Question
Hi nice to meet you. i have problem on venus fly trap.(i'am growing my /venus fly trap outdoor.)It was very healthy and suddenly the new traps,old traps, and flower stalk is drying!!!SO i looked at my venus fly trap and saw SPIDER MITE!!!they are covering my venus fly trap and filled with them on my venus fly trap's crown.and i was trying to feed my venus fly trap and the trap door didn't close even do the fly was thouching the trigger hair more than 10 times.and there are maggot cheweing happily on my venus fly trap's leaves. they are like 100 of them in the soil and ate my 6 venus fly trap seedlings.what can i do?will my venus fly trap die if i spray insecticide at spider mites?do i have to spray on them or on the soil?:( :( :(

Answer
To kill spider mites (some of which are extremely and rapidly destructive to Venus Flytraps and other plants) and other chewing or sucking insects, I highly recommend the insecticide acephate (its generic name). Acephate is a systemic insecticide, which means that it is absorbed by the plant and makes the entire plant lethally poisonous to insects for weeks.

I use acephate at a rate of 1 to 2.5 teaspoons per gallon of water, as a fine-mist spray, and repeat the spray perhaps 2-3 times in one day, or 2-3 times with 1-3 days between sprays.

Although acephate is very potent and kills most insects, spider mites can sometimes be difficult to eradicate, so in addition to acephate, I recommend mixing a dedicated miticide with the acephate and water, and spraying every 4 days (to kill new mites emerging from eggs) for perhaps 4-6 individual sprays.

Best wishes--