General Chat

I have a very small patch with a few plants that have between them some kind of tree bark. My problem is that there is a fly type of insect which I think may by nesting in the bark and producing a grub that is eating any new seeds that I put in. I cant really describe the insect as I cant see it too well but when I spray the plants I can see a lot of things start flying out of the plants. Is there a natural or home grown thing that I could use do kill off these things without killings my plants and sprouting seeds

Hello Big , are the flying insects little tiny white things ? or do they look like tiny houseflys ?

I' m sorry that I can not see them too well - but they seem to have very narrow wings, they look lighter then a fly more like a mosquito in that they have a longish body with long but narrow wings - i do not think they are mosquito because they do not make that motorbike noise and they are clearly veggies. They have even eaten the mint which is something I would expect most bugs to avoid, they also seem to be nesting in the lavender again I am surprised as this has a strong oil which I would expect most bugs to avoid

Umm , I was going to suggest they might be " sciarid flies " ( also know as Fungus gnats ) , these critters usually live on the surface of compost in pots and around the base of plants , not actually on them .
I guess you could just try giving them a blast of some general purpose bug spray ? As you say , it's strange to have anything bothering mint and lavender .
Perhaps someone else will come up with a possibility .

hi again big.
i was going to say the same as amanda fungus gnats,
have you got carrots growing anywhere?sounds abit like carrot fly too.i have a terrible time trying to grow my veg with all the bugs around,you could try an organic way of removing bugs,warm soapy water,drench your plants(it wont harm them)it may get rid of them.x

oh what about white fly?if it is,soapy water will do the trick.xx

washing up liquid on the leaves then?

yes,but mix it with water first,small amount of washing up liquid and a lot of water,warm water is better,do it every other day for about a wk.
let me know how you get on, if your plants die then its not my fault lol,
they will be eaten by your flies anyway.xx :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D