Yet another Fungus Gnat scenario

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psr7uk Westerville, OH Sep 29, 2008

I have been battling them for about eight months with my fifteen or so houseplants. I've used two sprays, a liquid larvicide, repotted them and dried them out until they beg for mercy. The situation improves for a couple of weeks and then they're back. I had decided to just try to manage them by putting potato slices on top the soil in the morning and removing them in the afternoon twice a week.
The only thing is what I'm attracting don't appear to be fungus gnats. I've gotten a single maggoty gnat larva but otherwise I'm attracting dozens/scores of pin head-sized silvery critters.
Anyone have any idea what I'm attracting to the potatoes and am I doing more harm than good?

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Smokey_SC Piedmont, SC(Zone 7b) Sep 30, 2008

I wouldn't use any kind of food to try to get rid of bugs, that may just attract more. Do they fly? It could be white flies. They are very tiny white flying bugs.

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psr7uk Westerville, OH Sep 30, 2008

From what I've read at other sites the temporary use of potato slices seems to be a very common way of managing pests that are in plant soil . And my problem is definitely fungus gnats.
The other thing I should mention is that I'm seeing two very small insects on the slices - one is light brown and round, the other somewhat elongated and silver, both very small.

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cruz4him Toronto, ON(Zone 6a) Oct 01, 2008

I heard that buying a few Sundew plants and putting them as near as possible to your infected plants are good. These are carnivorous plants and exist on a steady diet of bugs like fungus gnats.

On the more tried-and-true side, I bought some organic powder called "insect dust" and it did the trick after about 3 or 4 applications. I use them to kill the babies and put "sticky Stiks" in the pot to catch the adults.

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Gitagal Baltimore, MD(Zone 7a) Oct 02, 2008

Get those yellow sticky cards--about 3"x5". Hang them from a small stick, so it hangs freely, and it will be covered with the Gnats in no time at all.....

To kill the larva in the soil, drench it with some kind of insect granules to kill whatever is in the soil. I have heard also that watering with 1Tbs. of clear Ammonia in a gallon of water also will kill them and will not hurt the plant. Can't vouch for it as I have not done it.....

Gita

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