you blow on them? Photos would help greatly. Edited December 15, 2011 by 31drew31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted December 15, 2011 Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 (edited) If the mites are crawling all over the soil and the plants, they are most likely harmless soil dwelling mites which as part of their life cycle disperse using flies as vectors, and crawl up to the highest part of plants in order to hitch a ride. You most often see them in late summer. Completely harmless, and very interesting. Sarracenia mites ID by gardenofeden67, on Flickr As suggested already, if they are just in the soil then they could be springtails, again completely harmless to anything apart from the youngest seedlings and impossible to get rid of anyway. don't bother trying to poison them as most insecticides will not work on mites and you are just wasting time and money. when pichers die back you can progressively cut off the dead bits to prevent disease. Edited December 15, 2011 by gardenofeden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Anderson Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 i would agree with everyone, it does sound like springtails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wouter Noordeloos Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Do springtails do harm any CP's? As far as I know not. Take care, Wouter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee5836 Posted February 12, 2016 Report Share Posted February 12, 2016 I think my newly emerging pitchers are suffering from these little mites too. Too early to say if they are causing any damage but not sure what I can do but hope for the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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