Planta
Back to Pests, diseases and problems

I have this little shelf setup for some of my smaller plants and… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Roxanne

I have this little shelf setup for some of my smaller plants and propagation pieces, and i haven’t had any problems with bugs prior to this week but now i have a little colony of fruit flies, what would be the easiest way to get rid of em and keep them from coming back? (Also the light is further away than it looks in this photo) Im not sure which plant started the problem either, i saw one fruit fly 2 days ago and i checked them all and couldn’t find anything, now i can count like 7. Maybe it’s just too much moisture in a small area? I also don’t keep any food or anything around them, I’ve removed any dead leaves and made sure theres no sitting dirty water.

Attachment 1 of 1
1 like 4 comments

4 comments

  1. Kirasade

    It’s not fruit flies they’re fungus gnats. It’s not caused by the light but over watering. They lay their eggs in the top two inches of the wet soil and it’s a vicious cycle. They’re fairly harmless. But you definitely want to keep it in check. I’ve used organic insecticide like Arber and water my soil with that. I’ve also started to bottom feed so I keep that top layer of soil dryer and to stop them in adult form I use sticky traps. I hope that helps.

    1 like
    • Roxanne

      Yeah thank you so much! I’ll try the bottom watering technique then.

      1 like
  2. Kate

    To keep fungus gnats under control, I add mosquito bits to my watering can and let it soak into the water. You can also get Captain Jack’s dead bug brew and mix that in with the watering as well, or spray onto the leaves and soil. I also keep some yellow/sticky fly paper around to catch the adults. I think there is also a way to control the population/ward them away by cleaning off leaves and spraying soil with an insecticidal soap. You can buy or mix at home with common ingredients like: water, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Castile soap (NOT dish soap), and combos of peppermint, tea tree oil, etc. I also sprinkle cinnamon on to the top of the soil as I’ve read it keeps fungus gnats and other pests away as most insects dislike cinnamon, peppermint, lemongrass/citronella type scents. Lastly, bottom watering plants can help keep fungus gnats down as they are attracted to and lay eggs in moist soil conditions. By bottom watering you are preventing them from getting into wet top soil too easily.

    0 likes
    • Roxanne

      Cool! Thank you so much man. I sprinkled some orange zest/peppermint/cinnamon on the plants that tend to het more water and again ill start bottom watering. Ill try to update later this week

      0 likes