bugs in my houseplants

[Tokapelli]

Not sure if this is the best place for this thread or not, apologies if its better suited for another area of the forum (maybe a mod could move it for me if this is the case?)

I have lots of little bugs in my plants at home, any advice on getting rid of them without checmicals? They are tiny little guys that fly, almost like a fruitfly but smaller. They are in all of my plants. My plants seem to be putting up with it but im sure they would be much healthier and happier if they were left alone. I was thinking about a praying mantis but my cat would go nuts and probably kill all my plants trying to catch em. any tips would be greatly appreciated

 

[SnozzleBerry]

Depends...do you know what kind of bugs they are? Also, are you opposed to things like Safer soap?

 

[Lago Chiller]

Sounds like the same problem I have, fungus gnats.
No organic spray I have tried has worked. I am about to go chemical on them unless someone has a foolproof organic treatment they can share.:thumb_up:

 

[Mister_Niles]

Maybe the plants are being helped by the bugs. If you think not, how trying about a lady bug? They eat other bugs right? Never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[Vodsel]

Ladybugs work great in the case of aphids. What you describe sounds more like fungus gnats. I had the problem once with a little indoor greenhouse, and I kept the problem under control (not completely eradicating it, but it did the trick) by combining a fly trap with some soil treatment, after doing some google work.

If the gnats are breeding in the top soil layer, that's where the eggs are laid and where the gnat babies come from. It's true that they need humid soil, but decreasing watering might not be a good option for the plants, particularly in summer... and replacing the soil seems too much hassle and stress for both plants and gardener, so I went with the option of adding a little layer of sand on top, about half an inch. That makes very difficult for the larvae to come out.

At the same time, a homemade flytrap with sugary water can help to capture the adults. And I read that if you add a little bit of soap to the water, the surface tension of the liquid will decrease and they will supposedly drown in it. But I have not tried this pro-tip.

General info on fungus gnat treatment and prevention here.

 

[Tokapelli]

thanks for the tips, good link Vodsel. I wonder if where I would get some of those parasites or mites the link talks about as organic treatment, would I just be replacing one bug with the other? I spose that would be ok if the bug helps the plant and defends it.

 

[Hyperspace Fool]

Hmmm...

I've seen these fungus gnats a lot over the years, and while they don't seem to eat the plants or bother them overmuch, they are kind of annoying and make your houseplants seem kind of dirty. Not as bad as having a compost pile in your kitchen, but unsightly nonetheless.

I find that taking the plants outside for some sun and fresh air can do wonders, but you have to know what ur tender spoiled houseplants can take in the way of direct sun, strong breezes and the like. You don't want them dying on you.

The soap trick works if you can remember to do it, and get the mixture right. A lot of plants are not going to be happy if you over soap their soil. Another thing is to mix a bit of vinegar with some water and a few drops of a relevent essential oil (like teatree, eucalyptus, lemon, citronella etc.) and then spray it on the surface of the soil. Don't get too much of this stuff on your plants, but it can kill the fungus that feeds these bad boys and make the area unpalatable to them.

 

[Laban Shrewsbury III]

Fungus gnats thrive in damp, exposed soil, and it's not the gnats themselves that pose any threat to your flora, but rather their larvae, which gnaw at any and all soft, young growth. They'll damage roots, hollow out slow-germinating seeds and devour delicate seedlings entirely. And once a breeding population is established around your plants, your horticultural ambitions are in big trouble.

If you have an infestation, check all your plants: any with larval infestations in their roots will need to be taken outside and re-potted in sterilised compost (to do this, spread compost on a plate and microwave it for at least 10 minutes, or oven cook it for an hour). Immerse the plant for several hours in a bucket of clean rainwater to drown/wash off any grubs, check and double check the roots, then re-pot in the sterile compost. Do this far away from your existing plant area where the gnats are inhabiting, and keep the re-potted plants quarantined away from the infested ones until you've worked your way through your whole collection.

Once re-potted, keep the sterile soil covered with a layer of sand or diatomaceous earth. It's best to water from below from now on to preserve this dry top layer, or if you have to water from above, poke a temporary crater and pour slowly. If the gnats are particularly aggressive they can even burrow up through the drainage holes in the bottom of pots to lay their eggs; prevent this with micropore tape over the holes. If you want to introduce predatory nematodes, now is the time to do it.

Once you've eliminated the larvae population, and all available breeding environments, the swarm will begin to diminish. Fly paper and soap & vinegar traps will deal with bulk of them. Carnivorous plants are also handy allies, but require fairly humid conditions to survive (letting them dry out and go crispy will only attract worse pests than the gnats you're trying to kill).

FYI To re-establish a healthy microbiome in your sterilised pots, brew up and apply a 12-24hr compost tea.

 

[Ice House]

Diatomaceous Earth

Put a light coating of this on the top of your soil, :twisted: cut the little guys to ribbons, lol

or

put about a one inch layer of clean sand on top of your dirt and the little buggers wont be able to get through the sand to lay eggs and the larvae wont be able to get through the sand to become gnats, hence you disrupt the reproductive cycle.

I have used both of the above methods with great success.

The sand method makes watering more difficult....... but if you have a green thumb.....lol

humidity and wet soil is the problem.

The larvae feed on fungus in the soil, once the food source is gone they will feed on the tender root ends and your plants wont be able to feed.

Your plants will eventually present like thy have nutrient deficiencies, and they will be nute deficient because the damaged roots wont be able to uptake nutes.

next you'll have too many nutes because the plants are not able to feed.

fungal knats suck!

go get em!

IH

 

[Hyperspace Fool]

Thx Laban & Ice House...

Both of you gave some rather useful info. Nature is truly marvelous. I have some Diatomaceous Earth left over from some slug issues. heheeheh