Fungus Gnats Begone

PLANT DOCTOR

FUNGUS GNATS

These tiny flying things can swarm around your indoor plants but other than annoyance, are they killing your plants?

Those tiny little flies that hang around your fruit bowl or indoor plants aren’t always that same thing. 
Sometimes they’re confused with fruit flies, or even ordinary house flies, but none of those two are correct. Inevitably they’re up to no good but how to tell them apart?

• There are fungus gnats and fermentation flies.
• they are attracted to different things.
• Fermentation or vinegar flies tend to hang around the fruit bowl, especially if you've got overripe fruit because vinegar flies are attracted to sugars.
• Fungus gnats are smaller, flitting around erratically: the adults of which are attracted to moisture.
• the adults are doing much if anything to your plants other than laying lots of eggs, although there is evidence that they can transmit plant diseases.
• The larvae can be the problem because the feed on the roots of your plants.

Fungus gnats -magnified heaps.

• Remember: Vinegar or fermentation flies are attracted to sugary treats, such as over-ripe fruits, whereas fungus gnats are attracted to moisture such as overly wet potting medium.
• Greenhouses can also have an outbreak of fungus gnats.

Where do they come from?

Came with the plants you bought or from potting mix.

How to stop them?

• Keep your soil medium a bit on the dry side.
• Drench the potting mix with neem oil which will control the juvenile stages.
• Make a sticky trap using vaseline to trap the adults.
• Use a type of mulch the prevents the adult fungus gnats burrowing into the soil to lay the eggs.
• Worst case, repot with fresh potting mix.
• Greenhouse control can be with predatory insects.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast.

I'm talking with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Dahlias and Snails

 PLANT DOCTOR

What's Wrong With My Dahlias?

Dahlias are collectible in that once you start growing them, it's hard to not to want more every time you look at a plant catalogue.

If you want more proof, then look no further than the dahlia societies www.dahliasaustralia.org.au which exist in four states, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

But dahlias need some looking after if you want perfect show quality blooms.

One horror is holes in leaves of your precious plants.

What could cause that?

One culprit could be caterpillars or grasshoppers.

Another is one of the worst marauders appear in just about every garden,  and every gardener wants them to be gone.

• Snails is what I’m talking about, those slimy leaf munching pests that multiply rapidly and even climb shrubs and trees.

• Did you know that inside a snail's mouth there is a file-like 'radula' that scrapes the leaves and flowers.
• Snails are also hermaphrodite, meaning that after mating, each of them can go off and lay eggs, up to 100!

Snail Patrol or Control:

So, what do you do to try and reduce their numbers?

The big tip is to be vigilant and control their numbers before they outnumber your plants.

Copper sprays are good to control those small snails that have climbed up into the foliage.

Coffee sprays are also known to control snails.

General prevention or control-bit of a mixed bag as to their effectiveness.

1. Classic beer trap
2. Diatomaceous earth
3. Ring of ash.
4. Crushed eggshells

• Thin copper tape is better to control snails climbing up into pots or into trees.

One thing we forgot to mention is that natural predators like ducks or blue tongue lizards are a great help.

You may not want ducks, but you can think about creating a blue tongue lizard friendly garden.
That’s in another segment.
Listen to the podcast.
I'm talking with Steve Falcioni of www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au





If you want more information about snails or have some feedback why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.