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Fri, Apr 16, 10 at 11:44
| Hey there
I have a beautiful Bonsai that I got about 2 months ago. Unfortunately I always seem to bring home black flies from the store whenever I buy new plants. The way I resolve it (after a lot of trial and error) is to put a layer of sand on top of the soil. This seems to work beautifully, but since Bonsai's have moss and decorative rock, this doesn't seem to be an option. I know that watering too often feeds into the problem. So far I have been submerging the pot in water once a week and spraying the leaves every other day. I'm not the best with plants and I really want this to live, so I am afraid of it getting too dry. Any tips on how to get rid of these pesky flies is greatly appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Hi - To start with, what kind of trees do you have? Without knowing that, it's hard to give advice (even on flies). Secondly, you are kind of treating them like house plants, which they are not (and you could not know the difference if you're just starting out of course). Stop submerging the pots - you're drowning the plants (no 02 being drawn in as it would be by watering from above), and roots are probably rotting like mad, especially if you let the pots sit in the drain water, unless they're up above the water on large pebbles, etc. In that case, wide trays vs small saucers are best, so all the foliage gets humidified 24/7. Don't spray - it's a waste of time and will only keep the bugs happy. Your trees probably came in gunk - i.e. "potting" soil which is 90-something percent peat, which holds water forever and doesn't let it drain out fast as it should. You need to repot into mostly grit, and there are various kinds you can use - don't just wing it though because there are also many types that would be worse than nothing. Go to www.bonsaisite.com and then go to "General discussion" forum at the top of which you'll see various sub forums, one of which is all about soil mixes. Once the trees are in a proper mix (with no crocks or stones on the bottom and NO moss or rocks or anything else on top), plus are being watered properly and are living in their natural environment (many trees should NOT be grown indoors, no matter what the guy at the store said :-) the flies won't be an issue. If your trees are tropicals (the only kind that can live inside) get more info. at www.bonsaihunk/us.cultural/html. and at www.bonsai4me.com. Good luck! |
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| Hi - I gave you the wrong URL - it's www.bonsaihunk.us/cultural.html |
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| ok. I thought I read to submerge the plant, which is why I am doing it, and to spray for humidity. I don't let the plant sit in the water, I just dip it. I'll look at the links later, thanks! |
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| If it doesn't sit in the water til bubbles appear on the surface, it hasn't been fully watered (though again, don't do it unless you have an emergency situation like... someone forgot to water for 2 wks). Dipping only affects the top and/or bottom layers, but the roots in the middle may be getting nothing. However, that's not your real problem now so don't go soaking it again! |
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- Posted by supermario (My Page) on Thu, Apr 29, 10 at 18:02
| The Flys are probably Fungus Gnats (are they very tiny) if so they are mostly only a greenhouse problem, they should go away. They feed on dead decaying plant matter, and decaying organic matter in the soil. So they don't really cause much damage, except for the larva which live in the soil and are bigger than the gnats (they are the real problem) if they are still a problem in a few weeks consider ordering some type of beneficial insect, Predatory mites, or Parasitic nematodes which also will live in the soil (until the gnats are gone and they starve). |
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