FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I recently figured out why I have a few little bugs flying around my bedroom. I have a palm tree that brought in fungus gnats. I have just started watering it lightly with a neem oil solution to kill the larvae and eggs. I have a feeling that they have spread to my Nepenthes Ventrata and my Drosera Adelae. I have read that you can pour a neem oil solution into the tray for bottom watering, but also I read that a Nepenthes shouldn't sit in water. Would it be alright to put some neem oil solution in the tray to be soaked up?

My Drosera I can only water from the topside. Would that be alright as well? I found I am lucky that I have these 2 carnivoures in my room as I have been seeing little gnats for 2 months. My drosera only has about 5 stuck to it, but I noticed my one good pitcher was rather full of fluid and I looked inside to find that a lot of little black gnats were floating on the surface. I know that they make good food, but they live only 2 feet from the head of my bed!

So basically I am just wondering what the best way to apply this stuff to my 2 carnivoures would be. I know neem oil is safe from what I here, and it says that it can kill larvae and eggs in the soil, I am just unsure how to go about this.

I know this mentions a Drosera as well, but there is no general forum for this.

I've always had fungus gnats. They never caused a problem. In fact, I think they may help get rid of fungus that could do damage to your plants.

So should I discontinue the treatment of the palm tree pot as well and let them be? We are talking about an 8 gallon pot full of a miracle grow cactus and palm specific mix that I found holds a lot of water. I had been watering it once a week like I read somewhere that I should, but stopped when I got gnats. Even after a month it still was kind of moist. And like I said, the pot is literally 2 feet from where my head lays when I sleep. It is next to my night stand. I will say that the nepenthes is loving it and is pitchering well. I bought it from this forum's store in September and repotted it the same month. Almost all the pitchers died except for 2. both of their lids died and one is deformed, but the stopped dying after the lid loss. now in the past couple months it has put out 4-5 new leaves and has 1 pitcher growing, with more to come when the leaves get there.

yup.. A better treatment is to sprinkle D. capensis seeds everywhere

not in the palm tree pot, miracle grow enriched soil. I thought about getting a red cape sundew, but I need to make space for it. I have a Cataractarum palm in an 8 gallon pot, 2 Cycads, a Drosera Adelae (spelling might be off), a Nepenthes Ventrata, and a Boston fern I am trying to nurse back to health after suffering from lack of light after the trauma of being divided at the roots from a larger plant. The fern will go and make some room for a Capensis maybe. All the plants but the palm are on a desk. I have a north facing window at ground level so I have 4 60 watt equivalent CFL Daylight bulbs in my ceiling fan on for ~12 hours a day. Maybe when the red Capes get back in stock I will buy one.

Maybe you could put a small dish and a cape sundew in the pot containing the palm? That way it would have it's own soil and water but would still catch the fungus gnats. They don't wonder too far off where they live...

I started noticing more fungus gnats so I decided it was time to rid myself of them. I watered all my plants with a diluted neem oil concentrate per instructions, and sprayed all my non-carnivorous plants with it. Does anyone know how often I need to reapply the treatment. I would think every week would be good, but the problem is that all my plants often can go a month without drying out. I have my nep and sundew in a 1:1:1 mix of hand shredded LFSM, perlite, and orchid bark. My palm tree is potted in a miracle grow cactus and palm blend that retains water a little too well I would say as that is how this problem started. The eggs were in waiting until I over-watered my palm. I had read on its tag that it should be watered weekly, but that didn't account for the moisture retention of the new soil. So basically I need to figure out how far apart I can apply this treatment and still have it work. I would like to go as long as possible between waterings as waterings are already infrequent and I want to also let the soil dry a bit as moist soil promotes my current problem.

Aww, I kind of want fungus gnats to feed my plants, but I can see how they become a pest.

either they started multiplying faster or I just started noticing them more. Either way they are in my bedroom a few feet from my bed so it is kinda gross. Also my dad had previously voiced concern that they might spread to the plants in other rooms of the house. I also recently found that my plants have been surviving in a room where the temp is between 56-60 degrees on average. I had thought it was 60-68 but that was a thermometer/clock on the wall by the ceiling where heat rises. They also are in 50% humidity. Both my sundew and nep have produced and are producing more leaves in these conditions! they are tougher than I thought.