Help, flying insect in soil of house plants?

I just got to plants one is a peace lilly, I noticied that there are flying insect bugs in the soil. I have all ready washed them with soap and water and that is not working, could someone please give me some advice except for (tossing them away). They are in my office at work and this is something that we just can not have. Thankyou very much.

Help, flying insect in soil of house plants?
What you have are "fungus gnats" aka soil gnats. The larvae of the flying adults are small, light colored worm like creatures that are living in the potting soil until they change into adults which happens very quickly. They feed on the decomposing potting soil. The only way to keep them from taking over the airspace in your office is to put the pots outside (if possible, depending on the temperature). This way at least, they will be outside until you can do the second half of the cure. Fungus gnats thrive in moist soil, so I would say that you may have been over watering these plants giving the larvae a very good growing condition. The eggs and larvae cannot live unless the soil is moist, so you will need to allow the soil in the pots to dry in between watering's. Keeping it wet at all times is the reason the gnats are thriving. If the soil were to dry up a few times (without stressing the plant out), the existing eggs and larvae would die off. The adults will take off to find new breeding grounds as well. What ever you do, do "NOT" change the potting mix to refresh the plant. All this does is give the larvae a whole new, fresh, plate of food. Better to leave the old, depleted soil until they are gone. Better watering practices are in order if you want to keep them from coming back. Always let the soil dry out before you water the next time. Hope this answers your question...



...$Billy Ray$
Reply:Are they little flies? If so, they are probably fungus gnats. You can get rid of them using insecticides but I would try a couple of things first....



First - allow ALL your plants to dry out (the soil that is) in between waterings. Over time, this should decrease their ability to reproduce and the drying conditions won't allow the eggs to develop in the soil (they lay them in moist soils). Also, make sure that if you have recycling in your house, that the bottles are cleaned out!!! They will also breed in dirty recycling (beer cans/bottles, pop bottles..etc). Also, if by chance you have a composter in your kitchen, put a screen on the lid so they can't get in or out of the composting container (I used nylons cut up and taped them over the 'breathing holes' of my composting container)



If the drying doesn't work then if you can get your hands on a cigarette... then do! Nicotine is a Natural insecticide. Agricultural agencies will actually use it in green houses (at very high concentrations granted but they still use it!). Anyway, allow the soil of all your plants to dry out (as mentioned above - which for my plants, takes about 10-14 days, but I live in a very dry climate. It'll be longer if you live in a more humid environment). Anyway, soak the cigarette in 1 litre of water, over night! Use this water to water your plants the next day. There will be no impact to your plants but it'll probably do damage to the gnats and their eggs. In the past I have bought those large cranberry juice jugs and (after drinking all the juice) used 4 cigarettes per one jug of water. It was enough for all my plants but you may have to get more jugs if you have lots of plants. Allow the plants to dry out again and then repeat the cigarette soaking for the next watering session. Try this for about 3 times. If that doesn't work then other insectides might work... I have only ever used the nicotine method as a last resort - and it's worked the two times I did. Oh, and don't let the nicotine water land on the leaves.. that could be somewhat harmful to the plants but it shouldn't affect the roots.



Hope that helps!



EDIT - oops - I see that you are having the problem in your office - so make sure that the plants in the office dry out and if you have a recycling bin for the pop bottles in the office, make sure there is a lid on it (at least temporarily). SOrry about the confusion hehehe
Reply:I have this problem with some carnivorous sundews that I cannot allow to dry out, so what I do it put about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of sand on top of the soil. The sand stays pretty dry and keeps the fungus gnats out. Letting the soil dry out between watering is your best bet, especially if you're talking about a peace lily, where even moisture isn't critical. Goodluck!
Reply:I think there are some plant fertilizer/insect killers out there by weed-b-gone or something.