Indoor plants and gnats?

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Author Message   Sunnymomma3  My Favorite Photo Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 11:34 am EST :    I decided to get some green indoor plants for the winter - especially for the air recycling. Well, I bought them in shifts - the first couple purchases did wonderfully, but since I have all of them now, and it'sstarting to really chill outside, there are these small gnat / fruit fly looking things in my house Just a few, but they are ending up in rooms I don't even have plants in. They are annoying, and I'm a bit of a clean freak. What can I do to get rid of these bugs? Do I need to get rid of my plants? :( Sunnymomma3 - Utah, Zone "5"   Milin  Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 08:19 pm EST :    They appear among my plants as well, especially in spring. They love wet organic soils so I put a 1 cm sand layer to each pot - it limits their population. Some people hang sticky ribbons /with some glue/ to catch gnats. Milin - Pomorze, Zone "5a"   Kniphofia  My Favorite Photo My Garden Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 02:41 am EST :    Yes these can be a nuisance. I had a colleague at work who would spray my plants with Raid when I wasn't looking! I think putting a layer of gravel on the top of the soil would help, I think these fungus gnats feed on stuff in the potting compost. They were most interested in my amaryllis. Glue traps might also work as Milin suggests. I wouldn't get rid of your plants before you try these remedies. Good luck :) Kniphofia - Northumberland, Zone "?"   Jak3  My Weather Posted on Friday, October 12, 2007 - 07:16 am EST :    We have had a huge infestation of these for the last few weeks. So bad that guests had to put their coasters on top of their wine glasses instead of underneath!! I finally lost my patience, and this is what I did yesterday: Searched for the source; put my little covered kitchen compost pail outside; made certain that there was no fruit, veggies etc. left out - there was one tomato ripening on the window sill and it went into the fridge; poured boiling water followed by bleach down every drain in the house - two laundry tubs, 3 bathroom sinks, two kitchen sinks, three bathtub drains, and the concrete floor drain in the basement. Also put toilet cleaner in all three toilets and let it sit for 30 minutes; mixed up a Neem oil solution and watered every plant in the house with it, including all ten orchids and the three shelves of pots under the lights in the basement. Rinsed the orchids under lukewam water - leaves and all, to wash off any little bugs although I didn't see any; sprayed everybody else with the Neem oil; sprayed the garage and the storage room in the basement and the upstairs laundry room with an indoor flying insect killer. Sat down and had a glass of wine with the coaster underneath instead of on top. Looks a lot better today! Jak3 - Ontario, Zone "4/5"   Milin  Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 12:24 am EST :    Wow !!!!!! Milin - Pomorze, Zone "5a"   Tommyr  My Weather Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2007 - 08:39 am EST :    If possible keep the top of your soil dry and use those sticky traps. You're not alone! Tommyr - New York, Zone "6"   Redstar113  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 07:30 pm EST :    buy yellow sticky squares at home depot or lowes they are in packs of 3. put them were the bugs are and they will fly to it they like the bright yellow color! Redstar113 - new jersey, Zone "zone6"   Golden_ca  Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 09:43 pm EST :    How many plants do you have and are they large or small? I had a problem with gnats myself and what I did was I let all my large plants dry out plus I added sand on the top of them. My smaller plants - where I had the real problem was basically with my african violets that I was starting from leaves - those were in very small pots so what I did was - first I replanted them all in new soil because I think maybe the original soil I had purchased actually had the bugs in the soil. Anyways after I replanted the small plants I put them all in individual sandwich bags and watched them very closely and if I saw any in the bag I would squish them in the bag and after a while I did get rid of them. Good luck - they can be a pain thats for sure! Golden Golden_ca - British Columbia, Zone "8"   Notmartha  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - 05:32 am EST :    i bought some stuff from gardensalive that you put in the soil and it kills larva and eggs and everything to do with gnats good luck! Notmartha - mi, Zone "6a"   Lindaca  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - 08:10 am EST :    Notmartha, we need to check this product out. Do you remember the name of it? Linda Lindaca - California, Zone "CA Zone 9"   Tommyr  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - 10:14 am EST :    > > > > I use a product called Mosquito Dunks. They look like doughnuts. > > > Tommyr - New York, Zone "6"   Notmartha  My Favorite Photo My Weather My Garden Posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007 - 08:19 am EST :    its called "Knockout gnats" from gardensalive.com Notmartha - mi, Zone "6a"   Bulliedeux  My Garden Posted on Thursday, December 06, 2007 - 11:02 am EST :    So... everyone who tried something new should chime in with updates. :) They tagged along with some plants from the basement last year, to the office. Rather than spraying with neem oil, I read about mixing it with water and drenching the pots. Took 2 apps I think but it did knock them down. alas... a bunch of plants have migrated to the office again and some fungus gnats have returned so I need to nuke 'em with neem again. At least I'm not fighting aphids in the office this year. :) Bulliedeux - IL, Zone "5b"   Par3  My Weather Posted on Thursday, December 06, 2007 - 05:01 pm EST :    Place bay leaves on your potted plants. I also found that Bounce sheets prevents bugs in your indoor garden. I have a lots of plants in my basement on a ping pong table under warm and cold fluorescent bulbs and have used these methods successfully. Try it! I also have plants in my living space..... Par3 - New York, Zone "7"   Bulliedeux  My Garden Posted on Thursday, December 06, 2007 - 05:44 pm EST :    That sounds cool. Which one though? Bounce or Bay leaves? Maybe make a sachet with a bounce sheet folded and stapled around bay leaves. :) Whole leaves? Shredded? Does it matter? How many leaves per pot? Bulliedeux - IL, Zone "5b"   Amlinkmarble  My Garden Posted on Thursday, December 06, 2007 - 11:40 pm EST :    Need a planter, fountain, gazebo or bench? Visit: http://www.amlinkmarble.com/Garden.htm http://www.amlinkmarble.com/Fountain.htm http://www.amlinkmarble.com/Gazebo.htm http://www.amlinkmarble.com Amlinkmarble - Michigan, Zone "?"   Par3  My Weather Posted on Friday, December 07, 2007 - 08:18 am EST :    I use both.... doesn't hurt your plants -- also, I use Whole bay leaves.... Another tip.... I cut the bounce and place it on the bottom of the pot to retain the soil in the pot....does two jobs at once... Par3 - New York, Zone "7"   Jak3  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, April 01, 2008 - 09:18 am EST :    Bringing this to the top for Tanya. Jak3 - Ontario, Zone "4/5"

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