What's eating my drosera tokaiensis?

Drosera tokaiensis is a compact Japanese sundew commonly kept as a houseplant in terrarium or bog-pot conditions. Fungus gnats are the most common problem, thriving in its permanently wet sphagnum medium. Mealybugs can colonise the base of the rosette. The plant's sticky leaves trap small prey but cannot defend roots or the base of the crown.

Larvae damage fine surface roots in the wet medium; adults are visible flying around the plant; repeated infestations cause the rosette to stall. Allow no stagnant water in the tray to go unchanged for extended periods. Use yellow sticky traps to catch adults. Drench the medium with Bti solution.

White cottony clusters at the base of the rosette between leaf petioles; honeydew and sooty mould; plant growth weakens. Isolate the plant. Apply isopropyl alcohol with a fine-tipped cotton swab directly to colonies. Follow with dilute insecticidal soap spray; repeat weekly.

Tiny yellow or white speckling on leaf surfaces; webbing across the rosette; tentacles may lose stickiness in heavy infestations. Raise humidity. Rinse with distilled water. Apply dilute neem oil carefully, avoiding contact with sticky tentacles where possible.