Does anyone know what these tiny bugs are that are crawling around my plant? There are at least ten of them and they fly
Does anyone know what these tiny bugs are that are crawling around my plant? There are at least ten of them and they fly
Gnats
0 gillningarOk, are they bad for my plant?
0 gillningarYes. They lay eggs in your soil and feed off roots
1 gillaQuickest way to get rid of them is to repot and throw away your used soil. Caused by the top of your soil staying damp too long. You can manage them with mosquitoe bits, yellow sticky traps, and pest spray
3 gillningarThereās also nematodes you can get that you water into the soil and they eat the gnat eggs and larvae which prevents adults from ever maturing. Typically it comes in a bag large enough to feed several plants with a sufficient amount of nematodes but thereās bigger bags available if you have a large collection and want to entirely prevent them from establishing. The nematodes live up to 18 months so you can be gnat free for over a year
2 gillningarOk thanks
1 gillaI disagree w the popular opinion of immediately repotting when you get fungus gnats. If you repot all plants at once, it might work. If your soil was kept outdoors where it was aloud to get wet, it may have come with fungus gnats. Otherwise you have to change what you were doing with the plants or youāll get fungus gnats again. They are attracted to decaying organic matter. So you are possibly overwatering or you plants top couple inches of soil is staying moist too long possibly from low air circulation. You can catch many adults with yellow sticky traps specifically for fungus gnats. There are many treatments for the soil including making a mosquito bits āteaā and using this to water your plants. In the future let your plants soil dry at least 1ā down before watering again. Ideally 2 or more inches if your plant can take it. Iād also start bottom watering if possible
4 gillningarOnly time repotting due to fungus gnats makes sense to me is if the soil mix is the problem. To me fungus gnats is just a symptom of a larger problem. The gnats are gonna find whatever next moist pot is to start laying eggs in anyways, repotting will only stop one generation one time. Donāt repot for gnats, repot for the root rot you may be causing in that soil the gnats are loving the most.
3 gillningarGood point. It is a good time to check your plants roots
1 gillaDoes anyone have suggestions for potting soil? Iām having the same problem with gnats. I have used FoxFarm in the past but mix with perlite, Orchid bark or Rosy Soil based on what my plant prefers. I find that the top soil stays moist but am learning I can let the soil dry out more before watering.
0 gillningarI use pretty much the same thing for everything with minor tweaks. Mainly organic potting soil, a lot of perlite, and then the amounts of peat, pumice, vermiculite, or sphagnum I add depends on what plant Iām doing.
1 gillaI use whatever potting soil and add perlite and bark. Also Sand for succulents or coco coir for plants that like to stay moist. I have discovered things just donāt seem to dry out in my house. I was āsnoozingā watering in so many plants and for so long that plants was even askingāshould we contact dr planta?ā And I still didnāt realize what was going on (I only just started getting big into the plants in the fall). So i had to start repotting everything. Iām doing plants that show signs of overwatering and when something needs watered anyway. I increased the amount of bark and changed from perlite to lava rock for better drainage. Iāve also added fans to the room with the majority of my plants and when I check if things need watered, I poke the chopstick in several times for aeration. I havenāt lost any plants to overwatering but most started showing signs and I had been battling fungus gnats. So I started watering wth mosquito bits tea and that seems to be doing a good job at reducing them. Iām hoping the other measures keep the plants healthy. š¤š» But, I have over 100 plants and repotting all at once just isnāt practical for me cost wise. It has taken 3 large bags of soil, many bags of lava rock and orchid bark. Not to mention the time, Iād prob need a 4 day weekend to get them all done in one shot.
1 gilla