Hello all! I've had the pleasure of reading some of your posts and I'm thrilled to learn more. I thought I'd introduce myself before I start asking away. I've been keeping houseplants regularly for 3 years or so now and I'm looking to learn more and collect more. I also know there are several plants in my collection that may need your help.

I've started to learn what works in my house and what doesn't. I live in SW Missouri, with mostly north facing windows. I run a humidifier in my bedroom to keep my Boston ferns going. I've been using a plant light for years now and as I learned yesterday, that's probably why those plants (two lemon trees grown Pinterest style and currently my suffering jade) aren't happy. At this point I've been using bagged soil, but have learned that miracle-gro is equivalent to gnat grow and I'm currently working through a bag of Dr Earth. Most of my plants survived a fungus gnat war last year. I'd love to learn how to make my own soil and fertilize more appropriately. I realize I need to re pot many of my collection into growers pots and then use a cachepot now (I'll probably wait until spring unless you guys reccomend otherwise).

Here's a picture of my living area collection (they're not usually all on this stand). As you can see, the lemon trees and jade are hurting. The jade suffered a fall when I tried keeping it on a stand and my dog knocked it over. This is what survived. I've also attached my bedroom layout including my plants.

I also acquired 2 giant (maybe 8 ft-10 ft) ficus trees this summer from a father of a friend. He's kept them for 20 years and I want to do them justice. They've been on my back patio since June and will need to come in for Autumn. From what I understand, they're not going to do well in my home with limited light from northern facing windows.

Welcome! I'm new to the forum too.

Hi there, I'm new too but my advice would be to ask, ask, ask! This site has been a fantastic resource for my steep learning curve into the plant world. The main thing I've taken away so far is that there are different ways to achieve a healthy plant. The advice isn't a prescription

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Welcome, Cassie! It looks like you have done a good job so far with limited circumstances, i.e. light.

Available light is the most critical factor for indoor plants. If they don't get enough light, nothing else you do or don't do will matter. Plant lights help marginally but are rarely enough by themselves. It doesn't appear that the Boston Ferns hanging over your bed would ever have enough light for even low light plants.

The plants that are close to the window should be okay, but only if the window is left completely uncovered throughout the daylight hours. The plants on the lower shelves may not be getting enough light because the shelves above them are blocking a lot of the usable light.

Citrus trees require much more light than you have available. Elsewhere, I am sure you have found posts about plants that are appropriate for low light and that is pretty much what you have.

Yes, gnats do come with contaminated potting soils. To make you own pest-free potting mix, I suggest 3 or 4 parts of plain peat moss and 1 part perlite and nothing else. Keep it simple.

The less repotting you do, the better. If you are considering moving some of your previously repotted plants back into their nursery pots, I would advise against it unless you are still having gnat problems and the original rootballs are still intact. Otherwise, another repotting may do nothing more than add stress.

I have replied to your other post about the Ficus trees.

Keep your questions coming. There are lots of folks here interested in helping.

Will, I was referring to repotting the plants that don't have drainage. I had found a pilea in a 4" pot that needed to be repotted badly (there were 7 total plants I separated). I didn't realize there were so many so I used whatever I had. There's a few more without drainage, which is why I am considering getting growers pots to then insert into the pots without drainage. For now, I just plan on being very careful with how much I water.

Regarding the boston ferns, I've been wondering if they were getting enough light. They have definitely gotten better after adding the humidifer, but the one never filled out. I got them by chance when someone was throwing out all 7 of their outdoor ferns and my boyfriend hates them anyways. Any suggestions for other plants that might work there? My pothos could be trimmed to get another pot going of starts (I already have 3 starts going).

Also, the plants on the lower shelves usually aren't there. I just gathered them for a picture.

Cassie - Multiple plants in a pot are that way for a reason. Single plants often look rather puny. Many plants produce new growth only at the tips of each stem. They don't push out new stems from the soil to fill out the pot. Thus, growers pot multiple plants together.

I don't think you have enough light over your bed even for low light plants. Pothos would be a better choice then Boston Ferns. But don't use Pothos starts as they will need more light to get themselves established.

Cassie. You've come to the right place for plant growing advice. Lots of helpful folks.

Welcome, I'm a newbie too! Folks have been very helpful.

Hijacking a bit, but does the mix of peat moss to perlite (instead of soil) prevent gnats? I too am dealing with the little buggers.

@Plantani - A peat and perlite only potting mix that does not contain any other organic matter is much less likely to harbor fungus gnats, although there is no 100% guarantee.

Please provide more info on your existing problem so we can better advise you on how to deal with it. Replacing existing soil with a peat-perlite mix may not be the answer.

Will - I've only been here a short time, but I'd like to say that your wealth of knowledge and willingness to help is an asset to this forum.

I had a bunch of plants and no gnat issue, and then once I had them, they seemed to get into everything. I've been potting with organic bagged soil and adding extra perlite to it for better drainage. I don't think I'm over-watering, I've tried watering from the bottom, but they're still there. I've been researching ways to get rid of them (neem oil, etc) but haven't taken the plunge on any method yet (except for sticky traps which it looks like I'll need a lot of).

Do all or most plants do well in just peat + perlite?

Thank you for the compliment, Ani. It seems that the packaged potting soil you have used is contaminated with gnat larvae. This is all too common a problem. That is why I often recommend using Pro-MIx if you can find it, or a mix of plain peat moss and perlite. The ratio of perlite can be increased for succulents and other plants that need to dry out more quickly.

If you repotted recently and left the original rootballs intact, consider undoing the repotting, removing the soil you used and putting the plants back into their original pots. Otherwise, remove any soil you added to the top of the original rootballs and then allow the soil to dry out as much as possible to derive the larvae of the moisture they need to survive.

For the future, avoid repotting unless absolutely necessary.

Hi & welcome to this forum too, @Crofton09 I think I said Hi to you over on GW.

Peat is organic matter (OM), and each type of peat is the same stuff regardless of brand. Gnats could as likely be breeding in a bag of 100% peat as in any potting soil, which is usually peat + a little perlite, or other mixes that have any kind of organic matter in them. For any of this kind of stuff, if the bag is opened and allowed to become dry after purchase, that should kill any gnats &/or larvae that might be living in there. Bags (any brand, with any kind of OM) that are stored outside and exposed to rain are more likely to have gnats in them than completely dry bags from inside. All it takes is one tiny hole for adults to be able to get in and lay eggs.

Scientists teach that fungus gnats thrive in peat, and what I have seen tracks along with that info:
https://ag.umass.edu/greenhous...
http://cues.cfans.umn.edu/old/...
http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/...
https://extension.colostate.ed...
https://gardenerdy.com/fungus-...

Articles about peat being unsustainable are numerous and concerning. I stopped using it before becoming aware of that aspect, and all of my plants are more happy without it.

@Plantani there are various products with BTi in them that, when added to your watering can, will kill the larvae in the soil of your plants, breaking the cycle and ending the infestation. BTi is a naturally occurring bacteria that is harmless to humans, pets, fish, birds.

Because nearly all indoor potting mixes contain peat moss, it is peat that is assumed to be the problem with gnats. However, in virtually all cases the peat is also mixed with other organic materials such as pine bark, soil and compost and that is where the gnat larvae are typically introduced. Even sealed bags of such mixes often harbor gnat larvae.

I have used plain peat moss and plain peat-based potting mixes for many years and never had a gnat problem with them.

Regardless of the potting mix, the best antidote is to never repot unnecessarily and allow the soil to dry out deeper into the pot than you think is advisable. Fungus gnats are almost always a sign of soil that is staying too moist and that leads to a bigger problem - root suffocation (rot). It is quite possible to successfully eradicate the fungus gnats without dealing with the underlying problem and thereby losing the plant. When that happens it is often assumed that it was the gnats that killed the plant.

Always assume the fungus gnats are a SYMPTOM of a problem other than the gnats themselves.

Thanks Will - this is helpful and a good reminder that plants don't need as much water as we think they do.

You guys are great. Thank you. I haven't dealt with gnats since I repotted this summer. I see a few every now and again, but not in my plants that I can tell.

And yes, I've joined both GardenWeb and this forum, thanks for the double welcome, Tiffany! I wasn't sure which forum would be more active.

My addiction is becoming very real. I saw a beautiful fiddle leaf at my local hyvee hidden behind some other tropicals Tuesday and I didn't get it. First, I'm not certain if it will do well in my current conditions. Secondly, it looked a little damaged at the very top of the plant, around the "trunk" area... a little black if that makes sense. It was a steal though at $25 and at least 2 ft tall, with an adorable arrangement of pothos at the base. Does anybody have thoughts to share on this find (if it's still there to purchase later)?

My pleasure :+)

If you have a spot where the sun can shine right on the leaves of that FLF for at least an hour per day or more, it should be relatively happy, assuming the other basic conditions are also amenable (temp, moisture, no cold drafts.) The Pothos would also be fun, if you like to trim, probably needing to be trimmed often so it does not take over the tree, grab onto the wall, or take root in the carpet.