By Sez0211
Clackmannanshire, United Kingdom
I went to water my house plant today and found tiny white flies and some yellow eggs in the compost. They are tiny and jumped when i watered the soil. Please can someone tell me what they are and how they can be treated? I am a total novice at gardening and house plants so any help would be greatly appreciated and received.
- 11 May, 2010
Answers
Sounds like Fugus gnats aka sciarid flies. They are tiny black and jump when disturbed. You need to find a suitable insecticide to get rid of them. Covering the surface of the compost with a good half inch deep layer of grit also helps. The larva by the way eat the plants roots so if there are a lot of them then the plant suffers.
The yellow eggs are most likely plant food.
11 May, 2010
Thank you very much for your advice. The flies are tiny white. Can i re -pot?
Thank you again.
12 May, 2010
In that case they sound more like white flies. Sciarid flies are black. Same advice though, you need to buy a specific insecticide for white fly. They are difficult to control as they breed so quickly.
12 May, 2010
Thank you very much. I will get a insecticide immediately. I have placed the plant in my garage for now to stop it spreading to another plant.
Thank you again.
12 May, 2010
the yellow eggs may be plant food in the compost when you bought them, the flies in the compost may be due to overwatering and keeping plants to damp-let them dry abit before watering if they are white flies on the leaves this is a different problem
11 May, 2010