Adult fungal mosquitoes of the Sciaridae family are black flies with an elongated body about 3-4 mm long, which lay their whitish, translucent eggs in the roots of plants. Young, newly appeared mosquitoes can be about 1.5-2 mm light gray. The mosquitoes themselves, if they start, usually fly in large numbers, but do not cause harm, except for the diseases they carry and the larvae of other pests. And the larvae of the mushroom mosquito - whitish worms about 3-5 mm long with a black head - eat the root system of plants, from which it wilts, lags behind in growth, does not bloom, not rarely reaching complete death.
Causes of soil flies
Sciarids, like all flying insects, can enter the room through open vents, ventilation and just an open door. It is possible that you can bring home an infected plant from the store or bring larvae with purchased and not disinfected soil.
But the mushroom mosquito that did not always get into the apartment means the immediate multiplication of the colony. A waterlogged substrate contributes to the reproduction of mushroom mosquitoes, soil is especially attracted to mosquitoes, where the process of decay or decomposition of organic fertilizers is active. Therefore, first of all, mosquitoes lay eggs in pots with plants with watered tinctures of cowpea, bird droppings. It is also noticed that mushroom mosquitoes tend to appear when used to water water from an aquarium, along with fish waste products.
What mushroom mosquitoes look like
First of all, if you notice a couple of annoying insects, usually small flies, you need to check all the pots. If at first sciarids appear in pots with a waterlogged substrate, then with intensive reproduction of these insects, moderately moist soil will arrange, and then, if they are hunted, they will agree to a rather dry one. So you need to check all the containers where there is land.
If you shake or slightly knock on the pot with the plant, and a flock of flies will fly above the surface of the earth, then, most likely, there is just a clutch of eggs. If you look closely, you can see that flies fly of different ages: light gray - still translucent and larger - already black. In such a pot, it is better to immediately replace all the soil. Since it is most likely already processed by worms and has a rotten state, and, in addition, it is necessary to check the condition of the roots of the plant.
If you pull the plant out of the pot and scatter the earth into a tray, then you can see whitish, translucent larvae with a black head, up to 5 mm long, on moist ground. It is much easier to detect larvae if you pour insecticide on the soil in the affected pot - they tend to crawl to the surface and can be seen in writhes.
Soil fly control measures
If a flock of fungal mosquitoes is found, then it is better to take radical measures right away. You need to fight sciarids on two flanks - from the air and on the ground. If only flying individuals are poisoned, then new sciarids will be excreted from the larvae daily in the soil.
To kill larvae, you need to use a solution of insecticides. I would like to immediately warn that the more powerful the drug is, the more effective the fight. For example, a phytoverm solution may be ineffective in some cases. Actellic (2 ml/l), decis or carbofos are best. Do not be afraid to harm the plant, almost all pest and disease control products are not phytotoxic. If the "nests" or clutches of mushroom mosquitoes were found in more than one pot and flies fly, as they say, in flocks, then it is better to re-treat with insecticide, with the next watering.
Flying insects will also have to be fought, for this it is better to use the same means that are used to fight flies. These are aerosols, like the well-known dichlorvos and the like. Sometimes you can find a recommendation to use Raptor or Fumitox records in a similar case, but they are usually little effective. If many of us have repeatedly come across the fact that, including at night, say, "Raptor," in the morning some very persistent mosquito was still found, then what can we say about sciarids - it is completely impossible to rely on these funds, even if change records quite often. Although you can try first with these tools, the main thing is to tightly close the aquarium, if available. If an hour after turning on the "anti-mosquito" plates (although they may be in liquid form), sciarids do not die, then you can take on dichlorvos.
If mushroom mosquitoes divorced in winter, then it is best to take the plants (already watered with insecticide) to a separate room or to a stairwell (if only the neighbors did not spot them) and spray the soil in pots with aerosol from above. After two minutes, plants can be brought in and left, for example, in the bathroom. The room where the plants stood was also treated with an aerosol and after half an hour thoroughly ventilated. Flowers can only be brought in when the room becomes warm. If you have sciarids in the summer, then the easiest way is to take all the plants to the balcony (outside) and carry out all the processing there.
In pest control, all means are good, if only there is no harm to plants, so clap your hands and catch flying flies with a vacuum cleaner.
Treatment of the room and plant pots with aerosols against flying insects, as well as irrigation of the soil with insecticides, may have to be repeated, preferably until the pests completely disappear.
Sciaride prevention measures
Do not use food products or infusions from them for feeding plants. Such as meat or fish broths, drinking tea, sugar water, milk, etc. In indoor plants, physiology is not like in humans, as long as food products decompose into components that are easily absorbed by plants, but simply rot, entire collections of pests can settle and multiply on plants and in the soil.
If you are going to feed the plants with organic matter, such as a cow, then it is better to do this without pouring infusion on the cow's cake, but adding it to the soil during transplantation. The most convenient option is that in an empty pot, the walls are smeared with a half-liquid cake to the middle of their height, then the plant is placed and the space between the roots and the walls of the pot is covered with earth. In this case, there is no smell of rotting manure.
If you have a lot of plants, especially those who love wet soil, then it makes sense to switch to watering from the pallet so that the top layer of the earth remains dry. But at the same time, it must be remembered that the water in the pallet should be fresh, and not sour, with the advent of swamp mud.
An important preventive measure can be considered a timely fight against emerging insects. You cannot start the reproduction of sciarids to such an extent that they fly in packs. Otherwise, you can not find a single plant not affected by the larvae, no matter how good the soil is in them.
Soil purchased or prepared by yourself, in order to prevent any pests and diseases, must be disinfected (steamed with boiling water, fried in the oven, spilled with insecticide, kept in the freezer, etc.).
Tips on how to deal with mushroom mosquitoes in flowers
Christiana: The danger to the plant is not the insects themselves, but their larvae! If there are a lot of them, then it is better to change the earth, to fresh, loose. And you can also pour several times with a solution of manganese, only very weak, so as not to burn the roots. As I heard, this is a very good remedy.
Weselova: Only Thunder-2 helped me.
Kasandra: It always helps me to FIX, slightly sprinkle on top of the ground or, when transplanted, add to the ground. Choose what you have in stock in stores.
Elena T: Bazudin did not help, the actara helped. I do not advise mixing both drugs, I have mold. For flying insects, you can hang trap ribbons. But if you overdo it with irrigation, they will appear again.
Lusi: Mushroom mosquitoes and their larvae are not such a scary beast. Well, firstly, if you have a lot of these mosquitoes, then this is a clear sign that you are pouring your flowers, this is much worse than mosquitoes. Take a break from watering, dry the flowers well, so that the earth dries out about half the pot. Buy bazudin, dilute according to the instructions and water all the plants, you must water everything and abundantly so that the water leaks, and does not pour the river from the pallet, wait for minutes 15 and drain the excess water from the pallets. And after two weeks for prevention, dilute manganese (so that the water is a little pink) and pour again.
irina-bahus: I water Inta-Vir, always helped.
K.I.S.: They love wet soil very much - why it's hard to fight them. Larvae hatching from eggs eat organic matter, and when it is scarce, they suck everything from the plant. I have them in a pot with hibiscus, when I already had to shake out the pot, there was almost all white at a depth of 1 cm. I found the Bazudin remedy. It is necessary to pour (a little) small granules simply on the soil around the plant and water. There will be a nasty smell, after a while it passes, but will be repeated when watered. It will kill the maggots. And the midges themselves die over time. The main thing is that juveniles do not form, and this tool seems to help. At least they don't fly with me anymore.
Lynx: I declared war on these dirty tricks! I grabbed a basin, filled it with 5 liters of water and threw an inta-vira tablet. Well, in general, there was no nasty smell in blue... and sense too.... The next day I found these white worms in a completely mobile state. Then the next day I bought two ampoules of actellic. Spread in the water. White as arsenic (mom mia, what a stink!). I took the flower (coleus) to the balcony and poured the liquid prepared in advance (actellic, ampoule per liter of water).
Orchid: I know a lot of people deny it, but personally I successfully fight liquid Raptor with mushroom mosquitoes. Rather, they recently prefer not to start (Raptor turns on every evening).
I use an odorless liquid fumigator Raptor. Simple (30 nights) and somehow enhanced (45 nights).
evridika: I was advised Tavric in the store. You pour a dense layer on the ground, at the same time it destroys fungi and parasites, and fertilizer at the same time. And it also looks different colors, looks like coconut chips, only colored.
Masha: How I overcame mosquitoes - an actellic + tape for flies. Pour actellic - and spread the tape near the ground... it is important - what exactly is better to put it directly on the ground of the pot... not just around... Actellic kills larvae in the ground (only terribly smelly), and catches adult tape - also with a bang. You can repeat the actellic in a week... I advise you not to remove the tape for a month.
Vika: Take a pack of inexpensive cigarettes, tear them up and sprinkle tobacco on the ground so that the entire area of the pot is strewn. Let this tobacco lie until it dissolves itself.