flies in my windowsill garden

paddylonglegs

just noticed a few small flies on the few herbs and veg i'v started growing inside on the windowsill.

some of the leaves of the plants have turned brown but i'm not sure if this is from the flies eating them or what. I'm just concerned that because the plants are so young that these flies might kill them off - also, i don't really want a load of flies around my bedroom so am wondering is there a way of keeping these flies away without damaging the plants with a spray?is there a repelant spray that keeps flies off?

wildlandscape

The plant leaves turn brown because of lack of nutrients, water or root space. You might need to pot them on. Aphids tend to feed on the sap of new growth and weaken the plants but flies don't feed on plants - just dead material maybe. I guess the plants are harbouring the flies only. You may need to do a general clean up, change the pots and compost to resolve the problem. The plants will be fine once feed and watered.

labelleshell

Hi - you may be having the same issue as me. I think these pests are called Sciarid Flies. The lay their eggs in the wet soil and the larvae in the soil feed on the new roots of small herbs and can effectivly kill them altogether. Which has now occured with all my basil and coriandar which I grew from seed. The adult turns into a fly (I now have quite a few in my apartment) and the eggs can lie dormant in the soil. Trying to find out how to get rid of it but still have the herbs edible.

Sticky Yellow traps are good for adults but not sure how to get rid of the larvae yet. Changing the compost will fix temporarily but if there are still adult flies they'll just lay new eggs in the compost. I've read that Bifenthrin can kill them but this might just be available for larger crop farmers.

Just out of interest the herbs I started growing in a non peat soil are flourishing and not attacked. Apparently these pests only like compost/peat soils.

paddylonglegs

labelleshell wrote: »

Just out of interest the herbs I started growing in a non peat soil are flourishing and not attacked. Apparently these pests only like compost/peat soils.

whats the product name of this non peat soil?
yeah my basil is not great after a good start.may have to change the soil

labelleshell

Hiya - not quite sure. I bought seeds but also bought these eco 'grow your own' pots in Woodies to try out. They have basil, coriandar, and a few other popular herbs available. Think they were about €2.50. While my seeds were abundant when growing initially - these are the one's fourishing now

http://www.buy4now.ie/woodiesdiy/productdetail.aspx?pid=8986&loc=P&catid=102.23.2

goat2

paddylonglegs wrote: »

just noticed a few small flies on the few herbs and veg i'v started growing inside on the windowsill.

some of the leaves of the plants have turned brown but i'm not sure if this is from the flies eating them or what. I'm just concerned that because the plants are so young that these flies might kill them off - also, i don't really want a load of flies around my bedroom so am wondering is there a way of keeping these flies away without damaging the plants with a spray?is there a repelant spray that keeps flies off?

weather is fine, put them outside during the day, bring back in at night, they need a bit of air, cut off all the brown stuff, water give them a good spray of water outside, so it will wash off the flies and kill them, feed it lightly do that for a couple of days, the flies will have gone

paddylonglegs

goat2 wrote: »

weather is fine, put them outside during the day, bring back in at night, they need a bit of air, cut off all the brown stuff, water give them a good spray of water outside, so it will wash off the flies and kill them, feed it lightly do that for a couple of days, the flies will have gone

thanks goat,appreciate the advice