It often happens that both experienced and novice flower growers have flower flies in pots with indoor plants. These small insects not only spoil people's lives, flying everywhere and clinging to food, but also cause significant harm to the plant itself. In order to get rid of these harmful insects, you can use various methods, which will be described below.
Features of the flower midge
Flower midges, scientifically called sciarids, are very fond of moisture. Therefore, their appearance can provoke excessively frequent watering of plants when the substrate in the pot does not have time to dry out. As a rule, the appearance of midges occurs in the winter. Adults do not pose a danger to the flower, but they can annoy the inhabitants of the house. However, the larvae of this insect damage the root system of the plant quite badly, as a result of which it may even die. In the case when there are a lot of larvae (that they can be seen in the ground without special devices), then you cannot do without transplanting. The new soil must be subjected to disinfecting procedures and treatment with special preparations designed to combat sciarids.
Remember that you have to deal with flower and fruit midges in different ways, so find out first what kind of insect you have.
Preventive measures
In order to avoid the appearance of flower midges, you must adhere to very simple rules:
- it is necessary to systematically loosen the substrate in a flower pot;
- do not allow the soil in the pot to be damp for a long time;
- regularly inspect the flower and remove dying leaves or withering flowers;
- water only with clean water, as "meat", "coffee", as well as "tea" water can provoke the appearance of midges.
Do not forget that the main reason for the appearance of sciarids is waterlogged soil. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to water only after the top layer of soil dries up by 1–1.5 cm. Watering must be done with soft water. If you have only hard water, you can soften it by boiling, freezing, settling, and acidifying with peat.
Ways to combat flower midges (sciaridams)
There are several ways that will help to exterminate all Sciarids in the shortest possible time.
- The most economical way is to use the most common matches. For a medium sized container, you only need to use 4 matches. Stick them into the soil, heads down, and then slightly moisten the substrate.It is necessary to carry out a systematic inspection of matches, for this pulling them out of the soil. As soon as you see that there is no sulfur left on them, then change the matches to new ones. In most cases, to completely destroy the midges, it is enough to replace the matches 4 times.
- You will need a weak potassium manganese solution. It should be used for systematic watering of the flower. But remember that if the concentration of the solution is strong, then it can burn the root system of the plant.
- Water the affected plant with a mild soap solution.
- Peel 3 heads of garlic and chop finely. Pour them into a container, where pour 1 liter of freshly boiled water. The mixture that has been infused for 4 hours must be filtered. Spray the ground part of the flower with the infusion, and also pour it on the substrate in the pot. It should be noted that after processing, the room will smell like garlic.
- The orange peel must be cut into pieces and inserted into the contaminated soil.
- Cut the garlic cloves lengthwise. Place them on the surface of the ground, while turning the slice down.
- Raptor can also help get rid of the flower moksha.
- You will need a pencil against insects (for example, "Mashenka"). Draw stripes on the container itself, and sprinkle the soil surface with a crumbled pencil.
- You can also use chemicals such as: "Bazudin", "Thunder-2" or Mukhoed.
If you also add information about what you mean by a weak solution of potassium permanganate, a weak soap solution and how to make them - proportions, it would be very nice of you.