My mother-in-law reports that one of her grandsons, a 2-year-old nephew of
mine, today decided to all of a sudden "repot" one of her orchids. As far as
I understand not much happened to the orchid, but in the process two fruit
flies were observed flying out of the medium. Apparently my mother-in-law
has been experiencing quite a few fruit flies lately (she live in
Wisconsin), and now she suspects that the orchids are or at least may be
infested with them.

Do you have any experience with fruit flies in orchid medium? And if so,
what should one do about them?

Thanks!

Joanna

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 02:12:47 GMT, "J Fortuna"
wrote:

My mother-in-law reports that one of her grandsons, a 2-year-old nephew of
mine, today decided to all of a sudden "repot" one of her orchids. As far as
I understand not much happened to the orchid, but in the process two fruit
flies were observed flying out of the medium. Apparently my mother-in-law
has been experiencing quite a few fruit flies lately (she live in
Wisconsin), and now she suspects that the orchids are or at least may be
infested with them.

Do you have any experience with fruit flies in orchid medium? And if so,
what should one do about them?

Thanks!

Joanna

They are fungus gnats and prove she needs to repot her pant. The
medium has broken down to the rot stage. It should also smell
bad, but she probably has not sniffed it.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Sue,
Thanks. I sent the info along to my mother in law. Though I would be
surprised if that's it, since she has been into orchids for only 2 years,
and she is really into repotting, so I would be surprised if there is a
single orchid there that has not been repotted fairly recently. But maybe I
am wrong on that. I will see what she responds. I also sent her info on how
to make a solution with water, soap and rubbing alcohol, since from what I
have read that works against many insect pests.
Joanna

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 02:12:47 GMT, "J Fortuna"
wrote:

My mother-in-law reports that one of her grandsons, a 2-year-old nephew
of
mine, today decided to all of a sudden "repot" one of her orchids. As far
as
I understand not much happened to the orchid, but in the process two
fruit
flies were observed flying out of the medium. Apparently my mother-in-law
has been experiencing quite a few fruit flies lately (she live in
Wisconsin), and now she suspects that the orchids are or at least may be
infested with them.

Do you have any experience with fruit flies in orchid medium? And if so,
what should one do about them?

Thanks!

Joanna

They are fungus gnats and prove she needs to repot her pant. The
medium has broken down to the rot stage. It should also smell
bad, but she probably has not sniffed it.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Or get some Dart Frogs. They are cute and they would love the fungus
gnats to death.

Yes, I'm thinking about starting to collect the damn things. What is it
about collecting stuff that is so addictive, anyway?

Rob (Littlefrog Farm)


wrote:
J Fortuna wrote:

Sue,
Thanks. I sent the info along to my mother in law. Though I would be
surprised if that's it, since she has been into orchids for only 2

years,

and she is really into repotting, so I would be surprised if there is

a

single orchid there that has not been repotted fairly recently.


Fungus gnats can thrive in a moist, organic mix, even if it has not
started to significantly break down. There will always be some
decomposition of old roots, fungi, etc. IMHO, the easiest way to
control fungus gnats is to allow the mix to dry out completely so that
the larvae dessicate. Most orchids can tolerate occasional drying for
a day or two.

If your Mother in law is having trouble with fruit flies in the
kitchen, she can make a simple trap that works on the same principle as
a fish trap or crab pot. Take a jar and insert a cone of stiff paper
or card in the mouth. The cone should have a small hole at the base,
so that fruitflies can crawl through. Put a little piece of fruit in
the jar. The flies will find their way in through the small hole by
following the scent of the fruit, but they are much less likely to
escape. Every few days, freeze the jar and then discard the contents.
It's amazing how many fruit flies it can trap.

Nick



--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit

I have a sundew plant. Got it at Home Depot.

I find the 'dew' dries up due to low humidity even when it isn't low (70).
To counter that I set a 4'' plastic plant tray inside a cut off gallon apple
juice jug (cut at the point that it starts to round up to the top). Then I
set the sundew in the tray and keep water in the tray. To further keep the
humidity high I take a bag from the prepackaged grapes and put it over the
top. The fungus knats go in thru the holes in the grape bag. My sundew is
adequetly fed by the gnats caught. Do not fertilize the sundew.

I have a couple other carnivorous plants in the orchid area. One is a
Nepenthes also from Home Depot and the other is a Sarracenia bought from J &
K Orchids at a MN Orchid Society Meeting.
Orchids Limited also has Carnivores.

Bob

"Byron" wrote in message
oups.com...
You can drown the nats. Wait till your orchids are ready for their next
watering, then emerse each pot to the rim in plain water. Keep it
submerged for 15 minutes. It kills the larva but won't damage the
orchid.

You can also get a Sun Dew plant, a carnivourous plant with sticky
hairs on the leaves that capture the flying nats. It won't kill them
all, but reduces the problem significantly.


J Fortuna wrote:
My mother-in-law reports that one of her grandsons, a 2-year-old
nephew of
mine, today decided to all of a sudden "repot" one of her orchids. As
far as
I understand not much happened to the orchid, but in the process two
fruit
flies were observed flying out of the medium. Apparently my
mother-in-law
has been experiencing quite a few fruit flies lately (she live in
Wisconsin), and now she suspects that the orchids are or at least may
be
infested with them.

Do you have any experience with fruit flies in orchid medium? And if
so,
what should one do about them?

Thanks!

Joanna

I am new, so hi to all.
The cheapest fly trap is simply a "Clear" plastic pop bottle
with a very "Clear" tube (I bought mine at the nearest Aquarium Store)
although you can try the casing of a clear pen.

----
[ ]
| |
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
| ===|=
| |
| |
| |
________

Fly trap works because the last thing
a friut fly is going to think is the exit is in the
middle of the container.
Note: A Slice of bannana works best for me
but you might want to try Vinegar and let us
know if Vinegar worked.

Another method noted for house flies looks
like this:

----------
| |
| |
| |
| |
| [ ] |
| | | |
| / \ |
|/ \|
|_______|
|_/\_/\_/\_|

This trap works for the same reasons as above
plus because flies tend to fly upwards to excape
they don't figure this one out either.

Just cut a pop bottle in half and drop in a little
meat for bait and push the inverted top into the
bottom. And then invert the hole thing. The flies
enter in the grooves at the bottom fly up and its
all over...

Good luck
Micky and Guara


"Bob Walsh" wrote in message
...
I have a sundew plant. Got it at Home Depot.

I find the 'dew' dries up due to low humidity even when it isn't low (70).
To counter that I set a 4'' plastic plant tray inside a cut off gallon
apple juice jug (cut at the point that it starts to round up to the top).
Then I set the sundew in the tray and keep water in the tray. To further
keep the humidity high I take a bag from the prepackaged grapes and put it
over the top. The fungus knats go in thru the holes in the grape bag. My
sundew is adequetly fed by the gnats caught. Do not fertilize the sundew.

I have a couple other carnivorous plants in the orchid area. One is a
Nepenthes also from Home Depot and the other is a Sarracenia bought from J
& K Orchids at a MN Orchid Society Meeting.
Orchids Limited also has Carnivores.

Bob

"Byron" wrote in message
oups.com...
You can drown the nats. Wait till your orchids are ready for their next
watering, then emerse each pot to the rim in plain water. Keep it
submerged for 15 minutes. It kills the larva but won't damage the
orchid.

You can also get a Sun Dew plant, a carnivourous plant with sticky
hairs on the leaves that capture the flying nats. It won't kill them
all, but reduces the problem significantly.


J Fortuna wrote:
My mother-in-law reports that one of her grandsons, a 2-year-old
nephew of
mine, today decided to all of a sudden "repot" one of her orchids. As
far as
I understand not much happened to the orchid, but in the process two
fruit
flies were observed flying out of the medium. Apparently my
mother-in-law
has been experiencing quite a few fruit flies lately (she live in
Wisconsin), and now she suspects that the orchids are or at least may
be
infested with them.

Do you have any experience with fruit flies in orchid medium? And if
so,
what should one do about them?

Thanks!

Joanna

Most likely the 'fruit flies' were actually Fungus Gnats. These little
creatures' larvas normally eat decaying junk, but can nibble on the tips of
roots too. In small numbers they are tolerable, but in quantity can cause
enough damage to be of some concern.


"J Fortuna" wrote in
news:zI5_d.5044$UV2.3452@trnddc04:

My mother-in-law reports that one of her grandsons, a 2-year-old
nephew of mine, today decided to all of a sudden "repot" one of her
orchids. As far as I understand not much happened to the orchid, but
in the process two fruit flies were observed

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