The rookie gardening lessons continue.
This is more of an observation abut those darn fungus gnats. I just received "mosquito bits" in the mail, and will be watering all six jade plants that includes a mix of BTI on Monday. Last Friday, I implemented the "sticky traps," which are nothing more than yellow two-sided tape. But, let me tell you they work well.
Sticky traps pose zero threat to your plants and are very effective at killing the adult fungus gnats. Originally, I thought I had four or five buggers flying around my plants. No big deal, but yes, a nuisance for an indoor plant. So, I insert one sticky trap for each of the six jade plants. In 1 hour, I caught 8 gnats. In 24 hours, I caught 20 gnats. In 48 hours, I killed 40 of these little flying bugs. Then, things settled down. Most of the problem was solved as I awaited the "mosquito bits/BTI formula," right? Wrong.
I re-potted all 6 plants to improve drainage a week ago. I thought that might help with the gnats, too. So, I pulled the sticky traps out for a couple of days, and didn't replace them immediately. Oops. Yesterday, I put the sticky traps back out. This morning, I have another 6 of those buggers trapped. Wow.....that was a learning experience.
So, as I've been told by many of you, getting rid of fungus gnats is a two-step process. The adult gnats can be managed with sticky traps. But, those little buggers lay 100-300 eggs in their 6 day lifespan. As a result, new gnats start re-appearing every single day. The larvae needs to be killed, too.
The lesson learned is you need to kill both the larvae and the adult gnats. Many of you already told me this, and I thank you for the sage advice. i just wanted to share my observations for any new gardners that might be experiencing the same thing.
"Mosquito bits" to be implemented on Monday. That larvae will be gone over the next few waterings.
Once again, great advice from all of you.
Final question: Do you ever get rid of fungus gnats completely?
