Mmmmick
Well-Known Member
Tiny little flies live in the soil and die when they land on cfls. They look like the normal fly variety, leaves arent being eaten. Any ideas out there?
wct
They are most likely fungus gnats. The adults don't eat the leaves but the larva in the soil will eat organic matter. They aren't a problem unless you have a lot of them but they can cause root damage if numerous.
1/2" to an inch of washed screened sand on the soil will keep the adults from laying. I used unsalted garlic powder on the soil surface to drive them out and yellow Sticky Stiks from Walmart to trap the adults. A saucer of fruit jiuce is said to trap adults. I tried that with plastic wrap stretched over the saucer, a few holes poked in the plastic with a toothpick or needle. If you try the garlic powder do it before you use the sand and give things a couple of days then put the sand in place.
It's effective to allow your plants to dry thoroughly to keep gnats from breeding. They are on a 2 week breeding cycle so you may have more show up in a couple of weeks. Just repeat your treatments and you should be able to knock them down.
Neem oil is said to be effective as well but I don't like the feel of the leaves when using neem.