if you say that the small dots are white, then they might be mealy bugs. i never had these before in my plants. aphids are usually tiny green little bugs and their legs are quite visible, they come in clusters of 10s sometimes. (i hate those things) do you see any leaves bitten off? or are they just the base leaves? are the leaves with the dew infested as well? sundews hardly ever face bug problems since they can fight back by sticking the bugs on their dewy leaves. i wouldn't summerge the pot. it would be a bit trickier than any other cp. like you said, you may isolate the plant away from your other plants. If i had a sundew facing bug problems(which inever had) i would just move its growing location. maybe trimming some of the old base/bottom dead leaves as well. usually when i see aphids(not often) on my plants, i get the bugs with a small stick and feed the bastards to my sundews haha~ if i were you, the only insecticide is the dews on the plant. gather the bugs with some type of stick or whatever.. then place the bugs on the dewy leaves, it can be fun since they destroy mother nature. whatever you do, be careful

I got some coffee grounds from Starbucks to kill the ants and put it all around my garden, on the mounds, and even dusted the leaves of the aphid-infested cucumber/cantaloupe. When I went out this evening to spray the aphids off with water (as I do every 2 or 3 days), I didn't see any black aphids. There was only the yellow stuff they leave -- is it honeydew or eggs? (They aren't spider mites are they?) So I sprayed that off, and there wasn't even that much of that either. I can't tell if the coffee grounds kills the ants because I saw them marching across a large mass of it on another end of the garden. So I wonder if the coffee grounds repel aphids?! (I'd never heard of that, have you?)So tomorrow I will go buy ladybugs. Unless you tell me that what I'm seeing is something else.... Have you seen any results from your seaweed spray?

A strong blast of water should dislodge and disrupt them. It will require you doing it every day or so for awhile, but eventually you will be rid of them, it just depends on the amount of aphids you have. Other non chemical methods usually recommended are the release of Lady Bugs (sold at many nurseries) That usually sounds better then it works out however. It's not like they are on a leash tethered to where you released them, besides their younguns' do a better job of eating aphids (they look like little allegators) then the adults. Still, if the adults do stay around they will help with the problem. ..... If there aren't many aphids you can do what I do - ignore them and let nature take its course. If there are huge numbers, then I get a small commercial bottle of pre-mixed insecticide (Ortho, Bayer etc) and spritz the leaves only. I don't load up my big sprayer and pump it into the atmosphere, and only spot hit the leaves affected. These insecticides have a residual effect of about 7 days, and usually one or two spritzs a spring takes care of the problem. Bugs that don't chew the leaves (ie: the bad bugs chew) are not bothered by the dried insecticide residue. In my area at least, the aphids come out earlier then any of the beneficials (ladybugs etc.), so it's pretty safe using insecticides then. This is in MY garden, which I have been observing for years. Each gardener must judge for themselves about their insect populations......There are also products such as Safer soaks that are not considered insecticides per se. I've used them, but have had leaf damage before, so I would use them with caution...I hope this gives you a few alternatives to select from.....Maryl

I understand your concern. That's my favorite birch and the aphid problem is why I don't grow them. Sooty mildew is gross and it sticks to everything! If the aphids become a problem I see no reason why you couldn't use a systemic insecticide like they use on roses. Mike