I recently got a croton Petra for my room, and after a few weeks I noticed a bunch of little black bugs in the bottom of the pot. He’s also been a bit droopy and faded, which might also be because of a lack of light (I ordered a grow light for him.) does anyone know what the bugs are and if they’re harming my plant?
I can’t quite tell because it’s not the most clear photo, but they look like fungus gnats. Technically the larvae feed on the root system but most plants grow faster than any fungus gnat problem can cause problems. The adults are just obnoxious
1 j'aime Thank you! Glad to know they aren’t a huge problem
1 j'aime I had a pandemic of them recently and never noticed a single plant struggle. Meanwhile we’re all swatting 2-10 gnats away from us at all times. Luckily I’ve risked some plants health a couple times back to back by letting the soil dry out more than the plants are used to which killed off most of the eggs and larvae
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i agree with gnats. i had a few plants that were NOT going to be able to outgrow the feeding of the larvae, i watered with diluted hydrogen peroxide to kill the larvae and sprayed everything down with castile soap & neem. haven't seen one since, it's been several days.
1 j'aime Thanks for the tip!
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That ain’t a fiddle leaf fig buddy
0 J'aime No it’s a croton petra. Who said fiddle leaf fig?
1 j'aime Sorry, the post under it. I got confused
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