Tiny Black Flies - Help!!!!

2sides2everystory

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I had always thought that fungus gnats were different from fruit flies but wouldn't swear to it.

BBC website guidance on fungus gnats here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/advice/pests_and_diseases/identifier.shtml?black_fungus_gnats

Yes I am sure you are right ... I have been referring to them as fruit flies recently and someone said banana flies but I think you are on the money with what we have all seen ... they are almost certainly sciarid flies or fungus gnats.

tim_n

They feed on rotting roots in compost I seem to remember - it may mean you're overwatering plants in the house. Best test to see if a plant needs watering is to put your finger in, wiggle around to get beneath the top layer and see if it feels damp. If so, leave it. My wife prefers to leave them till they dry out completely, then throw them in the bin. Either which way reduces the amount of flies.

sirbrainy

Why would you wait?

Kevstir

We had a big problem with fungus gnats in the house last year, i bought bug clear ultra for pots , within around 2 weeks they were gone and never had aproblem since, just pop a stick in each plant pot and wait, there only for ornamental garden plants and houseplants though..

alwaysbrassic

we have had exactly the same problem, also in the bathroom so surely not looking for food there?
Also, my work place had an infestation in the loos.

We came to the conclusion that they were coming in through the vent in the bathroom.

Thank heavens the cooler weather seems to have reduced them.
Hope this is the case for you.

Emma_whitnash

I have had tons of fruit flies, disgusting creatures. Mostly in my kitchen, may be because I have been preparing what feels like 1,000's of apples off my tree! I read also if you leave a drop of wine in an open bottle which has gone over (vinegary) this can help, I tried and it caught a few. I've cleared most of my fruit and cleaned the kitchen, am hoping now the cold weather's arrived the little !!!!!!s will disappear!

Well_Preserved

It might not be a great solution for this time of year, because of availability, but the carnivorous plant pinguicula has slightly sticky leaves to which the sciarid flies stick. They have a pretty flower: mine are flowering now. I just read in my 'Gardeners' Encyclopaedia of Plants & Flowers' by the RHS that they're frost hardy, which surprised me a lot as I have them on the kitchen window sill & had been treating as tender so I may risk one in an unheated greenhouse over winter.

If you lived near me I could give you one as they periodically need splitting when they've grown well thrugh good feeding!

pendulum

We've got these things too, they're forever flying in and around my face when I'm eating or trying to watch TV. I think they came in off the homegrown potatoes or the pears we were given. Time to do something about it I think, because they're really annoying me now.

Sunnyday

I`ve moved the basil plant and put it outside and cleaned around the window, that was two days ago and now there is only the odd fly knocking around.

The cold weather has probably had an influence too. I`m glad to see the back of them!

SD

Gloomendoom

The village I live in was plagued by these things a couple of years ago. The Environment Agency traced the source to a load of rotting potatoes dumped by a local farmer. They fined him quite heavily.

It hasn't happened since.