How can you quickly and permanently get rid of midges in indoor flowers?

Growing indoor plants is a fairly common hobby: pretty flowerpots with bright greenery and colorful flowers adorn balconies and loggias, window sills and shelving. They give us a lot of positive emotions, but caring for them is always associated with anxiety regarding infection with parasites. And often on ornamental plants insects still start. And the question immediately arises before flower growers: how to get rid of midges in indoor flowers? What can be done to save them?

Causes of Pests

Every grower knows that growing indoor plants is a rather time-consuming task. And just love of flowers is not enough. Scrupulousness and attentiveness are important here, since it is necessary to care for ornamental plants carefully and constantly.
If you do not catch your green pets on time, then with a high degree of probability they will suffer from malicious midges that start in flower pots for certain reasons:

• Waterlogging of the substrate - most often this happens in hot weather, when it seems to the mistresses that the soil dries quickly. Frequent, plentiful watering begins, as a result of which the water stagnates, creating ideal conditions for the development of parasite insects.
• Contaminated soil - sometimes we ourselves bring an infected substrate into the house and immediately plant acquired plants in it. In the process of flower growth, parasites also multiply.
  

  Advice! Soil for indoor plants should be purchased in garden stores. If you take it from the street, then in this case it must be sanitized before use!

• Open window - it happens that some types of midges, for example, mushroom mosquitoes, penetrate apartments through open windows. Often, when the apartment is on the ground floor. And if the soil is too wet, then they will certainly settle in it and begin to parasitize.

The main types of flower parasites

On indoor colors, you can find both white midges and black. Adults can be seen with the naked eye - they begin to fly over the plant, some jump on green leaves. Larvae live in the substrate and eat up the root system. As a result of their vital activity, the plant weakens and gradually fades.

The most common pests of indoor plants are:

• Whiteflies are small midges of a light yellow hue with white wings, whose body length is not more than 1 mm. They are characterized by high activity. Most often, they start in winter or early spring.
• Scyarides or mushroom mosquitoes are annoying small insects of black color that are able to multiply rapidly. Often they live not only in flower pots, but also spread throughout the apartment. Their larvae can be found in the ground - these are small translucent worms, whose body length is about 3-4 mm.
• Thrips - these insects can parasitize on orchids and other indoor plants. Able to live in the ground and live on the leaves. They can be recognized by their elongated body and striped abdomen.

Methods of struggle

How to get rid of the numerous midges that wound up in flowers? If you managed to detect parasites at the initial stage of infection, then with a high degree of probability it will be very easy to remove them. There can be quite a few options, and among them are both folk remedies and chemical preparations.

On a note! At the same time, both will show the same effectiveness from all types of flower midges!

Folk remedies

Folk methods are gentle and have a right to exist. As practice shows, with a slight infection, they are enough to completely eliminate parasites. Their main advantage is that all the necessary substances, as a rule, are always at hand, and therefore such recipes can save.

So, how to get rid of midges in flowers with folk remedies.

1. At the first signs of infection, spill the substrate with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. But just be extremely careful: if the solution is too concentrated, then you can burn the root system of the plant.
2. Spread citrus peels or sliced ​​cloves of garlic on the soil surface - they scare away both flying adults and their larvae.
3. Pour the substrate several times with a mild soapy solution.
4. Use garlic solution to spray infected plants. To prepare it, you need to grind a couple of heads of garlic and pour the resulting mass with a liter of water. After 4 days, the drug is filtered and used for midges.
5. The woody zone shows very good results. It should be sprinkled with soil and flower pests guaranteed to disappear.

On a note! Wood ash not only perfectly disinfects, but also is an excellent fertilizer!

Chemicals

If you tried all the gentle options, but did not get a positive result, then in this case it is advisable to use chemicals. You can buy them at any hardware store, where they will be presented in a fairly wide range.

Effective aerosols:

• "Dichlorvos";
• "Raptor";
• "Raid".

Each of them is a universal remedy for midges in indoor flowers and destroys all pests in a record short time.

You can also use insecticidal solutions:

• Agraventin;
• Thunder-2;
• "Aktara";
• Fitoverm;
• Karbofos;
• Inta-Vir;
• "Actellicus."

Before you start processing with chemicals, be sure to read the instructions, as each solution will have its own particular application. And do not forget about safety measures - any manipulations with the chemical are preferably carried out in rubber gloves and a mask.

Orchid treatment

A separate chapter I want to highlight methods of combating pests of orchids. These plants are especially tender, and therefore they should be treated carefully.

So, what to do if midges are wound up in an orchid?

• If mushroom mosquitoes are found, the soil in which the orchid grows must be dried. If the earth is dry, then the larvae will not be able to develop in it. And therefore, treatment should begin with a reduction in watering. An adhesive yellow tape will help to collect adult flying individuals. If the infection is too large, then in this situation, the substrate must be replaced with a clean one, and the roots of the plant should be washed carefully from the larvae.
• If the orchid is infected with thrips, then first of all you need to buy the plant in the shower - this technique will allow you to wash away a significant part of the pests. The next step is treatment with Fitoverm or any other drug for thrips. It is advisable to work strictly according to the instructions, having carried out at least three treatments.

Preventative measures

And in order not to wonder in the future how to get rid of midges in flowers, the simplest rules should be observed:

• Analyze the frequency of irrigation and their volume depending on the time of year. Remember that in summer you really need to water indoor plants more often, but it is important not to overdo it - always check the soil moisture before watering the flower.
• Provide good drainage. Thanks to him, home plants will be able to saturate with plenty of water, but the soil will not sour, and organic residues will not rot.
• Loosen the soil periodically. This will enrich the root system with oxygen and will be another measure against the decay of the substrate.

At the first suspicion of a pest, use gentle methods. They are quite effective with a small accumulation of parasites. And to get a positive result, use several tools at the same time. And remember that all indoor plants that are in your house should be treated, since it is often very difficult to distinguish an infected flower from a healthy one.