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How do i get rid of midges

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  • 08-11-2010 4:23pm
    #1
    William Browne
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭


    Hi. I was wondering what the fastest way to get rid of a load of midges. I don't 100% know if i'm right by calling them midges there those really small flies.
    My parents have just went away for the week, on a cruise, leaving me here to discover that the place is surrounded with midges.
    My mam is a house proud woman, but she also has a passion for gardening and plants. She has the odd few plants scattered around the house. Just today i noticed one of the plants wasn't looking very good.
    I went to touch it and about a hundred midgets came flying out of it. I got rid of the plant fast after seeing that, unfortunately there are midges still flying around the house. As well as that i've also noticed that there has been midges upstairs in another room where she has another plant as well.
    I am thinking strongly about getting rid of all the other plants as well but i don't know if that will get rid of the midges?? If i was to get rid of all the plants i don't think my mother would mind if i pointed out the fact that she has created homes for midges with those plants :-D.
    Will this work or is there something else i can do?
    Thanks.
    Tagged:


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    #2
    Mothman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,498 ✭✭✭Mothman


    Moved to gardening.

    I know if I got rid of any of my mother's plants she would not be pleased.
    I often use vacuum for getting rid of flies.


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    #3
    Hells Belle
    Registered Users Posts: 617 ✭✭✭Hells Belle


    Hi William, are they those stupid slow little flies that fly right towards you? I am after loosing 3 cacti this year to them - ones I've had for years. The most recent one was Saturday :(. I checked the plants and they had small mushy bits with the flies crawling all over it and the pot (and I presume breeding - I didn't check for maggots (uughh).

    You could try and lift the plant from the holder and see if they are breeding in any captured water - if they are not the only thing I can recommend is chucking the plants. Once the plant is gone the flies usually go too. I left an infested one out the in back garden during the summer and 2 weeks later the flies were still on it.

    HB


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    #4
    kindredspirit
    Registered Users Posts: 340 ✭✭kindredspirit


    Fly spray.

    https://coolwatergarden.com/



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    #5
    TequilaMockingBird
    Registered Users Posts: 4,392 ✭✭✭TequilaMockingBird


    I wonder are they fruit flies? Horrible little buggers. If it was me, I would take the plants from the pots, shake out the old compost, give the plant a good wash under tap and re-pot. Then put them all in one closed off room. That way you'll know if they're gone, but if not, you won't have to clean the whole house.


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    #6
    William Browne
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭William Browne


    Thanks for the advice guys :-D.

    Yes there the ones Hells Belle. Its exactly what your describing. They were definitely eating away at that plant. They seemed to have been all over it though.
    Tomorrow morning i'll inspect every plant and ill clean up the ones that are populated. So far i have them isolated in a room to keep the midgets in the one place, although there's still a few of those buggers scattered around the house. The hoover seems like a good idea. I'll give that a shot. :).

    Thanks again guys :-D


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    #7
    William Browne
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭William Browne


    Did a few things today.
    I started by sterilizing the place. Then i chased the buggers around with the hoover. There was about a hundred of them on the window i got all them with one sweep of the hoover but every time i came back to the window, there were more on it. It was very frustrating but after a while there numbers went down a bit. The hoover is great.
    I also did some googling and i have homemade traps set around the house and they seem to be working great. I filled a glass with cider vinegar, a bit of sugar, and a drop of washing up liquid. As i put the glass down i could see them all flying towards it. Its great. The house is definitely less populated than it was yesterday.

    Thanks again guys :)


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    #8
    TequilaMockingBird
    Registered Users Posts: 4,392 ✭✭✭TequilaMockingBird


    Don't forget to get rid of the hoover bag!


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