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Carnivorous Plants/little bugs crawling around on my nepenthes soil
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Question
hi, i was flushing the roots of my nepenthes red dragon when
i noticed these tons of little bugs all over the water i
poured in. I was wondering if these would bring any harm to
my plant and if so how do i get rid of them without harming
the plant. it also appeared that the soil was not draining
like it usually would. I have the plant growing with some
other nepenthes and drosera in my west facing window where
they get about 6-10 hours of sun depending on clouds. i
water with distilled water from the store. The soil is the
Sarracenia Northwest Nepenthes soil mix. I live in
Pennsylvania Zone 6. Please help Thanks
Hi Chris,
These little bugs are most likely fungus gnats and gnat larvae in the soil. Since your soil isn't draining as well as it used to, and you've got bugs, time to change the soil. You'll tackle both problems at once that way.
If the gnats come back, or you have them on other plants, you can spray with an insecticide. They are fairly easy to eradicate. A systemic such as imidacloprid works well along with Neem and Pyrethrins. Just avoid insecticidal soaps.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
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Answers by Expert:
Sarracenia Northwest
Expertise
If your plant is showing poor growth, discoloration, abnormal leaves or possible infestation, the growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin will help you diagnose the problem and get your plants on the right track. Their no nonsense approach has helped thousands of growers all over the world. They can help you too!
Experience
With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. They have encountered many types of diseases, abnormal growth and infestations related to carnivorous plants, and they know what it takes to get plants looking beautiful and healthy again.
Education/Credentials
Authors of Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants for Your Home and Garden and producers of the Grow Carnivorous Plants! DVD Series. They also produce a monthly video podcast to illustrate how plants cycle through the seasons.
No terrariums. No myths. No nonsense.
Just the straight facts from guys who grow and propagate
thousands of carnivorous plants each year.
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