Here's my lovely 2 y/o tree; it's doubled in size this year, outgrowing this 48" window. Though I didn't fertilize it at all the first year, this year I've been using un-composted rabbit droppings. Very naughty, I know, but the tree seems to love it. It's doubled in size this growing season and looks to be ready to put on a fourth flush of leaves for the year. But with this fertilizer have come the fungus gnats. My fault, I realize - I'm experimenting. My question is: is this actually bad? I've been reading the studies I can find, and it seems possible that they might actually help pollinate the flowers, which I hope come in the next couple years. In the wild, I think goat dung is supposed to attract the pollinating midges. I expect I'll be hand pollinating, if I get flowers, but I won't complain about any non-biting helpers.
My concern is less about this tree, which seems to be doing very well in spite of the little wrigglers, but the Criollo seedling I just got in the mail. I will keep it in another room and probably won't fertilize it much either, initially. Will this be enough to protect it? Should I get some nematodes? Cinnamon? Compost first?
(I'm in 7b, central Oklahoma, trees are in east facing windows in rooms without direct air conditioning. Morning light slightly filtered by trees. Our house is humid and I water enough to keep a bit in the trays beneath.)
