I’m going insane. I’ve found 0 pests on my plants (aside from fungus gnats). But, I feel like I’m constantly seeing things that are symptoms of pests. I’m somewhat of a beginner with plants, am I just paranoid? I’m also moving across country with my plants rn (horrible). As soon as I move in, they will all be incinerated with a bajillion gallons of insecticide and hydrogen peroxide.
Fungus gnats are pests that damage plants. They have to be treated. They are a sign the soil environment is staying too wet and supporting their growth. Let the soil dry out more or completely before watering. Increase airflow around the plant to dry out the soil faster. Avoid misting around the soil or stop misting, if your are, to let the surface of the soil dry. Add nematodes, mosquito bits or other methods to stop the lifecycle of the gnats before they become adults.
4 gillningarFungus gnats can be quite annoying. The adults are not harmful to your plants but the larva can damage the roots. Drying the soil down will help and you can also apply something like mosquito dunks or a systemic pesticide to kill the larvae. You can use yellow sticky traps to get rid of the adults so they won't lay any more eggs in the soil. Attacking them from both sides of their life cycle is helpful.
0 gillningarWhen you move, I would treat your plants before the move as a preventative. You don't want to take something with you especially if they will be stressed, which they will. When you arrive give them time to acclimate to their new home unless you see active living pests. Plant companies will often spray a shipment of plants with a fungicide prior to shipping to avoid problems during shipping. With this in mind if you have a long journey you might do the same.
0 gillningar I’ve spent the last three days driving from Ohio to California, this is my last day of driving. One of my first orders of business is buying insecticide, H2O2, and mosquito bits. I’ll probably be treating them for 2ish weeks until i let myself buy any new plants
0 gillningar I also did not discover the gnats until during the move
0 gillningar