Hello everyone! I have a couple of mustard greens and lettuces in a little planter on my window sill, and I have been having issues with small reddish bugs that I cannot identify: Maybe someone could help me identify them more precisely? The plants don't seem to have suffered too much for now, but neither have the bugs from my attempts to get rid of them: Spraying them with soapy water or keeping humidity high have not yielded any noticeable results... I know spider mites come in a variety of colors, and they seem to be accompanied by flies, any suggestion as to what they are, or what I could do to keep them in check would be very very much appreciated. Best, -- Fouffour
Those are Spider Mites. The flies are Fungus Gnats, which are a different issue entirely. A spraydown with soapy water with the addition of 3-4 drops of oil of oregano will make the mites go away; for the gnats, try dusting the top of the soil with a bit of ground cinnamon - that inhibits the fungus they're there for.
I say the red bugs are aphids. Not sure about the flies, but fungus gnats are the likeliest explanation. (Winged aphids are also a possibility. Wikipedia: "When host plant quality becomes poor or conditions become crowded, some aphid species produce winged offspring, "alates", that can disperse to other food sources.")
Thank you very much everyone for your help! I will try the added oil of oregano and the cinnamon, I imagine if it doesn't work it doesn't harm either. The winged aphids sound likely - thanks mrsubjunctive - because I thought I saw some bugs in a kind of in-between state between bug and fly, though I wasn't sure... I once had fungus gnats but they seemed smaller and would fly up when shaking the leaves or watering.
