Recent infestation of little flying insects on my plants - Ask Extension
Situation in my office with spider plants: I recently re-potted two plants with new store bought soil. One of the reasons I re-potted to begin with ...
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Recent infestation of little flying insects on my plants #616284
Asked March 09, 2020, 11:39 AM EDT
Situation in my office with spider plants: I recently re-potted two plants with new store bought soil. One of the reasons I re-potted to begin with is that one of the spider plants looked like it was sick. After re-potting with new soil, I found tiny little flying flies (smaller than fruit fly) on two of spider plants (not finding anything on my pathos plants). I dumped one of the spider plants because it was not getting better and I found the little flying things coming out of the soil. My question for you: is there a recommendation for treating the soil or the remaining spider plant? Or do I just need to throw away the 2nd spider plant and hope that the pathos remain healthy?
Ramsey County Minnesota
Expert Response
It is difficult to say for sure but I will guess that the insects are fungus gnats. It is unlikely that they were in the new soil but it is possible. They do not harm plants but are attracted to the rotted roots of over watered plants as well as damp peat moss in plant soil. If you let the plants soil dry out on top before watering and make sure that the plant has proper drainage that will help. You can get some sticky traps that will help to get rid of them as well. Here is some more info about them. https://extension.umn.edu/product-and-houseplant-pests/fungus-gnats