Can anyone ID this? My plants are covered with them. They are very tiny. Sorry it is not very clear but it is the best my camera could do
They look like fruit flies, or perhaps thrips. Insecticidal soaps will take care of them. However, if they're fungus gnats, the will require slightly different care. Do you see them most on the soil, or on the plants themselves?
They are on the plants. I thought they might be fruit flies. Do they eat plants at all? When I put on my lamp they fly into the light bulb & die.
They look like fungus gnats to me. They breed in the compost, with the larvae feeding on small roots. Sometimes they indicate over-watering (they prefer wet soil), but they will also breed freely in soil that is too dry for many plants (unless you only have cacti, you can't get rid of them by letting the soil dry out, without also killing the plants). Not sure what the best way to control them is; at the moment I've got several spiders webs on my plants and they are keeping the fungus gnat population lower than it was, but not getting rid of it completely.
If you notice that they're committing suicide in your lightbulbs, you may have found a way to control them. Try aiming some lamps at the affected plants, and see whether or not that reduces your pest population.
I haven't dealt with these little buggers before but wonder if the likes of Chlorpyrifos (Ant or Lawn Beetle dust) which is used here to control certain pests in the soil (not just ants and Lawn grubs)would be as effective on the likes of these. The only holdback in using this type of product (apart from being a toxic chemical) is that it cannot be used around food producing plants. I reckon Lorax has a good idea there though: try avoid chemicals wherever possible!
Thanks. Whatever they are they completely demolished my nasturitums in the fall and now they are indoors.
