A post-aphid update

Back about 6 or 7 weeks ago I sprayed my collection with Bayer 3-in-1, a systemic pesticide that I heard was pretty gentle on sundews. It killed off all the aphids I could see, and they didn't come back for a while. Then a couple weeks ago a clutch of eggs must have hatched, because my Drosera aliciae had a swarm of them up the flower stalk. Here's that flower stalk now.

It's a graveyard on there.

It looks bad, but actually I'm super stoked. I didn't reapply any pesticide, but the stalk is covered with aphid skeletons, and very few living aphids. It seems that the systemic application has persisted long enough to take care of a new generation. I think I'll respray today though, just to make sure we don't see another spike once this round eventually wears out.

As I said, my plants didn't seem to mind the spraying. The only possible exception was this Drosera schizandra, but it's definitely doing better now.

I love sticky spinach.

That leaf at 5 o'clock there got burned on the tip around the time I sprayed. Can't say if that was due to the spray though, cause the nearby Utricularia praelonga had a pretty bad case of aphids, which may have also afflicted the D. schizandra. The new growth looks promising though.

I have another D. schizandra in with my Drosera 'Marston Dragon'. It's a bit hard to see beneath all the foliage, but it's doing pretty well down there.

This one seems to be doing well. I can barely see it though.

I really need to figure out what I'm doing with that dragon.

One of the plants that has been looking best lately, and that didn't mind the spraying even a little bit, is Byblis liniflora.

Love the shape of the flower stalk.

I'm really glad I started growing this plant. It's got an ethereal quality all its own, and it's been really popular with visitors to my collection. Plus the flowers are really cute.

The flowers persist for a couple days, it's cool.

I haven't yet gotten any seed from it though. This is supposed to be a super self-fertile species. Maybe I should try helping the pollination along. I definitely need to get some seed from it, cause I don't think it lives too long. Annuals are weird.