In order to get rid of midges on flowers, it is not necessary to use poisonous insecticides. To begin with, you can try several effective folk remedies for exterminating uninvited guests.
Getting rid of midges in indoor flowers with ammonia in the apartment, Nystatin
To treat flowers with ammonia against midges, mix 50 ml of ammonia and 4 liters of water. The resulting solution is used to water the flowers. As a result, the midges disappear, and the plants receive available nitrogen fertilizer.
Nystatin is an antifungal medicinal product for the treatment of candidiasis. It is not suitable for baiting midges.
How to quickly get rid of midges in home flowers using dichlorvos and ammonia
Dichlorvos can get rid of midges very quickly, but not on plants. The drug causes a burn on the leaves. It is better to use an insecticide for plants - Actellik or Alatar. Be sure to replace the soil in the pots.
To get rid of midges using ammonia, dilute 1 tbsp. l. ammonia in 2 liters of water and water the plants. Use a spray bottle to treat window sills and pots with plants.
How to get rid of midges in flowers using folk remedies using potassium permanganate, using garlic
To get rid of midges, use potassium permanganate to apply a weak solution so that it appears colorless in the palm of your hand. Plants are watered and sprayed with the solution once a week for a month.
You can get rid of midges using a head of garlic if the insects have just appeared on the plant and have not had time to lay many eggs. The garlic is cut into slices and laid out on top of the ground in flower pots, midges cannot tolerate the garlic smell and prefer to leave the plant.
How to get rid of midges in indoor flowers using matches, tobacco, ammonia
To get rid of midges using ammonia, use a solution of ammonia (25 ml per 2 liters of water). The resulting solution is used to water the soil in the flowers.
You can try the traditional method of getting rid of insects using matches. Matches are stuck into the ground of the pot, heads down, at equal distances from each other, and the plant is watered. Change matches every other day for a week.
The strong smell of tobacco also repels insects. To destroy adult midges, prepare an infusion - pour 50 grams of tobacco with a liter of water and leave for two days. Then add another liter of water, filter and spray the plants for several weeks.
How to get rid of midges in flower pots with orchids
To get rid of midges in orchids, replace the soil (wood bark) - wash the roots to remove larvae, and fill the pots with dry bark. To get rid of adult midges, use sticky tape. In the future, the orchids should not be over-watered so that new midges do not breed.
Preventing the appearance of midges in flowers
To prevent midges from infesting plants, the soil should not be filled with water before next watering The top layer of soil must dry out. Use store-bought fertilizer that does not contain organic residues. Avoid fertilizing the soil with tea leaves and organic fertilizers self-made.
Small flies that breed in the soil are marsh insects, and appear if the plant is not watered correctly. Excessively moist soil begins to turn sour, and earth flies love this environment. Insects can also be found in poor-quality purchased soil or migrate from an infected plant.
To prevent the appearance of midges in the house or to get rid of them, caring for flowers should be especially careful. It is necessary to water the plants not too often and abundantly to prevent waterlogging of the soil. If midges do appear, then it is better to reduce watering: the clutch of eggs laid by the sciarids on the surface of the dry soil will die.
Advice: It is easy to diagnose soil contamination with sciarids: when dry, it looks like sand, and even when moist, the soil is crumbly.
In order to prevent soil contamination by midges, coal, bark, pine needles, coconut fiber, and peat are added to it. Thanks to such components, the larvae do not reproduce. Works great pre-processing soil low temperatures, for which it is enough to leave it in the cold or in the refrigerator for several hours. You can also heat the soil in the oven - these measures will help get rid of midge larvae.
In order not to provoke the appearance of flies, you should not use organic additives to feed house plants (drunk tea, coffee grounds, fallen leaves), they begin to rot, and larvae quickly develop in such an environment.
You need to check the roots from time to time to make sure they haven't started to rot. If you feel bad smell dampness, you should cut off the rotten areas, treat the roots with a solution of potassium permanganate, dry and carefully replant the flower in fresh soil. It is better to temporarily limit watering.
Folk remedies for fighting earth flies
Having noticed that there are midges in flower pots, you need to find out where they came from. If we are talking about fruit flies, you need to take measures to get rid of them, because most often these insects appear and breed in the kitchen or bathroom.
You can kill earth flies using home remedies or commercial insect repellents.
Advice: The simplest remedy is to water the plants several times with a solution of potassium permanganate or soapy water. This method is safe, but it cannot be used too often; the flower may die.
If all home remedies have been exhausted, you will have to resort to more effective remedies. The Mosquito Killer device, which will help get rid of various insects in the house, has proven itself. Attracting them with infrared light, as well as emitted carbon dioxide (to imitate the secretions of human skin), the device draws the midges inside, where they die on a energized grid.
You can use regular fly sticks by attaching them near house plants. If this does not help, special chemicals are usually used, which can be purchased at a flower shop. Such drugs as “Grom-2”, “Zemlin”, “Mukhoed”, “Bazudin” are popular. They are low-toxic and completely safe for use in the home. Nevertheless, such products must be used carefully, diluted in accordance with the instructions, do not allow the solution to come into contact with the mucous membrane, and ensure that the drugs are inaccessible to children and pets.
Advice: It is convenient to use Thunder-2 powder - just sprinkle it on the soil, limiting watering for 3-4 days.
“Aktara” works quite effectively: the drug will help eliminate insects without damaging the flower. It is diluted in a proportion of 0.1 g of powder per liter of water, and the plant is watered with the solution at intervals of several days. As a rule, two or three treatments are enough to kill the midges and larvae.
The appearance of earth flies is not yet a death sentence for house plant, it’s quite possible to defeat them, you just need to take more care of the colors and apply available funds to get rid of insects.
Among the reasons for the appearance of midges are:
- Frequent, unnecessary watering of indoor flowers. Insects flying into the room from the street through open windows, pursue the goal: to lay eggs in the soil of a flower pot. The eggs hatch into larvae that feed on the sap of the plant’s root system, causing it to wither over time. A favorable environment for the development of worms is warm soil, supersaturated with moisture.
- Planting a plant in soil that has been infected with eggs and larvae.
- The presence in the apartment of purchased vegetables and fruits on which small flies live.
Types of midges
Often indoor flowers are attacked by:
- Sciarides. Adults are black in color and do not damage indoor plants. Such black midges only bother people around them with their presence, constantly landing on the body and getting into plates and cups. Sciarid larvae are easy to recognize - small white worms with a black mark on the head in the form of a black dot. The objects of attack by black midges are often flowers with leaves of a dense consistency: orchids, ficus, violets, etc.
- Fruit midges. They are most often found in vegetables. Moist, waterlogged, poorly draining soil is an excellent habitat for fruit gnats.
- Springtails(pored). Adult insects have white, sometimes with a yellow-brown tint. Small (1 to 5 mm) white midges become active with the beginning of spring or winter. Such earth flies prefer to settle on plants with soft leaves, for example, fuchsia and begonia, geranium and asparagus.
- . Pests of this species live on roses, which are suitable for growing in city apartments. Thrips are black, very small in size - you cannot immediately detect the insects. The consequences of their vital activity on roses become noticeable over time through the appearance of spots, holes on the leaves, and the formation of buds irregular shape. Thrips often live in orchids.
Not only store-bought specialized products, but also folk remedies will effectively help fight midges.
Sciarida
Destruction of pests using folk methods and means
If there are midges in the flowers, and there is no extra money to buy special chemicals, then you can use folk remedies to combat insects, among which the following are known:
- Potassium permangantsovka. Watering the affected soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate once a week will help destroy the larvae. It is important not to water with a solution of strong concentration - the plant may die. If indoor flowers have obvious signs wilting, are not limited to one watering. It will require replanting into another pot with new disinfected soil, and damaged plant roots must be immersed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 10 minutes before planting.
- Garlic cloves. Cut garlic cloves release substances that protect the flower from flying insects. If chopped garlic (3 heads are enough) is poured with water (1 liter) and after 4 days the solution is filtered, you will get an excellent remedy that destroys larvae in the soil. And when a plant is sprayed with such a solution, adult thrips living on the leaves and inside the buds of roses die.
- Soap solution. Cook weak soap solution better as follows: 50 gr. dissolve soap in 2.5 l hot water. Treat the flower with the prepared product by spraying. Repeat the treatment procedure once a week.
- Wood ash. Plant ash is an excellent remedy for midges and fertilizer. Sprinkling ash on the soil in flower pots is a sure way to repel insects.
- Adhesive tape. Intrusive flower midges will stick to the tape hung next to the flowerpot, and the number of flying pests will be significantly reduced.
- Chalk from cockroaches. To protect against house flies You should sprinkle the surface of the flowerpot with crushed chalk from cockroaches “Mashenka”.
When folk remedies do not help cope with insects, you should try to use a chemical control option using specialized means.
Specialty chemicals
The assortment of hardware stores is abundant chemicals, to which is attached detailed instructions, explaining what to do and what precautions to take. Correct adherence to the instructional steps guarantees short terms get rid of pest problems at home. The following insecticides are widely known and sold in stores:
Dichlorvos. Insects die over time from its effects, since the drug inhibits nervous system insects. There is a known instruction that allows using dichlorvos to kill not only the individuals living outside, but also the larvae developing in the soil of indoor plants. To do this, you need to wait until the soil becomes dry and loosen the soil. Place a bag on the flowerpot with the plant, which must be fixed at the required height so that it does not crush the leaves. Spray dichlorvos into the ground. Tie the bag tightly. Wait 5 hours. Repeat the procedure after 1 week.
Solutions. Among the solutions, the most popular are: Fitoverm, Grom-2 and Kinmiks. When preparing solutions, it is important to maintain proportions. After treatment with the product, you can water the plant only after 3 days. Before the procedure for disinfecting the soil of the ground part of an indoor flower with a chemical, it is recommended to vacuum all the cracks in the room and additionally place sticky traps; do not open the windows for 24 hours.
The use of chemicals requires compliance with safety precautions. Before processing flowers, you must wear thick rubber gloves, a respirator, goggles and a protective gown.
How to remove midges if they appear again? Compliance with the rules of prevention will get rid of uninvited guests.
Prevention rules
To prevent small midges from infesting again, you must:
- Follow the plant watering schedule and monitor the volume of water.
- Make holes in the pots and pour special granules into the bottom to ensure drainage - the water will not stagnate in the pot.
- Regularly loosen the soil to prevent rotting of the soil.
When midges in indoor flowers cannot be removed on your own, you should seek advice from a specialist.
Caring for plants is painstaking but enjoyable work. To ensure that indoor flowers are always pleasing to the eye, you need to try to timely detect and remove the source of the problem leading to deterioration in the condition of the plants.
Indoor plants are a joy for every person in the house; they add coziness and perfectly complement the interior. Yes and indoor plants fill your room with oxygen. But even if you regularly care for them, this does not give complete confidence that harmful midges will not settle in them. Many people have at least once encountered pests such as the flower fly. In this article you will learn how to deal with floaters.
Most often appear in flowers V winter time year. During this period, the plants are very weak. If you find that your flowers have flies, the first thing you need to do is find out how much they damaged the plant. The flower is affected not only by the flies themselves, but also by their larvae. If you do not start fighting right away, the plant may die.
First you need to dig up the soil in the pot and see if there are fly larvae there, since it is much easier to get rid of insects than to get rid of their offspring.
Types of pests
Flower flies belong to the Diptera family and have about 2 thousand species. However, not all of them are found in our apartments, only a few types:
The reason for the appearance of flies
It is worth remembering that if you water your flowers frequently and abundantly, you create all the conditions for the appearance and reproduction of flies. Also can lead to the appearance of flies the following factors:
How to deal with the problem
How to get rid of midges in indoor flowers? There are many ways to control pests, both folk remedies and chemical ones. Remember the flower treatment algorithm:
Midges in flowers, how to get rid of them using folk remedies? Our grandmothers knew well effective ways:
Treating your plants traditional methods is much safer than using chemicals.
Chemicals
There are both liquid and dry preparations. It is most reliable to use safe preparations that are suitable for your plant individually.
Liquid means the plant is watered with a course: once a week, for 14 days. After watering the procedure, it is not recommended to water it with ordinary water for five days.
If the drug is used in granules, then it must be mixed with the top layer of soil. And aerosols are also not inferior in effectiveness; they instantly kill harmful midges. The aerosol contains substances that are harmless to people and plants.
Prevention measures
When you have already dealt with a problem, you need to do everything to avoid encountering it again . To prevent midges from bothering you, you need to do a few things: simple rules:
It should be remembered that each flower has its own characteristics of care, so it’s worth choosing methods of disposal and prevention individually. By adhering to the most common rules of plant prevention and care, you will help provide all the conditions for the growth and flowering of your favorite flowers.
To create comfortable conditions For green pets, adherents of home floriculture are ready to go to great lengths: buy expensive fertilizers, special ones, regularly turn the pots around their axis and let the water sit for days for irrigation. But even the most careful care does not always guarantee protection against the appearance of midges in indoor flowers.
Why do midges appear in indoor flowers?
Traditionally, the appearance of foreign animals in flower pots is recorded during the off-season, when flower growers do not have time to readjust and switch to a new regime of watering their pets. As a result, the soil becomes waterlogged, thereby creating ideal conditions for the reproduction of various midges. It should be noted that in most cases insects interfere with the life not only of the plants themselves, but also of their owners, spoiling appearance homes and getting into cups and plates.
So, a problem has been discovered - midges have appeared in indoor flowers, what to do and how to get rid of uninvited guests? The fight against them will require the gardener to be systematic, persistent and integrated approach, because even treating the above-ground part of the plant cannot guarantee that no pest larvae remain in the soil. The main preventive measure against midges in indoor flowers is strict adherence to the drinking regime of plants and avoiding stagnation of water in pots.
Small white midges on indoor flowers
Outwardly resembling a moth, but many times smaller, small white midges on indoor flowers are nothing more than. Adults lay eggs on succulent leaves domestic plants so that the larvae that hatch from them can feast on the nutritious cell juice without interference. As a result, discolored spots appear on the leaves, the leaves dry out and fall off. Large colonies of whiteflies can devastate an entire home greenhouse in a short time.
Black midges on indoor flowers
Similar to fruit flies, small black midges in indoor flowers are called fungus gnats. Their appearance in an apartment is a sure sign that a source of dampness has formed somewhere. Adult sciarids do not harm plants, but their larvae pose a serious threat to flooded and rotting roots. Infection of plants with sciarids can occur either by air or through poorly treated soil.
Flying midges in indoor flowers
It also happens that flower pots become habitats for fruit flies or fruit flies. This is the most harmless type of midge that does not harm either plants or people, causing the latter only psychological discomfort. If in indoor flower started, it is necessary to deprive them of all possible sources of food (rotting vegetables, fruits, tea leaves, coffee, etc.), and then destroy all adult individuals using traps or a regular vacuum cleaner.
Soil midge in indoor flowers
Ground flies in indoor flowers are called springtails or springtails. Their body length ranges from 0.2 to 1 mm, and any energizer would envy their activity - most of the day they busily jump from leaf to leaf, scurry along the surface of the soil, populating it with their larvae. If you look closely on the surface of the soil in a pot, you will notice clusters of these small insects.
Adult healthy plants are not afraid of soil midges in indoor flowers. They even play an important role, participating in the process of decomposition of organic matter and saturating the soil with oxygen. Pord larvae living in flower pots, carrying fungi that cause diseases and eating up rotten roots, are dangerous only for flooded or diseased flowers.
Folk remedies for midges in indoor flowers
The gardener must understand that if midges appear in indoor flowers, and especially flying midges, there is a high probability that the attack will soon spread throughout the home flower garden. And although adults do not chew leaves or drink plant sap, they lay eggs, from which very voracious larvae hatch. Having noticed midges hovering around your green pet, it is necessary to take comprehensive measures: remove excess moisture, treat with insecticides and replant in uninfested soil.
Let's take a closer look at how to remove midges from indoor flowers:
- Step 1 – adjust the humidity. It makes sense to start fighting midges only after the top layer of soil in the pot dries out at least 2 cm.
- Step 2 – we start hunting for adult insects. To do this, we use purchased or homemade (made from yellow paper coated with a layer of honey) Velcro tapes or a regular vacuum cleaner.
- Step 3 – destroy the larvae in the soil. The simplest way, but at the same time requiring money and time, is to transplant the plant into new pot with clean land. But with a small scale of damage, to combat the larvae, it makes sense to use one of the means at hand: ammonia, match sulfur, garlic, potassium permanganate, vinegar, tobacco, etc.
Ammonia for midges on indoor flowers
An excellent option for treating indoor flowers against midges - available in any medicine cabinet ammonia. Dissolve 50 grams of ammonia in 4 liters of water and get an excellent 2-in-1 remedy - a midge repeller for indoor flowers and nitrogen fertilizer. It can be used to treat the aerial parts of flowers from a spray bottle and destroy adult individuals, as well as for root feeding and the simultaneous destruction of pest larvae and eggs. Spraying can be repeated at intervals of 7-10 days until a sustainable effect is achieved.
Potassium permanganate against midges in flowers
Another remedy that helps not only get rid of unpleasant flying tenants, but also significantly strengthen green pets is potassium permanganate. To prevent the product from harming the delicate root system of plants, potassium permanganate is used against midges in flowers, the solution of which has a soft pink color. This concentration is sufficient to slow down putrefactive processes and leave pests without food. To achieve the effect, water the plant with it at least twice, each time allowing the soil in the pot to dry thoroughly.
Acetic acid from midges on house flowers
Regular vinegar will help to permanently ward off midges that have bred in indoor flowers from your home. Dilute 1 teaspoon or apple cider vinegar in 1 liter of clean, settled water and we get effective remedy How to poison midges in flowers. In addition to the insecticidal effect, the vinegar solution has another beneficial effect - the leaves of plants after such treatment acquire a healthy shine and luster. The vinegar solution can be used for protective spraying or as a preventative wipe on the leaves of indoor flowers.
Tobacco against midges in flowers
An effective and inexpensive remedy against midges in flowers is tobacco. Its pungent odor repels insects and prevents them from laying eggs. There are two ways to use tobacco. In the first case, the soil in the pot is carefully loosened, and then a layer of tobacco is laid on its surface. In the second, an infusion is prepared from it by pouring 40 grams of raw material with 1 liter of boiling water and, after cooling, watering the soil in the affected pots. This product has a strong odor, so it is not suitable for all gardeners.
Cinnamon against midges in indoor flowers
As you know, midges in indoor flowers feed on rotting organic matter. Ordinary cinnamon will help to leave them without food, slowing down the putrefactive processes. Like tobacco, it can be used to sprinkle the surface of the soil and as a solution. If you are looking for something to water indoor flowers against midges, and at the same time significantly improve general atmosphere in the home, then there is nothing better than cinnamon, which has a pleasant aroma and stimulating effect.
Preparation for midges in indoor flowers
In the case when not a single home remedy allows you to achieve the desired result and despite all the watering, traps and spraying, the midges in indoor flowers do not go away, it is time to use the “heavy artillery” - purchased insecticides. A toxic greenhouse will help disinfect flowers with maximum effect and minimal harm to everyone living in the house. Processing must be carried out in the following sequence:
- Allow the top layer of soil in the pot to dry thoroughly and gently loosen it.
- Place the pot with the flower in a strong plastic bag of such a size that, after tying, there remains an air cushion between the walls of the bag and the leaves of the plant. To commit a package to correct position You can use strips and tape.
- Spray the selected midge repellent in indoor flowers onto the surface of the soil and the inner walls of the bag: “Dichlorvos”, “Raptor”, “Neo”, “Raid”, “Karbafos” or others.
- Carefully tie the bag and leave for 6-8 hours, then remove the pot from the toxic greenhouse and water the plant.