Here we will outline the more frequent issues and most common treatments to methods I have used in the past to a greater or lesser extent, some things we will hardly touch upon for easier to deal with problems but some subjects in particular Pythium and two spot spider mites we will dive deep into as mite can be very common in Dionaea collections without the grower even being aware of what the signs are and Pythium, although uncommon it is wise to have prior knowledge in case it ever pops up as it can become a serious problem if left unchecked without quarantining effected plants or obtaining very specific treatments.

Please note.

When using soaps, oils and chemicals never treat plants in daylight hours particularly under glass unless there is no possibility of sunlight, just after sunset is the safest time to spray or treat plants. some considerations should also be taken as residue, particularly oils, soaps and chemicals can still remain on the plant until the next day where sunlight can still interact and cause reactions and burns to treated plants, also some treatments I’ve observed can have an adverse effect on plant tissue already damaged by insects.

Never mix treatments stronger than the maximum dose recommended by the manufacturer when using dilutable concentrates, if in doubt test your desired treatment on your least favorite plant first and observe for a few days.

Disclaimer, the following should be taken as guidance only and success will be varied, plants can respond badly even if only for the short term and results can not be guaranteed. Do research.

Good Practice.

Keeping pots apart and away from tray edges will help prevent access and migration of crawling insects, also flopping pitchers and traps create a walkway from one plant to the other, these methods can prevent things like mite spreading through groups and vine weevil getting to plants in the first place and limiting an infestation, recognising symptoms early and isolating plants is also helpful. Often it is worth treating the area around affected plants too. NEVER use uncleaned pots from plants that have recently been out in the garden and whilst there are pests or diseases active do not reuse media or uncleaned pots and regularly keep dead plant material trimmed.

Aphids (greenfly) - Often people see the damage before they see the cause (or get advised on the cause) unless there is a heavy infestation, early on you will be able to see little white castings where they grow and shed off their outer layer, plants, particularly Sarracenia will have very distorted and curled, twisted often underdeveloped pitchers, can be confused with thrips damage, Drosera will become a bit twisted with leaves underdeveloped, along with Dionaea where traps will be deformed.

Treatment - Good quality insecticidal soaps and high quality neem oil can be effective but take recommendations from those experienced far more than me with these methods, off the shelf insecticides are generally pretty good in getting the job done but observing a repeat treatment over several weeks will be required in all cases as some can get missed and one needs to catch all stages of the target pest, recommended schedules can be either found via the manufacturers advice or the CP community on socials. One useful potential treatment for smaller plants is the submersion method where the entire plant is submerged for 24 to 48 hrs, probably helps with a surfectant like a drop or two detergent. Some have had good results but others have not found this entirely successful but this is a worthwhile target for research none the less.

Thrips - It is the barely visible larvae that do the damage, often seen as distortion similar to aphid damage but with a more detectable series of often brown tracklines on pitchers, I’ve only ever seen the noticable effects on Sarracenia but not sure if they could still populate other carnivorous plants undetected, if you are observant you can sometimes spot the tiny adult thrips flying around when disturbed.

Treatment - Fairly easy to deal with using good quality insecticides particularly those products listing thrip as a target insect, I believe soaps and oils can be used but not entirely certain of their successfulness, similar advice as for aphids above when it comes to repeat treatments. Treat the area around effected plants.

Root mealybug - The only type I have dealt with here, these live in the soil feeding on mostly Sarracenia roots and leave a telltale mold like white secretion, this is an excess of their protective wax coating, they can weaken a plant but may not be detectable until re-potting time and can migrate to neighbouring plants.

Treatment - There are systemic and soil drench treatments but I prefer to treat plants away from any other plants, un-potting and hosing off all of the growing media, dividing up a plant will make it easier to properly clean off everything, I spray down any plants with a fairly strong suitable insecticide and let them sit for a while before a second thorough rinse off, (I have used bleach in a spray bottle before with no harm to plants but I still can’t recommend this naturally) re-pot in fresh media, reoccurance can happen and be seen on the next re-potting if not done maticulously but mostly successful and instant, I suppose it would be good practice to follow up with a systemic treatment or soil drench. Check nearby plants for evidence of root mealy.

Catarpillars - Moths and butterflies will lay eggs mostly on Sarracenia , easy to spot as parts of the plant will be missing chunks, there may be webbing where some cocoon themselves for protection and dropping can be seen around the area.

Treatment - Find the catarpillar/s and discard at a safe distance or dispach them.

Scale insect - These don’t tend to get bad enough to cause any apparent obvious problems, they tend to be found on older Sarracenia leaves (poor oldSarracenia again) and quite visible once you notice them, they look like little limpets as they have a protective shell that hugs the plant surface they are feeding on.

Treatment - Personally I just squash them where they sit, it is said you can use isopropol alcohol on a cotten bud to wipe them off but I always tend to have my fingers conveniently on me at all times and find them handy tools.

Slugs - These can be a problem for any plant but mostly again Sarracenia, sometimes Dionaea and Pinguicula depending on the location.

Treatment - Prevention is better than a cure, going out late in the evening with a torch and collecting them for disposal can keep the numbers down in grow houses, another method I pioneered is to save milk carton lids and put slug pellets in each one laid on the soil surface as this prevents them going moldy on the moist soil, be aware though that rodents may access these and feed on them, predators can then devour these toxified rodents so make sure only slugs can access them, nematode treatments can be used too.

Fungus Gnat - The adults can be seen flying around the soil surface and the larvae live in the soil, I personally find these more of an annoyance than a problem and placing a Pinguicula plant near by will give the butterworts a really good feed.

Treatment - General insecticides seem to work soaking the soil surface, repeated treatments may be needed.

Vine weevil - These can be devastating to plants, again mostly Sarracenia when it comes to carnivores but being tall most of these are grown on low level trays so often easy access, the first thing you will realise is the plant doing badly, pulling up on the plant can tell you quickly if you have a bad case as there will be no roots holding the plant down, the adult weevil can walk up on pots where accessable from the plants contact with tray edges or weeds such as ferns, I learned this the hard way. Once vine weevil are at the soil surface they will lay eggs where they think it is suitable then follows the development of the larvae or grubs that will devour all roots they can later becoming adults themselves.

Treatment - Soil drenches are very effective with target specific vine weavil treatments or you can un-pot, dispatch any grubs and discard the soil finishing by hosing off the plant thoroughly, wash pots thoroughly too. It is important to note even with no roots a plant can re-establish a new root system in time but keep the plant/s in a more shaded cooler aspect until a new roots can better support the plants, don’t be afraid to bury the crown into the soil for a season, I do this all to time for rootless divisions, maybe trim excess leaves too to put less demand on any roots remaining or new roots while they are establishing.

Botrytis - A grey fluffy mold that proliferates on damaged plant tissue and further damaging healthy tissue in the process and can destroy a plant if left unchecked, overly wet, warm humid conditions it thrives on, good ventilation and good plant management is usually sufficient at avoiding it.

Treatment - I never did find any quick cure fungicide so management would best involve un-potting the effected plant and cutting away any and all dead plant tissue back to clean healthy vegetation, dusting cut parts with sulfur powder will surely help.

Pythium - This is a soil borne pathogen that thrives in wet soils and water, dripping water can splash the pathogen onto lower parts of Sarracenia leaves creating a bleached wilted area and pitcher collapse, easily spreads to neighbouring plants.

Treatments - From what I’ve seen these are available but not sure of the effectiveness or suitability for canrivorous plants, the first thing to do is isolate the effected and surrounding plants that are likely to be infected, plants with an obvious issue can be un-potted, hosed off and can be sprayed with a reasonably strong bleach (Use at your own risk) and later washed off before re-potting in fresh clean media and clean pots, sterilise old pots, This is though not the most effective method, back when I did have to deal with it many years ago I recall there did not seem to be easily obtainable treatments but there does seem to be a lot more available now, again I can’t attest to the effectiveness as I have never bought any. I will likely revisit this subject soon and make revisions.

Two spotted spider mite - The most common pest on Dionaea and very hard to see with the naked eye , symptoms are brown streaks or patches mainly on the outside of traps and less prevalent on leaves that can often confused with naturally aging leaves or heat stress, in their peak of the season in the warmest weather there can be a population boom where reproduction is at its highest, eggs can be laid on any part of the plant but a favourite spot is right in the joint between the leaf and trap where the often bright red eggs can be visible to the naked eye.

Treatment - Many years ago I realised my entire collection of flytraps had mite, I experimented with all sorts back then and the correct miticide was limited and very expensive for 2 - 3000 plants so I un-potted every plant in sections, removed any leaves that showed symptoms and manually massaged all leaf surfaces in slightly soapy water to detach any adults or eggs and left plants for hours or overnight in water with a few drops of detergent before repotting in new media after sterilising pots, this was very successful but was a major task. Now Killermite is readily available at a much more affordable price and works well, general insecticides do not generally work and many experimental products I tried here did nothing, they really are resistant to a lot. these days I just keep Killermite on hand in case of new introductions.

Rats and mice - If a rat or mice get into or trapped in a grow house they can cause some major damage in just hours mainly attacking Sarracenia leaves looking to get to the contents of the pitchers by chewing through the pitcher wall and in doing so clamber all over plants bending and breaking pitchers.

Treatment - Take measures to secure and block up any holes that can give access to rodents, close doors and manually operated windows that might allow access before dusk as rodents are mostly nocturnal.