Insect invasion "HELP"

[Carol Dee]

I am not sure what they are. I do think DH brought them in the house when he brought in the outdoor pots for the winter. They seem to multiplying. They look like tiny flies. He hung a fly strip in basement where most of them are. Says some have gotten stuck on it. I put one in kitchen , only thing it has caught is me! Any idea what they might be and how to get rid of them? THANKS

 

[ducks4you]

Indoor Plant Pests: Bug Identification & Control | Planet Natural

Have a bug problem on your indoor potted plants? Click on the categories below for pictures, descriptions and a complete list of proven, organic remedies.

www.planetnatural.com

Indoor Pest Control: Bug Spray and Insect Killer | Planet Natural

Here are the best natural and organic products — insect killers, bug sprays, fungicides — to use if indoor plant pests find their way inside your grow room.

www.planetnatural.com

Hope his helps!! A lot of times, tipping over the pot and spraying with water from the hose will get rid of most of them, BUT, if you are like ME, you run outside at 10PM realizing your lovely potted plant will freeze and die, and THEN bring it first in the kitchen/entrance way, and then, like 2 days later it makes it to the winter time window!

 

[Carol Dee]

Indoor Plant Pests: Bug Identification & Control | Planet Natural

Have a bug problem on your indoor potted plants? Click on the categories below for pictures, descriptions and a complete list of proven, organic remedies.

www.planetnatural.com

Indoor Pest Control: Bug Spray and Insect Killer | Planet Natural

Here are the best natural and organic products — insect killers, bug sprays, fungicides — to use if indoor plant pests find their way inside your grow room.

www.planetnatural.com

Hope his helps!! A lot of times, tipping over the pot and spraying with water from the hose will get rid of most of them, BUT, if you are like ME, you run outside at 10PM realizing your lovely potted plant will freeze and die, and THEN bring it first in the kitchen/entrance way, and then, like 2 days later it makes it to the winter time window!

Thanks, this should help. And yes we hustle them in and forget to check for insects 1st!

 

[Carol Dee]

I do believe it is Fungal gnats (WhatI was guessing.) Now to wage war.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

spray 90% alcohol on the dirt of the plants. Keep at it and they will eventually die.

 

[AMKuska]

I agree it's probably fungus gnats. One part hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts water sprayed on the soil kills the larva and doesn't harm the plant.

 

[ducks4you]

I didn't plan to, BUT I potted up 7 geraniums in October. Stuck them on the unheated porch (with windows) until 2 weeks ago, THEN, moved them to the kitchen counter to prune up. Friday I moved them upstairs to the north facing bedroom/office, which, if you remember, has "suicide windows" that start at the floor. ALL have nicely regrown leaves and...no bugs. You can do that with geraniums.

Winter Storage of Geraniums in Paper Bags

Geraniums (Pelargonium x hortum) are easy to grow and are popular bedding plants. In...

homeguides.sfgate.com

I like to see them flowering in February inside, when I am dreaming of Spring!

 

[flowerbug]

they'll eventually die off in most cases. we have them intermittently in the house. this time of the year they're not usually around because i've stopped watering the amaryllis and so they can't grow or lay eggs in dry soil very well. also we have spiders around which will catch them. if you have baby venus flytraps they're a nice food source (fruit flies may be too big).

some of my worm bins can get fungus gnats going in them and it can be amazing how many will hatch and cycle and how many generations will be quite happy living in an enclosed bucket. those buckets i have to take outside to feed the worms because opening up the fine mesh cover would otherwise let them out into the house. since this past summer i've been trying out using some very tiny spiders in some of the worm buckets to head off a population explosion, but i can't say yet it has worked as planned because i don't have the tiny spiders in all the worm buckets yet.

kind of amazing to me though to have a bucket full of worms and hundreds of thousands of fungus gnats and watching it and then you look and you realise all the fungus gnats have finally died off.

 

[flowerbug]

another approach is to put fine mesh over the pots to see which ones have the bugs in them and then once you know you can replace the potting soil with some fresh potting soil and that will help short term. however, if they are flying around in the house wild they can infect the soil of other plants so you do want to quarantine those that you know are already infected if they really bother you.

 

[baymule]

They look like tiny flies. Any idea what they might be and how to get rid of them? THANKS

They are TINY FLIES. Swat them with a TINY FLYSWATTER.