Aphids in my terrarium.... any solutions please?

[ewjlamb]

Hi,

I'm looking for any clues how to curtail the aphid population explosion in the following situation please...

I have been cultivating, for the best part of a year now, a "Sundew biome" i.e. a landscaped terrarium with various seedlings of temperate and tropical Droseras (plus a few utrics). Inner tray is demountable.

Unfortunately this is being ravaged by aphids, and following a trial spray of dilute fairy liquid which seems to have done more harm to the plants than good, I'm unsure how best to deal with the pests.

All suggestions - from chemical solutions to paintbrush/mucilage 'jobs' gratefully received,

[droseraman]

wow, i would love to see a picture of this "biome" :)

I normally use Neem oil and it has never affected the growth of my sundews at all. The only thing it does effect is the sphagnum if you let it sit without top-watering for a while. I think the oil rises up to the tip of the sphagnum and out-competes the water, so it kind of dries out unless you top-water it a few times a week or 2 later

Here's a little blurb about it if you're interested http://www.growsundews.com/neem_oil.html

I've also read about people killing off insects with CO2 by purchasing dry ice and gassing the tank with it several times, but I've never tried this.

[Larsb]

It is slightly depressing to see insects sucking the juices out of insect-eating plants. How can aphids avoid getting caught by Droseras? Anyway, if you can't kill them in a enviromentally friendly way like the neem oil, you can use Provado spray. It wil kill the aphids and if you keep the reconended distance of 30-40 cm to the plants when you spray, the plants will survive.

I'll certainly like to see pictures as well.

Kind regards

Lars

[ewjlamb]

wow, i would love to see a picture of this "biome" :)

I normally use Neem oil and it has never affected the growth of my sundews at all. The only thing it does effect is the sphagnum if you let it sit without top-watering for a while. I think the oil rises up to the tip of the sphagnum and out-competes the water, so it kind of dries out unless you top-water it a few times a week or 2 later

Here's a little blurb about it if you're interested http://www.growsundews.com/neem_oil.html

I've also read about people killing off insects with CO2 by purchasing dry ice and gassing the tank with it several times, but I've never tried this.

This Neem Oil is likely worth a trial, thanks for passing that suggestion my way, Droseraman. Regards photos, well, I'll try to post in the next couple of weeks - hopefully after treatment and recovery cycle. There's a D. X Obovata just coming out of dormancy now, growing alongside D. burmannii and others etc.

I found that growing enough sundews together kinda traps and stabilises the springtail population...

[ewjlamb]

It is slightly depressing to see insects sucking the juices out of insect-eating plants. How can aphids avoid getting caught by Droseras? Anyway, if you can't kill them in a enviromentally friendly way like the neem oil, you can use Provado spray. It wil kill the aphids and if you keep the reconended distance of 30-40 cm to the plants when you spray, the plants will survive.

I'll certainly like to see pictures as well.

Kind regards

Lars

Ok so that's the heavy artillery then...

[RL7836]

I've also read about people killing off insects with CO2 by purchasing dry ice and gassing the tank with it several times, but I've never tried this.

I have & can vouch for effectiveness on aphids. Here's a thread where I shared my experience & the original process from the dart frog folks...

[jimscott]

I just went to Dick's Sporting Goods, but they did not have what I was looking for. Spying a place called Bert's, along the way I went to them and they did have a CO2 kit.

Edited March 1, 2010 by jimscott