Ficus elastica tineke

[Colinb07958]

Hi all

i recently bought a ficus elastica tineke and it has quite a lot of fungus gnats.

when I saw it in the garden centre i did notice a couple scuttling over the earth but just thought they were not an issue and would just fly off.

I put the pot inside a ceramic one. A few days later lifted it out and found 5 in the bottom which I hoovered. My dad has a generic resolva bug spray so sprayed the soil directly and then see a few more scuttled around. I have temporarily put a layer of cling film over the earth and covered the ceramic ot to try to quaran a bit as I don’t really have a seperate area.

I have looked online at the various options. Have ordered the sticky traps but I need to get rid of the larvae. I was thinking I should repot it but have seen quite a few review online where people have bought various potting mix and it has been infested with fungus gnats. I have also seen the mosquito bits but they seem very expensive.

The last option is to throw the plant as worried about getting lots in my others, having said that, I already had a handful of gnat before I bought this plant, however it does seem like there are a lot on the Ficus.

Any suggestions?

 

[Tetters]

The one thing that encourages fungus gnats (sciarid fly) is overwatering, in fact it causes lots of problems in the winter months especially. The sticky traps are good, and they do work, so there`s a plus for you.
I would be tempted to repot this plant now that spring is (nearly) here , and throw away old compost on the garden outside. Wash the roots carefully with tepid water to minimise any larvae. Nurseries/supermarkets should have small bags of compost for sale now which have been stored inside, and won`t be wet.
I`m not sure what you mean by ''mosquito bits'' ??

 

[Colinb07958]

I decided to repot. I just bought a houseplant report mix and pearlite. Used 60/40 as per a you tuber.

the mosquito bits are something you can soak in water then water plant and it kill the larvae but they come from america. Amazon sell for £26. It’s a bit expensive.

hopefully the repot will help and I am also using the sticky traps. Still have a few in my flat but will just keep an eye out. The soil on the repot is pretty moist. I did read that you can put stones on top and that stop them get to soil in first place.

 

[Jewell]

I have covered my soil about 5 cm thick with sharp sand of a pleasant brown color from the craft store and also place some sand at the bottom of the cache pots for plants really infested. I also did the same for any nearby plants. (I keep all my house plants in nursery pots inside decorative pots) After spraying didn’t work this has saved me from repotting with new soil. Being more aware of my watering also helped.