Question
Hello iv got an infestation that i dont know what it is. Their insects that dont seem to be hurting the plants their realy tiny almost aphid like but with longer bodies kind of greyish in colour and seem to only be on the soil serface and not on the plants themselfs also they congregate on the sides of the pots just above the water line and thats where it seems they raise the young because they gather in big groups there and i witnesed several adults tending to the groups of youngens. Your probly asking "well if the plants arnt being harmed why try to rid them and posebly harm the plants? Well i just hate the sight of anything crawling in my pots and dont want the criters to keep spreading. Sofar most if not all my outdoor plants hav been efected 16 pots of vft's, about 5or so pots of sundews(belezaina nightmare,capensis,alicia,binata small red,burmannii and madagascariensis) and several pots of sarracenia all affected. The pest mite be springtails maby but i dnt know what springtails looklike but the descriptions iv read kinda sound like thats what they mite be. So finaly my question is what would be the safest pesticide and how should i apply it to thes plants? Ialso hav a nep. Alba and a ping. Moranensis that dnt seem to be afected yet but incase they do is there an insecticide that would be safe to use on all cp's? I heard neem oil works but i wanted to get the facts from the pros.  Ilive in morro bay on the central coast of cali zone 16 im prety sure and all my plants are grown outside year round exept for my nepenthes,pings and a ceph i orders from you guys that i plan on reiciving tomaro(11/15/12) hopfully wich im trying out indoors in a terarium(i kno you guys arnt about the terariums but im jus expierementing and trying to get good at growing cp's in general and trying to get beter at every techneke(sp sorry) there is. So is there one pesticide or way of eradication thats safe to use for all? And what doses should i use and is there any special way i should apply it? Is the application of a pesticide on a pingicula different than a Nepenthes or a sundew? Thanks again for your time and anyhelp provided and sorry for typing so much and asking amilloin questions in this one paragraph and also im sorry for my horible spelling. Thanks again and much love frim cen cal!

Answer
Hi Norman,

What you're describing does sound very much like Springtails, but they could also be Fungus gnats.  Here's the place to start.  Go to this link and watch our podcast on insecticides:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbRCdJ8ZNF0  This will give you information on safe insecticides we've used, and information on application. After that, feel free to come back here to Allexperts if you have additional questions.  Try to narrow your questions down if possible.

Also, consider taking a look at our DVD series.  These are money well spent that can help you avoid the pitfalls so common to new growers.  Here's the link to those:  http://www.cobraplant.com/dvd

Good Growing!

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