On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 0:25:52 +0100, Joe B. wrote
(in message ):

What I've noticed is that these plants (or rather the compost) seems to be
attracting a lot of attention from those tiny flies that I think are called
fruit flies, and I'm a bit concerned that they may be laying eggs in the
compost and the larvae may be mistaking my zonals for "fruit". I'm wondering
about using pesticides-

I just got some literature today and this sounds a little worrying, I may be
taking defensive action after reading this...

This is from a BGPS booklet called "Fancy-Leaved Pelargoniums":

"Sciriads or fungus gnats of various species run over the soil and
occasionally fly. The larvae of these tiny black flies are small thin white
maggots with black heads which will eat the roots and work into the root and
stem junction. ... These are usually found at the base of the plant but may
be seen anywhere in the compost. The first sign of their prescence is the
sudden wilting of the of the top growth where the grub has eaten through a
major portion of the root system. These soil pests can be treated with an HCH
compiund."

This would explain what happened with one of my young rooted cutting
pelargoniums which appeared to just stop growing and after a couple of weeks
of that and it continually looking somewhat unhappy I decided to throw it
out. I do recall the main stem came away from the roots rather too readily.
So maybe that is what happened to it.

And can anyone tell me what an HCH coupound means?

--
Joe B. remove composer for email