Indoor Plants and Gnats! So Annoying...

How to Combat Those Little Flying Bugs - GNATS!

Although fungus gnats can be a problem with indoor plants at anytime of year, they can be a bigger problem during the warmer months as they are also outside in greater numbers and, no doubt, plotting an invasion of your home...  :)

Not a Fungus Gnat-Just One of My Plants

Here is a little information about fungus gnats:

• Fungus gnats are small flies, about 1/8" long, black or dark colored. Adult females may lay up to a few hundred eggs in a 7-10 day period. And they will lay them in the moist topsoil of your indoor plants, if they get a chance.
• Fungus gnat eggs hatch in about six days, producing small, white maggots.
• Larvae will grow to about 1/4" in two weeks and then form pupae.
• Then adults will emerge from plant media in a week or less. And the cycle begins again!

While adult fungus gnats do not damage your indoor plants, they can be very annoying. You may see numbers of them about your plants, if they are disturbed. They also seem to be attracted to lights, computer monitors, etc.

The larvae feed on organic material, including your houseplant's roots and can cause damage to your houseplant's health. This damage can allow disease to enter plant tissue.

Your plant may or may not show signs of decline. It is possible to have leaf loss, stunted growth and yellowing of foliage.

Properly watering your indoor potted plants (not keeping plant media constantly soggy) can help ease the problem to some extent. Using sub-irrigation containers for your plants is also a good way to keep these little pests from becoming a problem.

If you are having a problem with gnats in your indoor plants, one of the things you can do is remove the top inch or so of soil from your plants and replace with fresh, sterile soil. Gnats reproduce mainly in the topsoil of your plants so removing this and replacing with sterile potting soil should remove a large part of the problem.

It is best to use sterile soil for your indoor potted plants. Here are some ideas for sterilizing your own potting soil:

• Place slightly moist potting mix in an oven proof tray. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes in a 200 degree oven. Turn on the fan! Remove and allow to cool before using.
• During the hot summer months, you can sterilize using the energy from the sun. Dampen soil and place in black plastic pot. Cover any drainage holes with plastic first. Set in the sun and cover with a sheet of clear plastic.This will adequately heat the soil and it should be ready to use in about a week. Saves electricity too!

One other helpful, non-chemical way to fight fungus gnats that are already present is to use sticky trap cards. These attract the fungus gnats, they get stuck and can not get away. Basically just fly paper in card form. I use these in my interior landscape accounts by placing them just inside the grow pot, usually stuck to the side. This catches the fungus gnats and keeps them from bothering anyone and from reproducing.

Hope this helps you with any problem you may have with these little, flying creatures.

Come visit my website for more information on care for your indoor plants

Happy growing everyone!

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Get Rid of Those Plant Pests!

Mealy Bug Insects (Missouri Botanical Garden)

House Plant and Pesky Insects!

The very best way to be sure you don't have insect problems on your indoor plants is to check for bugs before you buy. Always try to buy your houseplants when they have just arrived at the local retail store from the growers.

The folks that produce your plants at the nursery follow a regimen of treatment to make sure they do not have insects damage their plants. However, once they arrive at the local store, the probability that they are going to end up with some kind of insect problem tends to increase.

I usually walk through the indoor plant section of the local home improvement stores (I won't name any names) whenever I am there to purchase something else. I can't tell you the number of times that I find insect problems starting up on the house plants.

My recommendations for keeping pests from being a problem indoors is to always check plants before you buy or bring home. Once you get them home, isolate from other plants for a week or so, keeping an eye out for any pest problem. Many insects are almost unnoticable at first, so look very closely. Under the leaves, in the leaf axil, even on the soil surface.

Wash them down every few days with a shower of water, making sure to hit the undersides of the leaves. You can add a few drops of mild soap to the water if you use a spray bottle. Mild dish detergent works or you can pick up some Peppermint Castile soap and enjoy the nice smell. You can use Peppermint Castile Soap for just about anything else around the house including bathing your pets! 

A small amount of rubbing alcohol added to the water can also be effective but it doesn't smell as nice! (Not for your pets)

You don't usually do not need any harsh chemicals. Bugs don't like water or soap. I use a mixture of water, a few drops of liquid soap and a few drops of olive oil or vegetable oil while I am caring for customers plants and for my own plants. Works just great!

For your outdoor plants, a daily shower of water from the hose will be quite effective in sending most insects into the neighbors yard to eat their plants! If that doesn't work for you, here is an idea for a do-it-yourself organic insect spray from Jami in Pleasant Hill, Oregon. Homemade stuff is always fun!

If you need some advice or help with your houseplants, PlantAndFlowerInfo.com is always here.

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