Expert: Christopher Littrell - 1/27/2009

Question
I have a problem with my venus fly traps, there in dormancy and are being devoured by aphids.  Most plants are about 3-5 years old and produce seeds in the summer.  What do I do to save them?

Denis

Answer
Hello Denis,

It sounds like you have your plants in relative warmth as aphids tend to hate cold weather. Aphids produce eggs in cold weather and die off..leaving the eggs to produce the next generation in spring. If the Venus Flytraps were in cold weather, there would be less likelihood of aphid attack. It sounds like you have them outside in a region with warm winters.

You can use pyrethrines to kill aphids. Neem oil extract is a natural way to kill them and keep them from chewing on your plants. Best bet is to use a product with both in it as a systematic pest control and use only as directed.

You can also submerge Venus Flytraps in water for 24 hours completely and the aphids will drown. Take the plants out for a day, then repeat for another 24 hours. Once the plants are out, let the soil dry back to a barely moist state. Since the plants are dormant now it would be best to use chemicals for now and wait until the plants are growing again before trying the submersion technique.

If you are patient you can use a cotton swab with sundew glue, honey, or syrup on it and just glue the little aphids to the cotton swab manually. Keep at until you catch as many as you see. That will at least decimate their numbers so they can't do as much damage to your plants.

Christopher