so I was watering my plants and saw tons of nearly microscopic bugs crawling around the soil. I tried to research a bit and saw Fungus Gnats and Aphids as candidates, but I have never seen adult versions of either in my house. And think I have definitely ruled out aphids. These buggers look to be more slender than round and I can barely see them except to see that they are moving about. I thought my eyes were playing tricks at first. I also know that I might be over watering if the soil stays damp all the time, then they can thrive. Any idea what these are? If they are Gnats, shouldn't I see some adults emerge? Especially with a relatively short life cycle. I would highly doubt this is the first hatch. Also they walk around quite quickly and then seem to bury themselves back in the soil after the water settles. I am in the Northeast if that helps. Thanks in advance.
Hi Joclyn, The two plants I see them in right now are a very small palm type tree that I am rehabbing from my cat eating the leaves off it. Maybe a Rhapis Alicia or something similar. Excuse my lack of knowledge! The other is an Elephant ear type plant, the the leaves are maybe 4-5 inches in size, some smaller, it is growing large and towards the ground in a hanging fashion. Does this help, or do you need me to research for specifics, or post pics? Thanks for your help!
I was wondering if you had figured anything out. I am having a problem with gnats in my houseplants. I read that you can water your plants with leftover dish soap and it kills them, and supposedly doesn't harm the plant. But I am not sure. Has anyone ever tried this?
they could be the larval stage of fungus gnats, i suppose. not sure though. if you're keeping the soil to moist, that promotes their life-cycle. easiest thing to do is to let the soil dry out a bit and put up some fly paper strips to catch whatever is flying before they can mate and lay more eggs. brownthumb, that's what you should do, too. the soapy water may not necessarily hurt the plant, it may also not do too much good for it either. i periodically get some gnats (usually when i get a new plant) and i just let the soil dry out for a bit and it breaks the life cycle. they don't live too long, so, if you can keep the eggs from being able to do their thing, you've only got the annoyance for a week or two until the adults die.
Thanks for your help Joclyn. I will let the soil dry out and see what that does. The idea of putting soap in my plants soil doesn't really appeal to me. I also read about putting cups of juice near the plants, I guess the adults just dive right in. That still leaves the case of the larvae, but I guess the drying out would take care of those little buggers. Thanks again!
I think you might have nailed it. Do they just die when the soil dries up or do they leave the pot and look elsewhere? It's amazing that they can find the pots in the first place. Looks like there will be a drought in my house for a while. Thanks again!
The springtails could have come in with the plant when you brought it into the house, and then later their population just exploded.It's not unheard of to find sprintails in potting soil, so you may want to check. Most, if not all of them should die if the soil dries out between waterings, providing the plant can take dry soil. They do jump, so you might want to watch that there isn't any moisture loving plants nearby for a while. They won't hurt the plant. they eat the organic material in the soil, but still, no one wants to see those things in the house! Something you can try if you don't want to use a soapy water solution. Place the plant on a slant at watering time, over a large bucket of some kind, or outside (weather permitting) and water the soil "heavily", I mean really flooding it until the water flows up and over the rim, taking the springtails over the falls! Then replace any soil lost with the water. You might want to check your bag of soil first, it's not unheard of to find them in there! Changing the soil completely is another option if they continue to be a problem.
I have seen a lot of springtails in my houseplants. I have tried many things and never gotten rid of them totally. Fast little buggers and very hardy even when I let me succulents dry out more than I like to. They come back every spring when the weather warms and die down every winter. I got mine from raising them to feed to my fish. I just leave them alone so if I ever want to culture them for my fish again I have a free supply.
If anyone is interested, I changed the soil in the plant that seemed most effected with the gnats. I also let my plants dry out (maybe too much hee hee) and put tiny cups of applecider with a little dish soap mixed in right in the pot. I just cut the bottoms off of some disposable cups and placed them on top of the soil. This seems to have worked!
