Maxine1
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:15 pm

Indoor plant bugs

I have several indoor plants which were all infested with small bugs, they are so annoying. I re-potted them and stripped them all of the soil which I thought was the culprit. I added new/different soil and covered the soil with pebbles. Problem solved, or so I thought. Now they are back!!! How can I control them? Any ideas or suggestions please?

ButterflyLady29
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Posts: 1030
Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 9:12 pm
Location: central Ohio

Need some pictures or descriptions. Color of bugs, do they fly, are they on the leaves, hiding in the soil?

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ElizabethB
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Posts: 2105
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
Location: Lafayette, LA

Welcome Maxine1

DITTO ButterflyLady

More information and pics will help the members provide you with better advice.

Glad you decided to join us!

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

You need to sanitize the area as well as the pots. It sounds like maybe fungus gnats. Make sure you have good air circulation, no water in saucers and the pots are not overwatered.

rolayla
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:58 am

I used Hot Shot No Pest Strip to get rid of small bugs in my room.

pepperhead212
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Posts: 2852
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

Welcome to the forum!

As others have noted, we need more info to help you with the problem. Fungus gnats - little fruit fly like bugs - will appear in almost any pots, and this might be what you are describing, as they hang out on the soil a lot, and you said you thought that was the culprit. While the usual solution is to keep the upper layer of the soil dry, you usually don't do this, with these things that I use - Bt israelensis. This kills mosquito larvae, as well as fungus knat larvae. You can grind up some of those mosquito dunks, and put that in the soil, or get a concentrated liquid - Microbe Lift - which only takes 8 drops/gal, which I moisten all of my seed starting mix, as well as my potted plants with, and I never have any fungus gnat problems.



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