I too think I'd be inclined to suspect mosquitoes especially if the water in
your trays stands for more than 4 or 5 days between rinsings. Adding water
to them to maintain the desired level, even chlorinated, is the same as
undisturbed, standing water. The little buggers grow quickly. A quick rinse
and refill may leave some eggs/larvae behind.

I would also keep an eye on your other plants just in case.

Jim

"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
Could be mosquito larvae? Not that I know anything about mosquitos
other than the fact that they ate me alive while I was fishing this
weekend. But regardless, if it really freaks you out, put a few drops
of dish detergent in each tray. Or a few tablespoons of bleach. Use
the 'lemon-fresh' kind, it will smell nice.

Remember that you don't have to worry about harming your plants, since
the bugs are in the humidity tray. That water should never touch your
plants. That isn't a license to go out and apply industrial solvents,
but you can be a bit more aggressive than you might otherwise be. A
little detergent wouldn't hurt your plants, anyway. You might want to
spray your plants with a little soap and water mixture while you are at
it, just in case the critters are coming from the plants and not the air.

Rob

janet_a wrote:

so i seem to have nymphs in some of my humidity trays.... they're
teeny tiny black things doing that classic black-flip swimming move.
they're smaller than the hyphen in the previous sentence. they
appeared *after* i washed the trays (they're pyrex baking dishes--they
go in the dishwasher). i keep dumping them and rinsing them, but the
bugs still appear. (fewer in number, but they're there.) i washed all
the plastic pipe fittings and hardware cloth boxes that the plants sit
on in the trays too; clearly some eggs got laid someplace. anyone
seen this before? how do fungus gnats propagate? i can't think of
any aquatic-type bugs that have been hanging around the orchids (which
are on the window seat in my living room--controlled environment).

thoughts? i'd rather not have to dump any major chemicals in the
trays... thx!

--j_a




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