Question
Help I have mealybugs on my  drosera muitfida !!!

Hi guys, long time shopper and pod cast watcher. (I even won a collection of Venus fly traps about 4years ago) But now I have a big problem. I companion plant my carnivorous plants with orchids and someone gave me an orchid that had mealybugs hiding on it somewhere. Now I have found them spreading to my drosera. I spray the orchids with a high stream of water at the sink to try to control them. Can I do that with my drosera? I use distilled water when I water my carnivorous plants, so I am afraid to use good old N.J. water to spray them down. I have also read that you can dab the mealybugs with alcohol. But I have not tried this on my orchids yet and really not sure about trying the alcohol on my carnivorous plants. Hoping you will be able to help me control the mealybugs before they get out of hand. Thanks and have a great day.

Answer
Hi Sally,

Mealy bugs are related to scale, and can be a difficult nut to crack.  First, make sure you are treating or removing your other plants so they will not re-infect your cp.

You'll want to do a transplant of your sundew since Mealy bugs will lay eggs in the soil.  You can remove the larger insects with the alcohol swabs, but this only gets the adult insects.  Like scale, they have a crawler stage that you don't see as readily, so, I recommend using a systemic insecticide.  One with imidacloprid, such as Bayer Rose and Flower is a good first one to try.  Spray the crown of the plant and the leaf petioles, but avoid the sticky portions of the leaves.  We demo this in our insecticide podcast:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbRCdJ8ZNF0  Contact insecticides are not very effective such as pyrethrins are not very effective against Mealy bug since they have that powdery coating that minimizes contact with their body.  Be sure to follow label directions, and let us know how it goes.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com