My office has one wall that contains 5-foot windows which allow an inordinate amount of sun in our office for most of the day. It's largely indirect sunlight, but it does keep the office I share with a co-worker, well lit. When a friend left his position here for greener pastures, he donated one of his geranium's to my plant collection. I already had a snake plant (mother-in-law's tongue) and a sad, root-bound rubber tree plant. The geranium immediately started flowering as if to say "thank you." It was about the same time that the snake plant bloomed! I had never seen one go to flower so this was a pretty encouraging event that I was doing something "right."
Not wanting to neglect the rubber tree, I made plans to trim and re-pot it so that it too could be as happy as the others. I brought in a half used bag of potting soil from home, and did the transfer here in my office. It grew new roots and I thought that everything was hunky dory. That is, until THEY came.
According to Wikipedia:
Fungus gnats are small, dark, short-lived flies, of the families Sciaridae, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Keroplatidae, Bolitophilidae, and Mycetophilidae (order Diptera); they are sometimes placed in the superfamily Mycetophiloidea.
The larvae of fungus gnats feed on plant roots and fungi, which aids in the decomposition of organic matter. The adults are 2–5 mm long and are important pollinators that can help spread mushroom spores as well as plant pollen.
Great...but what are they doing in my rubber tree plant??? The answer is, most obviously, eating. Eating something.
Well, for a while I was just swatting the ones that got too close to my monitor. When it started to seem like an exercise in futility, I decided to dry-starve the plant in hopes that the fungus/mold they were eating would be done. I haven't watered the plant in about 3 weeks and still they come.
It was time to take action.
In wanting to be sensitive to our respiratory systems, I didn't really want to use a spray pesticide. I've used them in the past, but the concentration typically does damage to the leaves and plant in general. So, I went with gnat traps. And, woh, they've been very successful, but apparently I had a far larger infestation problem than I had originally thought.
With that kind of volume, I know that this will be less of a battle and more of a war. There will be casualties on both sides, but I fully intend on winning! Also, while I've separated this plant from the others (not that the gnats can't fly to my other plants, duh), I'm not afraid to go the thermonuclear option and pull the trigger on the entire operation. Yes...I'll trash the rubber tree if, after I've run through the sticky traps, I can't get rid of these things. I've had the plant for over 10 years, and while it will be sad and hard to say goodbye, the option must remain on the table! We're on day 4 and it's not looking promising, but I assure you... I...WILL...NOT...FAIL!
Anyway, let me know if you have any better solutions...but I warn you...time is running out, especially for ideas...but especially for them!
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