Garden Quilts. Them tiny flyign bugs sound s liek you have fungus knats. Nasty , irritating bugs. They are constantly in the air and they come through cracks and through the door with ya when ya go in and out and no way ya gonan se ethem.
They fly around and the adults lay their eggs in the soil and the larvae them munch away on yoru plant and seedlign roots and they keep up a constant process.
Yor 3 in 1 Bayer shoudl work. If you have bigger plants, puttign a fine layer of sand and keeping plants on dryer side helps some. Just watch sprayign in the hous e with any product that specifically lable d for indoor use.
I using from home depot orthos ecosense brand outdoor insect kilelr as it kills on contact and kills eggs too.
Now you cna us e camomole tea too. Which I did pick up soem camomile tea bags the other day as I have a coupel here and in gh. But I don't remmebr the dosage. If ya us e oen tea bag per 6-8 ounce cup of boiling water, anybody know or remember hwo much ya need to thin it down too?
Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #46
I am fighting fungus gnats as well!
A new bug problem for me this year is mealy bugs. they killed a coleus this summer before I realized what they were. Now I have just found a few on my bay tree that I have to bring in over winter. AAAAhhhhhh!!! I have now washed all my plants with an alcohol mix. GGGrrrrr...
Terese, please share Robyn's idea and what you're thinking of doing! I love decorating and figuring out challenging areas like that. Do you have ideas for the shape you'd like the head board to have? All the lines in the room are straight and clean, but I'm thinking a straight, squared headboard from window to window may look abrupt. Possibly a stair step shape could work. I like the contrast of the denim with the wood and chair upholstery, the deep blue and terra cotta have the blue-orange, complimentary color appeal to the eye, but it looks to me the wall color could use some contrasting complimentary color in the room to bounce off it, perhaps a soft, sandy-peach tone. My thinking is to echo the blue-orange contrast in the room's pastels. The curtain panels you're adding or perhaps valances could be one way of doing that.
Oh Chele, aren't mealy bugs the nastiest things! Several years ago I had a terrible bout with them. Just keep at it, and watch everything closely- they're a booger to get rid of! They hide in little crevices. I don't resort to chemicals often, but mealy bugs are one I'd probably resort to using systemic on.
LOL...Neal, can i hire you as a decorator??
If you already have blinds, why not just make a valence and curtains? Get a "double rod". Put a valence on the top and curtains on the under rod. You may save yourself some work and get lucky on home dec items during January's white sales. My neighbor swears by JC Penny's home items. she has valence/curtains/venetian blinds on all of her windows. Sometimes the finished curtains are less expensive than the fabric to make them.
Thanks for the tips on Lisanthus and Bergenia-both didn't germinate for me. I sent an email to Parks for replacements. We'll see what happens. I put the empty seed packets in a box for records. It is a bit depressing how many didn't make it last spring. I printed out all sorts of information and followed the directions and everything. Try try again. This year's experiment is winter sowing.
I feel for the teenager whose mother is stealing from her. At least she knows early in life not to trust her. I cared for my mother for years, then she stole from my bank account and committed other identity theft. I had to change my social security number and everything. She wouldn't even let me have my own property from her house. At least she can move on now and not waste any of her time/money on that unworthy woman. Teenagers with jobs can get declared "emancipated minors." She may also want to change her social security number (keep the papers in a safe deposit box or at your house) so that her mother doesn't file for loans in her name when she runs out of money. The local social security office will be able to help you.
Garden Quilts.... Do ya remmebr how ya did yoru Lisianthus. Maybe folsk have ideas to help ya get them going this time. Have no ide a on the bergenia.
On the bergenia I tried them under lights and it didn't work a few times but when I sowed a whole pack in a jug to WS in March I got. four plants so I would say to WS so they will still get at least a couple of months of the cold first. Can't remember how long it took them to germinate that was a few years ago
Yes Neal, the mealy's are NASTY little boogers! I have hand picked and hand picked....now the alcohol mix.....if they persist I just might turn to chemicals as well. eeerrrrggggg....
You may think I'm nuts but I found a good way to fix the little bug problem real good. Keep in mind I'm country through and through. I always liked lizards and stuff. I put green lizzards in my greenhouse and a few frogs went in on the pond plants too so that took care of that and when it got REAL cold outside the other lizzards can't run fast so I cought a small one and put it in my bathroom with my germinating pots with the tiny gnat problem and after a week, no more gnats around my pots. The little jewel stays at the heat mat and all around my plants and isn't afraid of me at all. I see him everytime I go in and water or look around and he doesn't bother the plants only the bugs. Worked last year and so far this year. It doesn't come out of the bathroom. And since that is a back bathroom we rarely use, no one goes in to mess with him either so it works out good for me. He earns his keep.
I keep a bottle of straight alcohol in my shed in the summer and spray it on mealy bugs even when they are flying in the air lol I wouldn't hesitate to use straight alcohol on them in the house if I got them I'm not watering it down I mean business lol
Have you ever seen them flying thru the air outside? It's the funniest thing like little pieces of cotton flying around! I've had a bad infestation of them the last few years here outside I only have four house plants well, guess you could say I have more now with the elephant ears in here and coleus cuttings gosh I hope I don't get them in here!
mekos, I thought I was the only one that brought lizzards in the house lol I had trouble with spiders one year they are their favorite food lol No problem :)
Hehehehe. And I thought I was the nut all by myself. Hehehe.
For the fungus gnat larvae in the soil, you can use Bacillus thuringensis israelensis. The israelensis strain is most commonly found in mosquito dunks. You can crumble them into a jug of water, let them soak a day or two, and then water your plants with the innoculated water. The bacteria will then be in your soil and will eat up any larva that hatch in the soil.
(Don't use Thuricide or another product containing Bacillus thuringensis kurstaki because it is a different subspecies and is for killing caterpillars. It will have no effect on gnat larva at all. )
I haven't seen a lizard since I was in Puerto Rico. The poor lizard would be running from the cat and maybe the dog as well. I may have to stick to bug spray. Neems doesn't work, so I tried insecticidal soap on the ground. I always spray outside. This stuff is so stinky that I covered the ground with saran. I added sand, Bayer 3 in 1 and fungus gnat killing spray to my grocery list. I have most plants in the downstairs bathroom. I plugged in a bug zapper and hung flypaper in there. These things seem to be drawn to light, maybe it will slow them down a bit. I can't stand having bugs inside. I tried using just neems on the roses this year. Most were fine, but two still got blackspot. Those two will get Bayer next year. I will keep the rest as natural as possible, unless they get some nasty problem. Thanks for all of the advice.
Moving on......... New thread...... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1065668/