Rubbing Alcohol and insect infestations...

Jeff Gold (jeffgold@musictown.com)
Thu, 04 Apr 1996 00:34:49 +0000

Hello,

When I have had problems with Mealybugs or Aphids attacking Sarracenia
or Drosera I would do the following:

1) Quickly pray the entire plant with rubbing alcohol.

2) Wait about five seconds.

3) Wash down the entire plant with a steady stream of water for about a
minute.

With this method I found there to be no long-lasting pesticide toxins,
the insects were killed immediately, and the side-effects were
short-lived on the plant. The side effects that I noticed were that the
next one or two sets of new leaves would often be deformed, but then
things would continue or revert back to normal growth.

I have had much more success with this method than other pesticide
oriented means of attack.

Has anyone else tried this? Are there perhaps further complications to
this that I might not be aware of? Perhaps some species could be
severely damaged by this method? I'm not sure...

Just thought I'd mention this after seeing the recent postings regarding
aphids and mealybugs.

regards,

jeff