Re: Rubbing Alcohol and insect infestations...

Oliver T Massey CFS (massey@hal.fmhi.usf.edu)
Thu, 4 Apr 1996 11:23:02 -0500 (EST)

> 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.

> 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...
> jeff

FWIW department:
My concern with Sarrs. is that I hate to have any deformed trap growth. As I
use live sphagnum I also don't want anything that will kill the growth medium.
Some things I have tried dessicate tender, newly emerged traps that have not
opened, but it would seem to me that if the next _successive_ traps are
damaged, you may be allowing the alcohol to be absorbed by the roots or you are
somehow hitting the growth crown and the new leaf buds. One thing I do with
spray insecticides -besides the obvious like keep them out of sunlight- is to
turn the pots on their sides so spray does not saturate the sphagnum. I know
this may allow the little #$@^%'s a chance to escape into the soil, but I
don't want any buildup of chemicals or derivitives around the roots of the
plants.

Tom in Fl