help! little black bugs
 

Hi,
I have my bananas in my daughters bedroom near the window and now have little black
Nats or something flying all over. What is the best thing to spray on them?
Thanks,
Fran

Re: help! little black bugs
 

Good Question !
I Hope someone knows what causes those critters , my Brother has the same problem with house bananas .

I never had that problem, i have about 5 potted bananas in my kitchen & no Nats yet.

Maybe its the fertilizer ?

Re: help! little black bugs
 

hi

that could be fungus gnat,

i am using Pyrethrins (spray) on flying ones and neem oil on larvaes.

i think they were in the soil i have bought.
that's why i am using coco mostly now.

Re: help! little black bugs
 

Probably fungus gnats, which probably means the soil is too wet. I have noticed in the greenhouse that if I mix mason's sand in with the potting soil they aren't a problem. Like 1 part mason's sand to 3 parts potting soil.

Re: help! little black bugs
 

The best thing i found for these suckers is the Sticky Fly Paper! Hang one up near the plant (Out of young ones reach ). It may not get them all but it will put a major dent on them, cause they seem to multiply like there is no tomorrow...
Tried many Chemicals..(including Seven dust spray and powder ) didn't seem to phase them at all, but the sticky paper worked like a charm!!!

Re: help! little black bugs
 

I agree with others....fungus gnats. I used to get them in St. Louis but don't have them this year in Iowa. I just put up fly paper and that keeps their numbers down. I tried a few different chemicals but nothing seemed to really get rid of them.

Re: help! little black bugs
 

vacuum cleaner helps when they get out of control. Careful around leaves and small plants.

Re: help! little black bugs
 

Here in England we call them fungus flies...they are harmless, just living off the dead organic matter in your compost...be environmentally friendly and just use sticky fly paper to catch them. Regards, and Happy New Year, from Barrie.

Re: help! little black bugs
 

if you just have a few plants, it was probably in the potting soil when you got them or in the plants when you got them if you recently received them. The sticky traps will help, the vacuum cleaner will help, and there is a bacteria you can buy called Gnatrol that we use in the greenhouse, but it's expensive and probably not worth the expense with just a few plants. Keep the plants soil a little drier and that will help. They also say mulching the plant heavily like 1" deep with straight coarse sand will help because they can't get into the organic matter so easily to lay their eggs, and eventually die off. They are aggravating!