Re: Pings, gnats and growing mixes

From: Phil Wilson (cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk)
Date: Tue Dec 26 2000 - 08:58:59 PST


Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 16:58:59 +0000
From: Phil Wilson <cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg3723$foo@default>
Subject: Re: Pings, gnats and growing mixes

Miguel,
>
>I seem to have a problem with Pings and gnats (larvae eating the entire
>root systems of small and not-so-small plants). Most of my Mexicans, which
>suffer the most, are in a mix of equal parts of coarse and fine sand, peat,
>milled sphagnum, perlite and vermiculite. The gnats love this mix.
>
>Is there a mix, maybe with less organics, which will deter them a bit?
>Maybe adding sulphur to the mix would help, without harming the plants too
>much...
>
Do you mean fungus gnats? If so, I think I'm right in thinking that they
only lay eggs in peaty soil so using a soil without peat should fix the
problem.

Personally I find a few large D. binata plants interspersed with the
plants keeps the populations of these pests down to a minimum.

Regards,
Phil Wilson
Email: cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk
Web Site: www.pwilson.demon.co.uk



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