help with my houseplants please.

Deby

my orange tree in the house has small nidge like flies,i think they could be in the soil because everyday there are dead ones on the table also i think they are in my palm any ideas what i could use?

Zazen999

Hi

You usually get these with houseplants as they live in the compost at the top, in the damp.

Resolve it by never watering from the top, always put water in the saucer that it stands in. you can also assist this by putting fine gravel over the surface, again keeping the top dry.

You can also get some yellow strips, to try and catch them whilst they are flitting about...or make your own with yellow card and double sided sticky tape.

But, watering from the bottom will usually do the trick.

mummyfrugal

Hi Deby, the little flies like the damp soil, its best to let the compost dry out a little between waterings, you can get some awful chemical spray (from gardencentre/diyshop) or some sticks (again chemical from b&Q) that you stick in the soil. You must never eat the oranges off the tree (if you have the edible kind) if you use any chemicals.

Palms like to dry out a little between waterings and then have a good glug of water, the same with the orange tree, if you just keep watering the top its not the best for it, it should have a good watering to get to the roots at the bottom and then left for a while again. At this time of year its best not to water too much as you end up with crusty white bits on the top of your soil and the plants generally don't need as much water as the weather gets colder.

Ive found the best thing to do is to let the compost dry out as much as you can and then take the top couple of inches of soil off the plants (try not to disturb too many roots) and put that in your garden outside (the cold will kill the flies off) and replace with fresh compost - that seems to get rid of most of the little pests!

You can use chemicals, but I've found its pants for the atmosphere of the house, no good for kids/pets to inhale and it does work, but then the little pests are back as soon as the weather starts warming up again so its just a waste of money.

If I see any spiders in the house I put them on the houseplants and usually they end up living there and eat a good few.

If they are really getting on your nerves I would suggest the sticks that you put in the soil from b&q but remember never to eat the oranges!!!!!

Hope you get rid of them - they are a pain - especially when you find one floating in your cup of tea...grrrrrrrr!

Karmacat

Oh I get these! And I water from the top I already had spider plants and aloe vera plants, never had a problem, but when I started with basil, I got them by the ton..... they appear if I leave kitchen scraps in the kitchen too long too (ie before I take them to the compost bin )

Fantastic to find such an easy solution, thank you zazen and mummyfrugal!