Using a room fogger

[Nancy]

In my orchid room I have several bird cages. Recently we have had a inundation of gnats, so many that something must be done. My orchid collection is substantial and would take a lot of time and effort to move. Once the bird cages are cleaned and moved out, is there any way to keep the orchids away from the fog? I was thinking of tacking up some plastic sheeting over them so that the mist will be unable to get in. Any suggestions would be of great help. I don't know if the foggers are deadly to plants or not. I just don't want to risk jeopardizing any of them. Thanks.

[jerrymeola]

There are several foggers that are used in greenhouses, check carefully that the one you chose is safe for plants.

Read the labels, search the internet and contact the manufacturer.

[Brooke]

Nancy there are safer ways to eliminate or drastically reduce fungus gnats. A room fogger would only eliminate the adult gnats and do nothing for the larvae which will hatch out and become adults. A simple fly spray will kill the adults, sticky traps also work, watering with water that has a mosquito dunk in it (Bt) (must soak for a few hours) will kill the larvae, keeping the top of mixes dry will keep the adults from reentering the mix and laying eggs, using a French fry slice of potato inserted into the mix will also let you harvest the larvae before they hatch out and escape to fly up your nose.

I know birds are super sensitive to any chemical dispersed randomly in the air but using the fogger or spray will not get to the root of the problem, which is the larvae.

If you do a google search you can find a ton of info on them and how to eliminate them, almost. Any peat or sphag product will always carry the eggs and it is a battle that can be won by reducing the adult population. Also check into carnivorous plants and keep them sitting among your orchids - they really help. Skip the pitcher and Venus Fly Trap plants and go for the sundews.

Brooke

[Nancy]

Brooke, I took your advice and did some research on the net. I found out what chemicals in a fogger are safe for plants. We all ready have the sticky traps all over the room. I don't use too much spagnum, only for mounts. Keeping the tops of the pots dry will be difficult because I find I need to water a lot this time of year. I'll probably try the potato slices.Do I lay them on top or bury them in the pot? I'm also going to look for a few sundew plants. I know they carry carniverous plants at Lowes. I've seen them in small clear plastic boxes. Are they difficult to take care of? Sorry about all the questions.

[bkim]

There's an excellent thread on Pings (aka Butterworts) here:
Pinguicula - Carnivorous plant

The other thing to try is biological solutions. As Brooke mentioned, you need to target the eggs and larvae to stop the infestation. So your efforts should be targeted there and the adult population will eventually die off. There are several products out there that use bacteria or nematodes to attack larvae directly. They are safe for plants, your birds, and for you.

[Brooke]

Nancy do you have plants in a peat based mix? I don't think the larvae are in the bark mix unless you have the very fine seedling bark.

If peat based, insert the potato about 1/2", wait 12 hours, remove the potato and spoon away the larvae. They prefer to eat the potato even over new non-orchid seedling roots.

Mosquito dunks are available at most pet stores, big box stores or any place selling pond supplies. The Bt will kill the larvae and unless you eliminate the larvae, they will hatch out and the cycle begins again. The adults actually only live for a few days - they are born, fly around for a couple of days and then dash back into the soil to lay their eggs, then the adult dies.

The carnivorous are easy plants to raise and the link bkim provided is a great one with some online sources for some plants. Breaking the cycle and destroying the larvae is the only cure for fungus gnats.

Good luck, they are very annoying little pests.

Brooke

[clarita]

I'm also an indoor grower and faced the same problem last summer.
I didn't want to have the chemicals inside. I chose a more natural alternative,
Carnivorous plants.
They also flower (a lot)
Pings (butterowrts), Drosera's seemed to work the best for me.
The do not go dormant, don't take up much space and are rather inexpensive. They grow/ multiply rather quickly

Fly Traps work but they go dormant in winter and need to have their traps cleaned as they do not devour the entire insect.

[Nancy]

My mix is bark based but I do believe there are chunks of peat in it. I'll try the potato first. I like the natural approach as well. I did not know that a Venus Flytrap could bloom! My husband will have the shock of his life when I bypass the orchids and head straight for the carniverous plants! I can't wait till payday.

[clarita]

Nancy Carnivours bloom frequently if given good light/heat... The drosera's too. Really beautiful (usually pink or white) little Bell shaped flowers... They really saved me. I was being driven bonkers!

The VFT flowers have the fragrance of butterscotch!

I also use the Bayer All in One for Roses, not to be confused with the The Bayer Mites. I mix it double strength and use it at watering time. Its quite safe. Been impressed with the results

Good luck, it's an aggrevating problem.

[Nancy]

Will the Bayer all in one get rid of the larvae? I know the gnats are in the pots. I took a few plants into the bathroom for watering and the gnats literally swarmed out of pot. There was not a great number, but enough to be really upsetting. When I get to buy my carniverous plants I think I will buy one of each. Clarita, you've made them sound so beautiful. Thanks a lot for the support.

[clarita]

Nancy
Yes!
I mix it double strength or liberally and use it at watering time. I saw them buzzing around the bark too. Up my nose in my eyes
I feel for you. Gnats are terrible!

Last year I grew in a very unique space but the doors were wide open. I had so much "company" buzzing around I was desperate! I had about 200 orchids

I ordered several carnivours from here:
http://cobraplant.com

Really nice folks. Called to get additional culture advice. I give them a little more light than what they recommend, Int/Warm temps. Culture is very easy. I put them in a saucer with a little water for summer and cut back in winter. They were sprouting babies and flowers like crazy!

Have VFT, pygmy sundew, Butterworts (Mexican Pings) Drosera's (Cape sundew, albino and red. love them) Fork leaf sundew and Nepenthes ventricosa (for flys).
The Neps are really hard to keep in winter and get big. They're vine plants. Had a spoon leaf sundew (that one didn't so so well in my conditions)

The other "guys" are little and are quite fun

Not the best pic, This is a Spoon Leaf Sundew about to bloom, tiny bell shaped pink flowers!



Let us know how it goes! It's a battle that you can win

Clara

[kid a]

Wow! Clarita I had no idea they bloomed either! I have had two fly traps but they didn't last long when I had them at my old apartment. I think I will have to some pings the flowers are so pretty, I am in need of at least one anyways!

[Nancy]

I was hoping that I could actually go to a store and pick them out. They must really be a specialty item. I guess I'll have to order them on-line. I need them as soon as possible. I haven't mentioned my ant problem yet!

[clarita]

Nancy by all means you can find carnivorous plants in stores. They may be young. Don't get anything that is enclosed in a cube. They are used to very high humidity and when you de-cube them, they fail unless you introduce them gradually to your humidity level

I am laughing... oh the memories I had the ant problem too!... Big sidewalk ants and little sugar ants... oh and I forgot; some kind of winged ants.

Sugar ants are fairly easy to get rid of. The ant traps that "Kill the Queen" usually work but I had to use a lot of them and change them frequently. The big ants, the best thing to do is find the nest and destroy it but that usually isn't possible.

The flying ants - A product call "Infuse" I ended up pouring that right on the floor and let it stay there a few days.If they were in flight I'd shoot them with a power mister full of Infuse. What a nightmare.

Boric Acid powder sprinkled around the base boards and outside around the foundation finally killed the lot of them. If you have pets be careful.

Ants are in High Season right now. They go away... thankfully..

Clara

[Nancy]

The ant traps I am using do not seem very effective. I have the tiny wingless ants. They crawl up the side of my home and come in through the open window. I watered one of my plants today and a swarm of them came out. Several of them were carrying egg cases. I took care of those with a spray of alcohol and water but they are still on the window sill. I looked at the web site you suggested and the number of plants featured boggled my mind. The only place I have found so far that actually sells them only sells Venus Flytraps. Would this be a good start? I sort of expected them to all be sold in plastic cases. I guess if the case is opened a little bit at a time the plant could aclimate itself to the 50 to 70% humidity in my plant room. I have never had this problem in any of the other places I have lived. I think I'll just take the rest of the day off and go get me some Flytraps!

[clarita]

Nancy
Fly Traps are very fun but requirements are more demanding than the others (full sun). They are usually not acclimated to full sun when purchased. They go dormant in winter and need to go in the fridge. The others are more oncid/catt light even lower if you can't swing it. I had some in ful out sun last year but Chicago's pollution acts as 40% shade cloth. They aren't fussy when its warm. They like brighter in winter

Note: The VFT's traps will work 3-4 times. They'll hang on to fuel the plant but will not be working traps.

You got it with the cubes! Treat them like seedlings and acclimate them to your humidity slowly.

I find the Pings and Drosera's at Hausermann's, sometimes Home Depot... you may want to check a local nursery in your area. They are sold as "orchid companions" (we know why ) They are usually 6-8$ USD


Note: I bottom water my carnivours. I know some sites say not to but they plants will rot if watered from the top. I sit them in decorative trays. Works for me.

The little ants.. The Boric Acid barrier will stop them from coming in. You may have to apply it more than once

Try dunking your pots for 20 minutes to get them out of your plants. I use a product called Safer's after a dunk. It's a liquid and I run that through the pot

I feel bad for you. I went through this last year. The humidity is what the buggers are after

[exasperatus2002]

holy cow vfp's bloom! lol I sound dumb but how often do you see it let alone keep one alive long enough.

[clarita]

They bloom frequently
They have a nice fragrance which shocked me butterscotch

Its all about the light!

[NicC]

regarding mosquito DUNK...DUNK is the product's name. In our county the health department was giving them out the last few years to keep down the mosquitoes that cause West Nile Disease and other diseases carried by the critters. It is completely organic containing the bacterium that actually causes a gastric collapse in the larvae. (They spray this stuff from airplanes when we are scheduled for an outbreak of Gypsy Moth. Might be worthwhile calling your health department and see if they'll give you some DUNK. If necessary, tell them you have outdoor bird feeders that you want to treat.
Nick

[bkim]

clarita, thanks for the link to that site. I ordered a lance leaf sundew (D. adelae) and a ping (P. moraenenis). New recruits in my battle against the invading fungus gnat horde.

[clarita]

Too cool! Nice Ping!Great catchers. They will "pink up" if given higher light. Mine had 2 babies last year and are now adults! More catching power! Just an FYI, Pings have the smallest root system I've ever seen. I knocked one over. There was nothing to it. I keep them in a saucer of water in summer. They flower about every 6 weeks

I had the Lance leaf. That one is best bottom watered too. The leaves will rot off if you try to top water it. Leaves are close to the media. I received a really big specimen from Cobra Plant. As I recall the flower on that one were white (?).
Jeez I'm getting forgetful

Clara

[bkim]

Thanks for the tips clarita. I'm going to move my questions to the ping thread so I'm not hijacking this one anymore.