When bringing plants indoors for the winter.

[jackb]

The cold night temperatures are making me close the greenhouse and bring the orchids and olives indoors to spend the winter in tents under the LED grow lights.

Fungus gnats are a problem we face when we bring plants indoors so I thought I'd share this method of gnat control: Mix one part 3% hydrogen peroxide with four parts water. Allow the top layer of your soil to dry, and then water your plants with this solution as you normally would. The soil will fizz for a few minutes after application; this is normal. The fungus gnat larvae will die on contact with the hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide can be purchased at the dollar store for a buck a bottle, and, I should also mention that it not only turns to plain water but also adds much-needed oxygen to your soil while it does so.

Gnattrol works also but it is expensive.

I also use Tangle Trap and apply it to any piece of scrap yellow plastic. I purchased a large number of yellow plastic cups for a few dollars and drill holes in them and apply wood skewers for support, Pringle tops in a bottle, like in the photo, work very well also.

 

[Nyboy]

Good tip about hydrogen peroxide

 

[digitS']

The Mosquito Bits ("kills mosquitoes ... also controls fungus gnats") hasn't proven itself, yet.

I appreciate that this Bt bug killer can be purchased in smaller containers rather than the 40# or whatever those expensive pails the greenhouses use. I appreciate that we now have something labeled for fungus gnats rather than guessing how much of the mosquito dunks to use and wondering if they are appropriate.

Maybe the larvae will be in trouble soon and maybe some of the adults are getting down in the pots and giving up the ghost. However, after several weeks, the yellow sticky cards are littered with gnats and I find 2 or 3 flying around the house everyday.

Steve

 

[jackb]

The Mosquito Bits ("kills mosquitoes ... also controls fungus gnats") hasn't proven itself, yet.

I appreciate that this Bt bug killer can be purchased in smaller containers rather than the 40# or whatever those expensive pails the greenhouses use. I appreciate that we now have something labeled for fungus gnats rather than guessing how much of the mosquito dunks to use and wondering if they are appropriate.

Maybe the larvae will be in trouble soon and maybe some of the adults are getting down in the pots and giving up the ghost. However, after several weeks, the yellow sticky cards are littered with gnats and I find 2 or 3 flying around the house everyday.

Steve

Steve,
There is a cheap effective technique to control gnats that orchid growers use, but I don't know what you are growing, or the media you are using, so I am not sure it is appropriate for you.
To control gnats in orchids we let the plant dry completely and then soak it up to the brim in water for ten minutes to drown the larva. I am waiting for my plants to dry completely after coming in from the greenhouse to give the little devils a swimming lesson.

Warning, if you have a heavy compact media this could kill your plants, as it would take forever for them to get oxygen again. Orchid media is free draining so this works very well.
Jack

 

[digitS']

The Mosquito Bits ("kills mosquitoes ... also controls fungus gnats") hasn't proven itself, yet.

And, nearly 2 months later - the Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in Mosquito Bits still hasn't proven effective against fungus gnats!

I am a little ticked off about this failure although I didn't make a full commitment at the start. Today, I replenished the yellow sticky traps, replacing some of the skinny ones that I started with. Some of the larger traps had already been added when any immediate benefits to the Bits could be discounted.

Nah. Last winter, it was a major explosion of the pests. I noticed that the same thing was happening outdoors in the spring. This time, it just might have been a little less than normal but not so one would really notice. The traps are littered with gnats! It would have been better if I hadn't started off with the skinny traps ...

These are just random green house plants, Jack. They are mostly on the porch and behind a clematis vine during the summer and after those months, in come the pots - gnats and all!

Steve
who dislikes the ugly yellow traps but what are you gonna do!? okay, I can try the peroxide, next time ...

 

[flowerbug]

i've never bothered trying to get rid of them from the plants here. once in a while they fly around and that's the extent of my concern. they don't seem to do any damage to the plants themselves. do you see damage to the plants?

the obvious move is to not put house plants outside and use clean potting soil so that you don't have problems indoors.

not that i worry about such things. the worm farm has fungus gnats at times inside the fine mesh netting i use to cover the containers. if one gets a population explosion (which can happen) i take it outside when i need to open it to add food and check the moisture levels. they can fly away.

i've often found them in the snow in both early and late winter. by the zillions. enough that i would not eat the snow, but perhaps it could be an emergency food source (a whole whopping calorie per gallon because they are so tiny)...

 

[digitS']

No damage seen, although that may just be a lack of perception on my part. It was last winter that the indoor problem was the worse and that was after the sticky trap remedy had become standard.

Yes, repotting about a dozen plants, each in a gallon to 2 gallons of soil might be the answer. I think that washing the roots would be called for. All that, for plants that serve no other purpose than to provide green life indoors for half the year. Most of them, I quickly forget the name of even though they have been indoor companions for years. DW's pleasure ... although I would not enjoy losing our green winter environment.

Outdoors in summer shade, the plants are almost no bother. Once again, it's DW's responsibility to get them some water a couple of times a week. She also gives them fertilizer in the spring and may repot &/or divide.

As I suggest, they aren't a bother to me unless there is a population of 4 or 5 fungus gnats in every room by December. The sticky traps are ugly and detracts from the plants' attractiveness nearly 100%, for me.

Yes, they are tiny but the bugs are attracted to humans, apparently. They also show up at the sinks, windows and teevee screens. So small, that they are difficult to see well enuf to swat! But, if they are getting past the traps in those kind of numbers, they become continual wintertime companions. Yuck!


Imma gonna spray one plant for aphids, today. Those critters can grow in indoor numbers and get outta hand if allowed to! Then, the plants obviously can be seen to suffer. Teaming by the dozens in the soil, I can't be sure what torment the fungus gnat larva inflict but I don't appreciate imagining it.

.... I wonder if having a pet hedgehog would be a proper partner ... did you know that those critters are called "urchins" by some folks? I might have had hedgehog kindred in other places in my childhood, if one had believed some of my aunts and uncles.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

The Mosquito Bits ("kills mosquitoes ... also controls fungus gnats") hasn't proven itself, yet.

I appreciate that this Bt bug killer can be purchased in smaller containers rather than the 40# or whatever those expensive pails the greenhouses use. I appreciate that we now have something labeled for fungus gnats rather than guessing how much of the mosquito dunks to use and wondering if they are appropriate.

Maybe the larvae will be in trouble soon and maybe some of the adults are getting down in the pots and giving up the ghost. However, after several weeks, the yellow sticky cards are littered with gnats and I find 2 or 3 flying around the house everyday.

Steve[/QUO

No damage seen, although that may just be a lack of perception on my part. It was last winter that the indoor problem was the worse and that was after the sticky trap remedy had become standard.

Yes, repotting about a dozen plants, each in a gallon to 2 gallons of soil might be the answer. I think that washing the roots would be called for. All that, for plants that serve no other purpose than to provide green life indoors for half the year. Most of them, I quickly forget the name of even though they have been indoor companions for years. DW's pleasure ... although I would not enjoy losing our green winter environment.

Outdoors in summer shade, the plants are almost no bother. Once again, it's DW's responsibility to get them some water a couple of times a week. She also gives them fertilizer in the spring and may repot &/or divide.

As I suggest, they aren't a bother to me unless there is a population of 4 or 5 fungus gnats in every room by December. The sticky traps are ugly and detracts from the plants' attractiveness nearly 100%, for me.

Yes, they are tiny but the bugs are attracted to humans, apparently. They also show up at the sinks, windows and teevee screens. So small, that they are difficult to see well enuf to swat! But, if they are getting past the traps in those kind of numbers, they become continual wintertime companions. Yuck!

View attachment 30112
Imma gonna spray one plant for aphids, today. Those critters can grow in indoor numbers and get outta hand if allowed to! Then, the plants obviously can be seen to suffer. Teaming by the dozens in the soil, I can't be sure what torment the fungus gnat larva inflict but I don't appreciate imagining it.

.... I wonder if having a pet hedgehog would be a proper partner ... did you know that those critters are called "urchins" by some folks? I might have had hedgehog kindred in other places in my childhood, if one had believed some of my aunts and uncles.

Steve

What kind of plants are you bringing in? If they are ornamental I use a systemic insecticide just before I bring them in. I limit ornamentals because of the pests they bring in. I use fly strips also much cheaper than the yellow traps and just as good.

 

[jackb]

i've never bothered trying to get rid of them from the plants here. once in a while they fly around and that's the extent of my concern. they don't seem to do any damage to the plants themselves. do you see damage to the plants?

the obvious move is to not put house plants outside and use clean potting soil so that you don't have problems indoors.

not that i worry about such things. the worm farm has fungus gnats at times inside the fine mesh netting i use to cover the containers. if one gets a population explosion (which can happen) i take it outside when i need to open it to add food and check the moisture levels. they can fly away.

i've often found them in the snow in both early and late winter. by the zillions. enough that i would not eat the snow, but perhaps it could be an emergency food source (a whole whopping calorie per gallon because they are so tiny)...

The larval stages eat your plant roots.

https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/fungus-gnat-control/

 

[jackb]

No damage seen, although that may just be a lack of perception on my part. It was last winter that the indoor problem was the worse and that was after the sticky trap remedy had become standard.

Yes, repotting about a dozen plants, each in a gallon to 2 gallons of soil might be the answer. I think that washing the roots would be called for. All that, for plants that serve no other purpose than to provide green life indoors for half the year. Most of them, I quickly forget the name of even though they have been indoor companions for years. DW's pleasure ... although I would not enjoy losing our green winter environment.

Outdoors in summer shade, the plants are almost no bother. Once again, it's DW's responsibility to get them some water a couple of times a week. She also gives them fertilizer in the spring and may repot &/or divide.

As I suggest, they aren't a bother to me unless there is a population of 4 or 5 fungus gnats in every room by December. The sticky traps are ugly and detracts from the plants' attractiveness nearly 100%, for me.

Yes, they are tiny but the bugs are attracted to humans, apparently. They also show up at the sinks, windows and teevee screens. So small, that they are difficult to see well enuf to swat! But, if they are getting past the traps in those kind of numbers, they become continual wintertime companions. Yuck!

View attachment 30112
Imma gonna spray one plant for aphids, today. Those critters can grow in indoor numbers and get outta hand if allowed to! Then, the plants obviously can be seen to suffer. Teaming by the dozens in the soil, I can't be sure what torment the fungus gnat larva inflict but I don't appreciate imagining it.

.... I wonder if having a pet hedgehog would be a proper partner ... did you know that those critters are called "urchins" by some folks? I might have had hedgehog kindred in other places in my childhood, if one had believed some of my aunts and uncles.

Steve

Steve,
I found that the media itself can be the source of fungus gnats when I planted the orchid seedlings that had been growing in sealed sterile media for several months.
The seedlings were planted in new, unopened, sphagnum moss and placed in a grow chamber completely enclosed. After only a few days I noticed a gnat on one of the pots when I opened the container.
Immediately I placed a sticky pad in the container to determine the extent of the problem. Soon there were several more gnats on the sticky pad so I concluded that the eggs must lie dormant in the media, and, as I had had the media, sealed, from the supplier for about two years they can probably lie dormant for years until conditions are favorable.
The plants are being treated with gnatrol, hydrogen peroxide and submersion for several minutes. I count the gnats on the pad daily and there has not been a single new arrival in weeks.
Jack