Scyarides: ways to control pests of indoor plants

Scyarides are familiar to almost every grower. Small flying insects are attracted to rotting plant remains, and their larvae settle in the soil and harm young seedlings and the root system. Scyarides are small in size, and therefore seem harmless. But it is not so. Flying parasites are really not able to completely destroy the aerial part of plants, but they can also tolerate various diseases. And if there is a lot of rotting organic matter, then the insects will quickly multiply, lay eggs in the ground, from which larvae will soon appear, and already they, eating the roots, will weaken the development of aboveground organs. As a result, the plant may die.

Characteristic

There are about 30 genera and approximately 1.7 thousand species in the sciarid family. These insects are ubiquitous and are not fully understood. It is believed that there are about 20 thousand of their species, which are still unknown to science. Only in Europe there are about 600 varieties of flower flies, the next 3 of which are usually settled on domestic plants.

The characteristics of representatives of each genus of scyarids will be similar, and differences between them can be recognized only with an increase. Their body is somewhat elongated, ranging in size from 1.5 to 4 mm, in young insects no more than 2 mm. The color of the integument is light gray in young animals and black in adults. Fore wings well developed, hind wings reduced. The oral apparatus is represented by a sucking organ.

The female lays eggs in earthen lumps between the roots of plants and in one clutch there can be about 300 eggs. Of these, wormlike larvae soon appear. Their body is transparent, there are no legs, the head is black. Scyarid larvae have a gnawing oral apparatus, and the body length is from 3 to 5 mm.

Reasons for the appearance

These pests enter the apartment from the environment when you bring new plants into the house. Often, the cause of infection in a home flower collection is soil from a garden or from a store that has not passed the disinfection procedure.

On a note! The first to fall are usually plants that are in old pots with poor drainage.

And while there are favorable conditions in the form of waterlogged soil and a large number of rotting plant debris, the fight against scyarids will be difficult. Therefore, first of all, the reason for their appearance should be removed and only after that steps should be taken to eliminate them.

Preventative measures

In general, the prevention of the appearance of sciarid flies is as follows:

• Before replanting / planting indoor plants, make sure the soil is clean - it should not contain plant debris;
• it is desirable to treat the new substrate with a solution of potassium permanganate, and then pour it with charcoal;
• before use, new pots are washed thoroughly with hot water and disinfected with the same potassium permanganate solution;
• good drainage should be provided with expanded clay, gravel, coarse sand or ceramic fragments;
• use organic fertilizers sparingly - manure and compost;
• Do not water the flowers with water from the aquarium, especially if there is a green organic coating on its walls;
• do not pour coffee grounds and tea leaves with small gulls into flower pallets;
• remove excess water from the pan after each watering;
• the next watering should be done only after the top layer of the earth has dried;
• remove dead parts of plants from the pot in a timely manner.

Ways to get rid of sciarides

Destroy mosquitoes sciarides and their larvae using chemicals or proven folk remedies. First of all, it is advisable to try gentle methods, especially when the infection is small.

Folk remedies

If you notice that midges are wound up in a flower pot, then first of all it is necessary to reduce watering, and if the infection is severe, the flower is removed from the pot, the rotten parts of the root system are removed and transplanted into a new substrate.

Advice! Sometimes it’s enough just to change the topsoil, but this is only if it is clearly established that the roots are not damaged!

Tobacco. We take 40 g of dry raw materials and fill it with a liter of water. We leave everything for 24 hours at room temperature, after which we infiltrate the infusion and add another two liters of water. We spray the aerial parts of plants and soil with a ready-made product. Processing should be carried out 5 times at weekly intervals.

Soap. To destroy midges in flower pots, you can use a soap solution. Rub the bar of soap on a fine grater. Separate 30 g of chips and fill with a liter of water, mix until completely dissolved. We spray indoor plants according to the above scheme.

Upper drainage. On the soil surface we pour a layer of expanded clay, coarse sand or fine gravel, the thickness of which should be about 2 cm.After watering, this layer will always be dry, which will prevent the sciaridae from multiplying on room flowers, and the roots will be provided with sufficient moisture.

Manganese solution. A small amount of potassium permanganate is bred in water. Must get a light pink solution. With this tool, we spill the soil several times in a pot.

Natural repellents. Some repellents work quite well against the flower midges that appeared in the apartment, for example, citrus peels and cloves of garlic spread near plants, you can also grease the pots with anise oil and sprinkle the surface of the soil with finely chopped dill. Just remember that such tools require constant updates.

Sticky traps. As an additional measure, you can use sticky traps that will help get rid of flying insects. They are hung near plants or placed in pots and regularly replaced with new ones.

Chemicals

When using chemicals, it is important to follow all the rules prescribed in the instructions, since together with scyarides you risk destroying indoor plants.
Insecticides such as Karbofos, Agravertin, Kinminks, Aktara, Aktellik, Inta-vir, Fitoverm can be used for flower midge larvae. The drug is diluted according to the instructions and several times the soil is spilled with a working solution in each infected pot. After a week, re-treatment is carried out.

Important! After using insecticidal preparations, the plants are not watered for 5 days. Otherwise, you can weaken the effectiveness of the product, since when watering, its concentration will be reduced!

You can also apply one of the soil insecticides, for example, Pochin, Thunder2, Bazudin. We remove about 3 cm of the top layer of the earth and put in its place a mixture of a new air-tight substrate and several granules of any soil insecticide.

Aerosols will help to destroy small midges in a flower pot. Here you can use any means of flying insects: Raptor, Reid, Dichlorvos - Neo, etc. The drug is sprayed in the infected room, after which it is closed for several hours, preferably at night. In the morning, the room is ventilated and wet-cleaned.And don't forget to pick out all the dead flies from the pots.

Another tool is a fumigator. It must be turned on as close as possible to the flower pots, and if the room is large, then you may need to use several devices. Close all windows and doors tightly and leave everything for a few hours, preferably for a day. If you use plates, then every 2 hours they should be changed.

Now you know how to deal with midges in flower pots, and we hope that this information was useful to you. It is possible to destroy parasites, but it is better to resort to preventive measures and then no one will threaten your collection of indoor plants.