hi! my haworthiopsis limifolia is currently infested with what looks like little flies, almost like fruit flies. i want to save her but the bugs won’t go away, and idk how they got there. how can i help her? thanks for any help. she’s currently not in my room due to the bugs, i placed her outside under my pavilion just in case that helps. please help!! 😰
Your plant probably has fungus gnats – a very common plant pest that really doesn't harm plants at all (unless the infestation gets real bad, then it can stunt growth). Buy some yellow sticky traps to capture the adult flies before they mate, and decrease your watering because the larvae like moist soil that doesn't dry out. I've learned to live with them honestly, they're not as annoying as they used to be after I started treating them. I'll see maybe one or two flying about a week.
4 likes Other ways to treat/prevent gnats (tips and tricks all over the internet): - Apply neem oil to topsoil (natural pesticide but it smells funky) - Repot plant entirely (get rid of all the "infected" soil, and replace it) - Replace top 2 inches of soil (where the eggs would be laid and where larvae live) - Apply mosquito bits to kill the larvae - Bottom water plants (topsoil stays dry) And my newest experimental method is mixing in a decent amount of perlite on the top 2 inches of your pot. That way your topsoil can dry out real quickly after watering. I use a chopstick to stir the perlite in the soil. I don't really want the perlite all throughout the soil (at least, not THAT much perlite everywhere) because then the pot will dry out real fast and I'll have to water more often.
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I have struggled with fungus gnats for a bit and the only solution I’ve found is to use captain jacks dead bug concentrate, you can mix it in a spray bottle with water &/or mix it in when you water the plant. I try to only water my plants if the top inch/ two inches are dry and that has also helped !
0 likes Also if nothing else is working you could always repot. It’s more of a struggle so I’d try everything before doing that honestly
1 like I didn't mind the struggle of repotting, but I would do it so often that I'd be spending so much money on new potting soil 🤦🏻♂️
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I agree that it probably is fungus gnats. You could try bottom watering the plant while you treat the pest problem so that the gnats don’t keep getting attracted to wet top soil. Haworithias also enjoy their soil completely drying out before waterings, so always make sure the soil is completely dry before you water it, or it’ll just keep attracting more and more gnats. I always recommend repotting when it comes to gnats if there’s only one or two plants with a gnat problem, cause it can become time consuming and expensive to try different treatment after treatment to get rid of them for good. If you want to repot it, remove the soil completely until you’ve reduced the plants to its roots, then soak the soil in a mix of 2 parts water and 1 part hydrogen peroxide for 30 minutes. This will kill any gnat larvae or eggs remaining. Clean and dry the pot it was in if you’re gonna use it again. After soaking the roots, rinse them off with room temp water (you can use bottled water for this step given how small the plant is. Cold water will shock the plant) and gently pat the roots dry with a paper towel, then repot in completely new soil. I use Espoma’s Cactus and Succulent soil exclusively for my succulents, and please avoid miracle grow anything in terms of soil. All their stuff is a fungus gnat magnet cause it stays wet for too long, especially in humid climates. It can also cause root rot in succulents, even with their succulent brand soil. If you can’t find Espoma, anything NOT miracle grow brand should do as long as it’s a chunky enough mix and contains perlite. After repotting, try bottom watering the plant (if you’re new to bottom watering, look up “how to bottom water a plant” on YouTube. It’s really easy, and helps develop a strong root system for plants, especially succulents. It also helps prevent overwatering). To further prevent any infestations, try sticky traps or a bottle with a mix of apple cider vinegar and dish soap or insecticidal soap placed near your plants to keep gnats from getting near the soil again. Hope this helps! Good luck!
0 likes My other big tip! : quarantine this plant and keep it away from any others, or the gnats could start getting to your other plants. You can return it to its spot when you’re sure the gnats haven’t come back, but try to find a place with enough sun that’s away from any other plants while you’re treating it if you wanna try using insecticidal soap or mosquito dunks to treat the gnats instead of repotting. This can take weeks sometimes if you don’t repot and have to keep trying different treatments, so make sure it’s got enough light where it’s gonna have to stay for a while.
0 likes it is currently quarantined
1 like thanks for all the help! i’ll try as much as i can and report back if anything works!
1 like Good luck! 🫡
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