Likkle flies
 

So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.


--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Likkle flies
 

®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² writes

So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

Why? Wouldn't be best to find out whether they're harmful first?
--
Kay

Likkle flies
 

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 20:20:54 +0100, K wrote
and included this (or some of this):

®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² writes

So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

Why? Wouldn't be best to find out whether they're harmful first?

I've not had them before (and never missed them, either)

I certainly don't need the little critters and I don't need extra
pollinators. They don't look big enough to eat greenfly or slugs, so
they're toast.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Likkle flies
 

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:01:26 +0100, Anne Jackson
wrote and included this (or some of this):

The message from ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² contains these words:
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 20:20:54 +0100, K wrote
and included this (or some of this):

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

Why? Wouldn't be best to find out whether they're harmful first?

I've not had them before (and never missed them, either)

I certainly don't need the little critters and I don't need extra
pollinators. They don't look big enough to eat greenfly or slugs,
so they're toast.

If you're about to kill every insect you don't recognise, or can't be
bothered to identify, perhaps gardening isn't the ideal hobby for you?

What a counsel of perfection. Perhaps I should seriously blunt the
edge of my spade in case I harm something in the soil whilst digging.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Likkle flies
 

On 4/4/08 09:45, in article ,
"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²" wrote:

On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:01:26 +0100, Anne Jackson
wrote and included this (or some of this):

The message from ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² contains these words:
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 20:20:54 +0100, K wrote
and included this (or some of this):

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

Why? Wouldn't be best to find out whether they're harmful first?

I've not had them before (and never missed them, either)

I certainly don't need the little critters and I don't need extra
pollinators. They don't look big enough to eat greenfly or slugs,
so they're toast.

If you're about to kill every insect you don't recognise, or can't be
bothered to identify, perhaps gardening isn't the ideal hobby for you?

What a counsel of perfection. Perhaps I should seriously blunt the
edge of my spade in case I harm something in the soil whilst digging.

It's good advice, though, even if you don't want to hear it. Some insects
are extremely beneficial and you would welcome them into your garden or
greenhouse, if you knew what they were. Others aren't and quite rightly,
you want to be rid of them. But in this instance, size doesn't matter.
Although Nematodes probably wouldn't strike you as big enough to eat slugs,
you can use these biological controls and others to achieve that, without
using sprays on the food you intend to consume. There are several web sites
on the subject of biological control which will give you a lot of
information on the goodies and the baddies. Removing the tomatoes to the
outside of the greenhouse *on warmer days* and putting them back in at night
might help because useful predators might eat the insects you want to lose.
Removing the tomatoes, spraying the greenhouse and replacing the tomatoes
may not help at all, if the little flies are attracted to the tomatoes and
go outside and back in, hidden on them!
I don't think you'll ever find a counsel of perfection on here, BTW. Most
of us have been gardening too long and enjoy it too much to consider
perfection either achievable or desirable. Where would the fun be in having
nowhere left to go? But what you will find is a lot of good advice at
varying levels. Whether or not you choose to take it or not is up to you,
so all I can say is "good luck with your gardening". And keep your feet
away from the edge of the spade.....
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Likkle flies
 

"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:01:26 +0100, Anne Jackson
wrote and included this (or some of this):

The message from ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² contains these words:
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 20:20:54 +0100, K wrote
and included this (or some of this):

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

Why? Wouldn't be best to find out whether they're harmful first?

I've not had them before (and never missed them, either)

I certainly don't need the little critters and I don't need extra
pollinators. They don't look big enough to eat greenfly or slugs,
so they're toast.

If you're about to kill every insect you don't recognise, or can't be
bothered to identify, perhaps gardening isn't the ideal hobby for you?

What a counsel of perfection. Perhaps I should seriously blunt the
edge of my spade in case I harm something in the soil whilst digging.

That would be accidental - unless you can't bear worms so slice every one
you see.

I support Kay and Anne and I would expect most on this group would too.

Mary

Likkle flies
 

On Apr 3, 6:31 pm, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² wrote:
So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

It sounds like flying ants but I wouldn't spray with anything until
you find out what they are, they could actually be beneficial. I have
a good RHS book which identifies insects on plants, unfortunately it
is in a packing case otherwise I would look it up.

Judith

Colours and sizes often aren't very helpful in identifying insects. It is the shape of the things that is diagnostic, and if you were capable of describing that in words that enabled us to identify it, you'd probably already have the knowledge to work out the answer yourself.

If they are literally "flies", ie diptera (members of the family containing houseflies, bluebottles, hoverflies, mosquitoes, gnats), then most of them are harmless and some are beneficial.

On the whole, if they don't look like aphids, I'd probably leave them alone.

Just because they don't look big enough to eat something else, doesn't mean they don't. The parasitic wasps which "eat" various nasty things are in some cases so small you don't even see them. They do the eating by laying their eggs inside them, and then their larvae eat them from the inside.

We won't have much clue unless you can get your macro lens out and take a piccy.

Likkle flies
 

On Apr 3, 6:31*pm, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² wrote:
So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

--
®óñ© *© *²°¹°-°²

Be careful. Those could be Wart Gnats. They are insecticide resistant
and have been spreading across northern Europe over the past 10
years. They need high temperatures to complete their life cycle and
spend 3/4 of their lives parisitising sawflies which they eat from the
insides out. In England, they have been cropping up in greenhouses
and there are now records from as far north as Rochdale. They are
largely harmless but in extreme cases, they cause warts to break out
in sweaty parts of the body. Vinegar works to keep them at bay (soak
tee shirts and underwear every 3 days) as does Nam Pla Fish Sauce. To
clear them, from the greenhouse, you may have to fumigate with burning
elder twigs. The small size and silvery wings are a dead giveaway.

Likkle flies
 

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:01:26 +0100, Anne Jackson
wrote and included this (or some of this):

The message from ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² contains these words:
On Thu, 3 Apr 2008 20:20:54 +0100, K wrote
and included this (or some of this):

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little
beggars
fifthwith.

Why? Wouldn't be best to find out whether they're harmful first?

I've not had them before (and never missed them, either)

I certainly don't need the little critters and I don't need extra
pollinators. They don't look big enough to eat greenfly or slugs,
so they're toast.

If you're about to kill every insect you don't recognise, or can't be
bothered to identify, perhaps gardening isn't the ideal hobby for you?

What a counsel of perfection. Perhaps I should seriously blunt the
edge of my spade in case I harm something in the soil whilst digging.

That would be accidental - unless you can't bear worms so slice every one
you see.

I support Kay and Anne and I would expect most on this group would too.

Mary



As long as they're not fungus gnats. Those really are a PITA and can kill
small seedlings with developing root systems in no time at all when you're
not vigilant.

someone

Likkle flies
 

"Anne Jackson" wrote in message
...
The message from Des Higgins contains these
words:
On Apr 3, 6:31 pm, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² wrote:
So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

Be careful. Those could be Wart Gnats. They are insecticide resistant
and have been spreading across northern Europe over the past 10
years. They need high temperatures to complete their life cycle and
spend 3/4 of their lives parisitising sawflies which they eat from the
insides out. In England, they have been cropping up in greenhouses
and there are now records from as far north as Rochdale. They are
largely harmless but in extreme cases, they cause warts to break out
in sweaty parts of the body. Vinegar works to keep them at bay (soak
tee shirts and underwear every 3 days) as does Nam Pla Fish Sauce. To
clear them, from the greenhouse, you may have to fumigate with burning
elder twigs. The small size and silvery wings are a dead giveaway.

Des! Behave yourself!!

Oh no, I enjoyed it :-)

Mary

--
AnneJ

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion
now accepted was once eccentric. ~Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Likkle flies
 

On Apr 4, 11:42 pm, Des Higgins wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:31 pm, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² wrote:

So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Be careful. Those could be Wart Gnats. They are insecticide resistant
and have been spreading across northern Europe over the past 10
years. They need high temperatures to complete their life cycle and
spend 3/4 of their lives parisitising sawflies which they eat from the
insides out. In England, they have been cropping up in greenhouses
and there are now records from as far north as Rochdale. They are
largely harmless but in extreme cases, they cause warts to break out
in sweaty parts of the body. Vinegar works to keep them at bay (soak
tee shirts and underwear every 3 days) as does Nam Pla Fish Sauce. To
clear them, from the greenhouse, you may have to fumigate with burning
elder twigs. The small size and silvery wings are a dead giveaway.

LOL, good one Des :-)

Judith

Likkle flies
 

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 15:42:09 -0700 (PDT), Des Higgins
wrote and included this (or some of this):

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

--
®óñ© *© *²°¹°-°²

Be careful. Those could be Wart Gnats. They are insecticide resistant
and have been spreading across northern Europe over the past 10
years. They need high temperatures to complete their life cycle and
spend 3/4 of their lives parisitising sawflies which they eat from the
insides out. In England, they have been cropping up in greenhouses
and there are now records from as far north as Rochdale. They are
largely harmless but in extreme cases, they cause warts to break out
in sweaty parts of the body. Vinegar works to keep them at bay (soak
tee shirts and underwear every 3 days) as does Nam Pla Fish Sauce. To
clear them, from the greenhouse, you may have to fumigate with burning
elder twigs. The small size and silvery wings are a dead giveaway.

Thanks for that, but I think a pinch of salt might deal with this
problem.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Likkle flies
 

On Sat, 5 Apr 2008 00:45:31 +0100, "someone"
wrote and included this (or some of this):



If you're about to kill every insect you don't recognise, or can't be
bothered to identify, perhaps gardening isn't the ideal hobby for you?

What a counsel of perfection. Perhaps I should seriously blunt the
edge of my spade in case I harm something in the soil whilst digging.

As long as they're not fungus gnats. Those really are a PITA and can kill
small seedlings with developing root systems in no time at all when you're
not vigilant.

Wrong morphology and wing colour in this case.

Anyway, they seem to have largely cleared off now without
intervention.


--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Likkle flies
 

On 5/4/08 09:34, in article
, "Judith
in France" wrote:

On Apr 4, 11:42 pm, Des Higgins wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:31 pm, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°² wrote:

So what have I got in my (unheated) greenhouse?

Quite a few little flies, about the size of ants, but with little
silvery wings.

I shall remove the hardening tomatoes and fly-spray the little beggars
fifthwith.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

Be careful. Those could be Wart Gnats. They are insecticide resistant
and have been spreading across northern Europe over the past 10
years. They need high temperatures to complete their life cycle and
spend 3/4 of their lives parisitising sawflies which they eat from the
insides out. In England, they have been cropping up in greenhouses
and there are now records from as far north as Rochdale. They are
largely harmless but in extreme cases, they cause warts to break out
in sweaty parts of the body. Vinegar works to keep them at bay (soak
tee shirts and underwear every 3 days) as does Nam Pla Fish Sauce. To
clear them, from the greenhouse, you may have to fumigate with burning
elder twigs. The small size and silvery wings are a dead giveaway.

LOL, good one Des :-)

Judith

I even checked the date. ;-))

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'