Chamaedorea indoor plant - help please, it was my mum's

cagneyfan

The plant seems to look very like this one:


and the flies do look very like the black fungas gnats. There aren't many at the moment - very few in fact. But that's how they started the last time.

I have noticed the soil has a bloom on the surface but I don't know if that's from over watering or maybe from the 'Bug clear' that I sprayed (red bottle).

As I'm really not very good with plants I'm scared of doing anything that may harm it. Plus I only have the one plant and don't want to end up buying loads of stuff that may not work (obviously I will buy whatever I need, but would like to get the right stuff first time if possible).

Do you think I should do what I did last time, empty the contents, get rid of the soil and whatever is lurking in it. Then wash the pot and the plant roots and repot. If so, is there a best time of year/day to do this?

I really appreciate all the help your dishing out. Just remember, I'm thick! Simple as possible regarding advice works best!

cagneyfan

Hi all,

I decided to try and photo my plant to show you so that it may help in relation to your advice.

I've put the images on my memory stick but don't know how to get them on here!! Any clues. I can't find anything that says I can attach photo's

cagneyfan

Right I think I may have managed to upload some photos. r

cagneyfan

Right, as you can see I somehow managed to upload some pictures. It was a nightmare, I still don't know how I managed it!

Anyway, as you can hopefully see...
1, the tips of the leaves are brown
2, the new stems coming out are brown and brittle and one is sticky
3, there's a white bloom on the soil. Is that from too much water?
4, some of the black flies are back and I'm worried they may be here by the million by summer. Would it be a good idea to just get rid of the soil, wash everything and repot? If so, when's a good time to do it?
5, the leaves look quite limp, but I'm afraid to water it as I'm not sure if I'm already watering too much which may be causing the 'bloom' on the soil

Looking at the photo's it looks ok, but close up the plant does look a bit the worse for wear