What's with the little flies?

Thanks canna queen!

Cannaqueen, Have you ever started cannas from seed, and if so, can you tell me about the results and how close the babies were to the mother plant in looks? I'm just curious because i have about a dozen seedlings coming up, 8 of which are form a colored leaf Cannas called Pink Dawn. Mendelian genetics at work here -- 50% are dark leaved and 50% are green leaved!

Suzy
P.S. Sorry, Seandor, am not hijacking your thread unnecessarily; this will benefit you, too, probably in November :) -- LOL!

Never worry about hijacking my threads :-) It's just part of conversation to verge into new topics.

Canna seed genetics.... Hello, IIIquoin.....this is my first year trying cannas from seeds...used ones from my canna garden....we shall see
what happens....they all look alike so far, only about two inches high....
what you have sounds unique....that should be interesting....good luck!

Fungus knat (old thread) for amusement purposes only...LOL http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/583366/
Not sure what all has been mentioned but....bottom watering when appropriate (they lay their eggs in the top 1" of the soil and need moisture...and the mosquito dunks...and of course the scan mask...all are great suggestions that have worked well for many.

I can't figure out why I don't have any this year. Last year they were everywhere! Too cold? Do they need a certain temperature or something?

I don't have a single one either. Can't we just chaulk it up to our expertise?
LOL

Mixed up this thread w/the passie thread....duh

This message was edited Mar 29, 2008 10:23 AM

I've gotten them a few weeks after the seed starting frenzy begins.
I actually do think using a fan and being careful to not over water
really does help.

Tam

Now I have ants instead....the little sugar ants are under each pot, but nothing is in bloom for nectar, and there is no sugar down there. Maybe they are eating the flies/their eggs. LOL!

Suzy

The other day, I found a tiny spider had built a little web in one of my containers. -Take that, fungus gnats!

Suzy - I have ants too! I pulled out an amaryllis to repot and
ants just erupted out of the pot! I had to leave the the potting
tray for a day 'cause there were so many ants there I was getting
the creeps with them running up my hands and arms. I wasn't
sure where they went 'til I watered a pot the other day. Again,
ants erupted! I'd prefer them to fungus gnats but really don't
like them in the greenhouse.

Tam

Tammy, do you have fungus gnats? I was only half kidding about them eating the fungus gnat eggs. There is NOTHING sweet in that basement and they have to be eating something to live. They are in and around the pots of seedlings, so I feel certina there is somehting edible to them in those pots.

Since I was plagued with fungus gnats last year, I can't help but think there is a correlation between the two things.

I have no fungus gnats. Oh you don't suppose the ants really do
eat them? I do have flowers in my greenhouse. I'll do a little
research on the net to see if anyone has reported something like
this.

Tam

Well - a search didn't show up anything.

I'm not sure what exactly they eat (besides sugar of course) but I have a huge gang of Argentine ants here, last year they got into the house and of course got into everything, but outdoors they're in all my flower pots and in all my garden beds. So I'm not sure what they're eating there, but if your ants are the same kind as mine then there's something in the soil that makes them happy. (and I've never had fungus gnats in my outdoor containers or in my garden, so I know that's not what they're after) I think they may be after water more than food when they're in the soil...they were all over my hot tub last summer too.

These are a totally different kind of any -- hardy in INdiana, for one thing, and much smaller than the Argentine Ants. Ours live in the regular ant hills and as far as I know, only eat sugar.

We call them little sugar ants and they are very small and of a brownish color. They have a peculair odor when you smash one with your fingers. They are VERY SMALL.

Suzy

The ones in my greenhouse are tiny. Never smelled 'em when I smashed
one though.

It's hard to describe, but if you smash one with your fingers and smell your fingers, there is a peculiar odor.

Suzy

This message was edited Mar 30, 2008 3:39 PM

Suzy... I can't believe I'm saying this but I'll give it a try. Oh the things
we do in the name of science. LOL

Do the fungus gnats cause any damage, or are they just unsightly?

Deb. mostly unsighly and sort of gross, plus if you have any of your plants in the house, they can go after them, too. Then the are in the kitchen or something. If the infestation is large, then they can eat the roots, I think. I don't mind spiders and bugs in the basement, but upstairs in my kitchen I don't like things slinking around or flying around. Hey! Gotta have SOME standards!

Suzy

I believe its the larva that are not good for the plants. That eat the roots.
The grown ups flying around are just plain annoying!

Oh, yeah, I should have said that about the larvae......found any ants to squich with your bare hands yet, Tammy? :))

Suzy

Not yet Suzy. LOL They must be lurking on this thread and hiding out.

I have an infestation of ants too! the same ones you described, I've not smelled after squishing though. I bought some liquid stuff my mom used to use... put it in a bottle cap and they supposedly feed on it carry it back and die. I hope so!

Yeah, it's Borax. Borax in a sugar solution/syrup.

Squish them with your fingers...just smash a couple and then smell your fingers. You will smell that same scent out in the garden when you hit one of their nests with s shovel or pull up a big weed nearby...whe I do, I run and get the ant spray because if I can small the nest, there are MILLIONS of them! And Oh, my is it ever GROSS when they all come out to see what's going on!

Suzy

Suzy - it was like an explosion of little ants when I pulled the amaryllis out to
report. You are correct... GROSS.

Yeah, they can be called a swarm, doncha think? You smelled them? That peculiar odor?

I have something new to report: I put down Terro last weekend, Friday Night, because the ants were grossing me out. Same experience..I have some seedling pots I keep pretty dry and I went to move them and YIKES! A million came pouring out. End of the line for the ants! Terro is Borax in a sugar syrup -- it takes about 36 hours, and then the ants are gone. Just GONE. There don't seem to be any dead carcasses, just pouf!

Today at 5:00EST, I saw my first fungus gnat of the season.

Now I am more convinced than ever: the ants eat the fungus gnat eggs. This same thing happend last year - only the opposite. I had the fungus gnats, WHOLESALE quantity, and then the ants came. When I saw my first 2 dozen ants, I noticed the fungus gnats were diminishing. After 2 days I had no fungus gnats.

I looked and looked for the thread where I was describing it but couldn't find it.

I suppose we could talk about whether the ants are better or worse than the fungus gnats -- could be the next thread.. LOL!

Suzy