about the pesky little flies. i did an experiment with them. i took a bit of
wet soil from the pot and placed it under the microscope. i saw the white
larva moving around in the soil and actually saw a fly pop out of a cocoon
while in the top layer of the soil. it seems they lay their eggs in the wet
soil and they go through a complete metamorphoses .egg .larva.pupa.adult,
they like wet soil so i try to bottom water my plants and place marbles or
pebbles such as you get for the fish tank on top of the soil so they don't
get near the soil.also paper towel over the soil helps. this year i tried to
use the soap insecticide like saffers and it did cut down on the population
of indoor plants.
"Arwen Long" wrote in message
...
Now that I know that white fuzzy stuff on new pottings is not unusual
'round here, I have another question. Where do the little plant flies come
from and how can I get rid of them? I know they're not fruit flies because
the eyes aren't right (those old biology classes come in handy
sometimes...), but they seem to have the same attraction to pots as fruit
flies do to fruit. They don't eat the plants as far as I can tell, but
it's sort of annoying to have them floating around the kitchen.

Has anyone else found a way to avoid these creatures?

Thanks

Arwen