A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 bunch of questions

I have a few questions

1. I have little bugs in my plants I think that they are soil insects, they come out when I water the plants. they are in almost every plant. I just bought new plants. They also fly. What can I use to get rid of them? Is there a homemade remedy?

2. I just bought a corn plant, how do I take care of it?

3. I have had this plant for about 4yrs. but I don't know what it is. Maybe a rubber plant. It looks like a bannana plant but it doesn't have lot's of leaves on it. They only grow near the top and the bottom ones die. Maybe I have not been taking care of it properly

4. do jade plants like lots of sun?

Thank-you

geesh youve got yor plate full if i were you i would take all your plant and get rid of the soil outside, and take a hose to the rootball and get all the soil off of it, then repot in a clean pot with new sterile potting mix just bought. then i would use some insecticidal soap or somthing like that if you wanted. i would also keep a spray bottle of alcohol half and half of water to spray on it also. a corn plant is pretty easy to to take care of keep somewhat dry , water when dry a inch down, and it does ok on low lights, but does like filtered light, dont use pearlite in it because the tips turn a yucky brown. i have no idea what plant you are describing is. jade plants love the sun and get a nice red around the edges when exposed to full sun. good luck with everything!!!!

Tanya
I posted the same question earlier about Gnats. They are fungus gnats and breed in your soil. If you look under plant Pests and Problems then scroll to Gnats in Houseplant soil by Catlover on May 8 at 1:39 pm. you will see the responses I received. It really does work but have to do it a few times with Diazanon. I believe the fourth question was about Jade. There was also a posting Under plant Pests and Problems then scroll to Jade plant by Thiarelle on May 21 at 2:15 pm. I live in Calif. and my Jades are planted outside. They have the red edges as well. One thing with Jade you do not want to let the leaves stay wet or they will burn in those spots were water is retained. Hope this answers a couple of your questions. Catlover Karen

Thank-you for your replies I will go down and buy some of that Diazinon right away and i was actually going to put rocks on top anyways but now I will for sure.

Thank-you so much

Tanya,

Adult fungus gnats fly around and are an annoyance, but they are not harmful to people. Each gnat lives for about 5 days. The trick is to get rid of the next generation - the gnat larvae that live in the top layer of the soil. The larvae feed on decaying organic matter. Decaying pine bark in potting mixes and decaying plants roots feed the larvae. Try to keep the soil as dry as possible. Remove all loose soil from the surface and put a light layer of coir (coconut husk) or sand or diatomaceous earth on the soil surface. These substances have sharp edges that carve up the larvae.

Another safe technique is to place ½ inch slices of raw potato on the surface of the soil. After a day or so, discard the slices along with the larvae inside. Repeat this until there are no more larvae in the potato.

Detection trick: Add a little water to the soil and then look very closely for tiny fungus gnat larvae swimming in the water as it pools on the surface. You need good light and good eyes to see them. If you don't, then your plant is probably gnat free.

Prevention is often the best remedy. Use sterile potting mixes that are free of bark chips. The potting mix should have ample drainage material, such as perlite so that it drains well and allows the soil to dry out frequently. Fungus gnats can nearly always be traced back to overwatering and/or poor soil quality.

BTW, diazinon is hightly toxic and I don't recommend it for home use, especially if there are pets or toddlers around. If you insist on using a pesticide, use Merit because it is less hazardous and more effective.

Replacing all of the soil is a drastic measure that may eliminate the gnat larvae, but may also kill the plant.

Corn plants do best in bright indirect light, in front of a north window, for example. They have small root systems and rearely need repotting. Allow the top quarter of the rootball to dry out before watering thoroughly. If your local tap water is on the hard side, switch to filtered, distilled, or rainwater.

Thank-you for your help.

I just have one question, what is the root ball? I think I will try the potatoes.

Are the gnats harmful to my plants.
I think so because I had one plant die a few months ago because it had some sort of bugs and I think they were the same thing. and some of them are starting to lose there leaves.

anyways thank-you.

The rootball is the soil surrounding the roots of a plant and held together by the roots. For practical purposes, it is the soil and roots inside the pot.

Fungus gnat larvae feed on plant roots only after the roots have already started to rot. It is the rotting roots, not the feeding gnat larvae, that damage the plant. The gnats are usually a signal that you need to let the soil dry out more in between waterings. This drying out will not only help eradicate the gnats, it will also keep the roots from rotting and the plant from dying.