Gnats

[MeloMarl]

So yesterday I was on my laptop and noticed something like a little fruit fly flying around in front of my screen. I killed it and waited until today to see if I would notice any more and I saw another one. I started looking in to this and found out they are called gnats. I checked my soil from my ficus tree and saw this tiny little white thing moving around. I am planning on taking my ficus tree out and re-potting it tomorrow. I just bought a new umbrella plant today and re-potted it so hopefully that one is ok. Does anyone have any tips on how to re-pot these plants to decrease the chance of these coming back?.. I have probably spotted about 3. I am not sure if they are harmful to chameleons or not but I don't want to take the chance, and they are annoying so I want to get rid of them

 

[SaintJimmy]

So yesterday I was on my laptop and noticed something like a little fruit fly flying around in front of my screen. I killed it and waited until today to see if I would notice any more and I saw another one. I started looking in to this and found out they are called gnats. I checked my soil from my ficus tree and saw this tiny little white thing moving around. I am planning on taking my ficus tree out and re-potting it tomorrow. I just bought a new umbrella plant today and re-potted it so hopefully that one is ok. Does anyone have any tips on how to re-pot these plants to decrease the chance of these coming back?.. I have probably spotted about 3. I am not sure if they are harmful to chameleons or not but I don't want to take the chance, and they are annoying so I want to get rid of them

I know how to repot bonsai plants but I don't know if they're the same technique as big plants.

First you take out the plant and dirt completely from the plastic pot.

Usually the capillaries of the plant roots go all the way down to the bottom because the plant has been sitting in the same dirt for so long trying to get all the nutrients.

You want to take a hose and gently wash away all the dirt from the little roots until you can see the bigger main roots.

Cut most of the tangly messy tiny roots off. Leave about half of them on, and then kinda trim them down so they're not as messy.

Then take potting soil, find a pot you like, (if the pot has a hole at the bottom put a coffee filter over it) and cover the bottom in a thin-ish layer of potting soil. Then put the plant in and fill the pot up, making sure the plant is snug under all the dirt.

Pack the dirt in, add some more on the top (gently pack it in I mean).

Then water it and make sure the water is absorbed and goes through.

Maybe sit the plant in a bowl so you can be sure the water is absorbed by the newly healing roots.

After maybe a couple hours, take the plant out, find some large stones (big enough so your cham cannot eat them) and place them on top of the dirt. That way he cannot get a blockage in his gut due to dirt.

Good luck

 

[MeloMarl]

I know how to repot bonsai plants but I don't know if they're the same technique as big plants.

First you take out the plant and dirt completely from the plastic pot.

Usually the capillaries of the plant roots go all the way down to the bottom because the plant has been sitting in the same dirt for so long trying to get all the nutrients.

You want to take a hose and gently wash away all the dirt from the little roots until you can see the bigger main roots.

Cut most of the tangly messy tiny roots off. Leave about half of them on, and then kinda trim them down so they're not as messy.

Then take potting soil, find a pot you like, (if the pot has a hole at the bottom put a coffee filter over it) and cover the bottom in a thin-ish layer of potting soil. Then put the plant in and fill the pot up, making sure the plant is snug under all the dirt.

Pack the dirt in, add some more on the top (gently pack it in I mean).

Then water it and make sure the water is absorbed and goes through.

Maybe sit the plant in a bowl so you can be sure the water is absorbed by the newly healing roots.

After maybe a couple hours, take the plant out, find some large stones (big enough so your cham cannot eat them) and place them on top of the dirt. That way he cannot get a blockage in his gut due to dirt.

Good luck

Earlier today when I re potted my new umbrella plant I just took out of the plastic thing it came in and put it in the new pot that I bought and had added some soil underneath and around and on top, packed it good and covered it with rocks then put just under a cup of water in it because I had messed with the roots from the first one I had and over watered it and I don't want to do that again lol. Hopefully that's good enough. I'm gonna have to re-pot this ficus tree tomorrow

 

[Video Master]

Gnats are just annoying and repotting should take care of the eggs. Just get as much of the old dirt/soil off as you can and use some nice fresh organic dirt/soil. We deal with lots of mosquito's and gnats here in Minnesota.

 

[MeloMarl]

Gnats are just annoying and repotting should take care of the eggs. Just get as much of the old dirt/soil off as you can and use some nice fresh organic dirt/soil. We deal with lots of mosquito's and gnats here in Minnesota.

I have seen about 3 of them and I just want them out. Is there any way that they could transfer to my other pot that I just re potted earlier today?

 

[SaintJimmy]

Earlier today when I re potted my new umbrella plant I just took out of the plastic thing it came in and put it in the new pot that I bought and had added some soil underneath and around and on top, packed it good and covered it with rocks then put just under a cup of water in it because I had messed with the roots from the first one I had and over watered it and I don't want to do that again lol. Hopefully that's good enough. I'm gonna have to re-pot this ficus tree tomorrow

You need to get rid of as much as the old soil as possible. That is why I recommended that huge process, because the gnats are nesting in the old gross wet soil.

What you could do tomorrow is simply remove the dirt from the many roots of your nursery plant, then you can skip the root cutting part. Just stick it back in the pot and add more clean dirt.

EDIT I am having gnats problem too, so I am going to do this tomorrow actually.

 

[pigglett79]

I add sand to the bottom and top to help w drainage and to help prevent gnats. This eradicated them from my chameleon cages. Now they are in my frog frank and it is new substrate that I don't plan on changing out any time soon. I learned a new trick though, put slices of raw potato on the soil. The larvae are all attracted to the potato. You then change out the potato slices each day until they are gone.

 

[MeloMarl]

You need to get rid of as much as the old soil as possible. That is why I recommended that huge process, because the gnats are nesting in the old gross wet soil.

What you could do tomorrow is simply remove the dirt from the many roots of your nursery plant, then you can skip the root cutting part. Just stick it back in the pot and add more clean dirt.

EDIT I am having gnats problem too, so I am going to do this tomorrow actually.

The umbrella plant that I purchased and re potted wasn't really wet to be honest and I didn't see anything moving around in there so I didn't bother removing any of the soil but my ficus tree is the one with the gnats

 

[MeloMarl]

I add sand to the bottom and top to help w drainage and to help prevent gnats. This eradicated them from my chameleon cages. Now they are in my frog frank and it is new substrate that I don't plan on changing out any time soon. I learned a new trick though, put slices of raw potato on the soil. The larvae are all attracted to the potato. You then change out the potato slices each day until they are gone.

I am gonna do that potato trick tomorrow after I re pot just to make sure that I got all of those annoying things out. How much slices should I use? And I have rocks covering the soil so would they still be able to male it to the potato if I put them on top of the rocks?

 

[pigglett79]

I am gonna do that potato trick tomorrow after I re pot just to make sure that I got all of those annoying things out. How much slices should I use? And I have rocks covering the soil so would they still be able to male it to the potato if I put them on top of the rocks?

Yeah I have rocks on top of mine too. Maybe try making an open spot for the potato. I put 3 potato slices in my frog tank and in no time tiny larvae were crawling on the underside of it. And by frog tank I mean future frogs, there aren't any in there yet, just growing plants.

 

[MeloMarl]

Yeah I have rocks on top of mine too. Maybe try making an open spot for the potato. I put 3 potato slices in my frog tank and in no time tiny larvae were crawling on the underside of it. And by frog tank I mean future frogs, there aren't any in there yet, just growing plants.

Oh alright so how often should I check the potatoes?

 

[Video Master]

Yeah I have rocks on top of mine too. Maybe try making an open spot for the potato. I put 3 potato slices in my frog tank and in no time tiny larvae were crawling on the underside of it. And by frog tank I mean future frogs, there aren't any in there yet, just growing plants.

Sounds like you are doing with your frog tank, the same thing I am doing with my cham cage.