Ok, I am the one who has the sick gloxinia. I took the advice of another DG member and took it out of its pot to check roots. There are these little teeny worms in there and i swear I saw little black flies. What do I do know. It is out of its pot outside right now in the shade. it is a small bulb so how do I treat it? What have I got? Are my other plants in the house in danger?
Help
Dawn
It's got bugs!
probably fungus gnats and their larvae - here's a thread where I typed up a lot of detail: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/536776/
the larvae are pretty sensitive, so I would opt for soaking the root ball to get rid of them. They could be eating the tuber (they love starchy stuff) so a good treatment is in order.
1. make sure the roots are moist (I think they already are from a recently watering?)
2. then soak the rootball in a solution of some kind for about 15-30 mins. I would use some orangeplus solution because it's been working well for me, but you could also dilute an insecticide spray or mix up a soap solution. You'll end up with a mucky mess and having to replace the soil, but I would do that anyway.
3. after the soak, do another dip and rinse in clean water so that you keep the roots alive.
Then let it sit on paper for a while to dry off a bit.
Thanks for your help! I read the thread you added. I know i have the mosquito dunks and I have insecticides taht I use on larger things, Would you recomend using these to soak in? diluted?
Thanks for your time.
Dawn
ps it is moist, so im thinking to soak in a solution and then let dry out? Or let it dry out some and then soak?
This message was edited Jul 2, 2006 10:17 AM
Before repotting, check your bag of potting mix to see if that may have been where the fungus gnats came from. For eg, bags that were stored outside at the gardencenter may have been infested. (Compressed dry bricks don't have this problem.)
Potting mix can be sterilized easily by baking or nuking.
Also keep a sharp eye on your growing area for fungus gnats. They generally aren't lethal and are easy to take care of, but they are annoying and should be kept under control. See that other thread for tips.
I find that mosquito dunks are not very effective for fungus gnat larvae. Some people report sucess but I've had ZERO effect, so maybe it has to do with the brand or the species of gnats or something. I would go with the insecticide.
Ok, should it dilute it alot more than the usual? it is the concentrate
your guess is as good as mine !
But larvae are soft (therefore easily killed) so a weak solution should do it. What insecticide is it? What's the active ingredient?
Well, I did the solution thing. I don't remember the name of it off the top of my head. But I have used to treat a lot of the bad bugs (white flies, spider mites and aphids) so I think it should work. i was scared to leave it in too long so I only let it sit for a few mins. I washed it off really well and used a new pot and soil. i also put it outside under some trees so we'll see..
Thanks for your help
Dawn