Fungus Gnats

As part of a grand experiment, I have brought 8 tomato plants, lettuce, peas, garlic and basil indoors for the winter. I have a south-facing room that gets tonnes of light and thought it might be possible to grow some veggies over the winter. So far, it's not looking great - aside from the basil which has huge leaves and is doing about 2000% better than it did outside this summer. The lettuce is a wash, the peas don't look so good and I doubt that the garlic will do well, but I'll keep you posted.

But that's not what this post is about. This post is about the little, annoying, gnats that came in from the garden with the plants and the compost that fertilizes them. You know the ones. Anyone with houseplants has had them. They are small and especially bad when you water. Right?

Well, they are called fungus gnats. They aren't particularly damaging, just annoying. Apparently they are related to the mosquito (and like damp places like plants and drains). I used a 1:5 part hydrogen peroxide (3%) to water (which kills the larvae), and am hoping this will take care of the problem. There is also Safer's Soap that can be used to kill the adults, but unless you get the larvae, you are hooped.

Anyone out there have any other suggestions? They really ARE annoying, and they are in my office. Where the computer is.

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