What to do if there are midges in orchids

Causes of pests on orchids

Insects can appear on plants for several reasons:

• Contaminated soil. If the soil mixture was prepared incorrectly and was not disinfected before use, eggs or larvae could remain in it. If you transplant an orchid into it and then water it, conditions favorable for the development of pests will be created. The midges will begin to actively reproduce.
• Excessive watering. Midges can enter a house through a window, but unless they find suitable conditions, they will not stay indoors. If there are plants inside with constantly moist soil, insects will take up residence there.

Insects leave noticeable damage on orchid leaves

• Using moss. As a rule, gardeners use it to slow down the evaporation of moisture from the soil. If parts that have begun to decompose are not promptly removed, pests appear.
• The use of natural fertilizers: shells, tea leaves, coffee grounds. Decaying organic matter attracts insects.

Important! To choose the right remedy for midges on plants, you need to identify and eliminate the cause of their appearance.

The main reasons for the appearance of midges

Why did midges appear on the orchid and in its soil? The primary reason for the appearance of different types of midges is the increased humidity of not only the surrounding air, but mainly the soil (substrate). They can fly in from the street or from other indoor plants that require soil or organic matter to be kept in a pot with constant humidity.

Midges appear on orchids due to high humidity.

Often the cause of the appearance may be a poor-quality or unheat-treated soil mixture containing midge larvae, which will quickly begin to spread to other flower pots.

Quite often, when using moss to maintain humidity, gardeners are in no hurry to replace it. As it decomposes, it is a good source of all kinds of flying pests.

Placing vegetables or fruits next to tropical plants causes not only negative consequences for development, but also the appearance of all kinds of insects. And often not harmless.

Types of midges

Midges in indoor flowers - how to get rid of them at home

You can understand how to get rid of midges in orchids only by first determining their type. It is important to choose an effective remedy that will not harm the plant. Most often, 4 types of insects live in flowers.

Thrips

Small - up to 2.5 mm - dark-colored midges with an elongated body and wings folded on the back. It is not easy to detect them, since they are active in the dark and hide in the soil in the sun. Dry soil is attractive to pests of this type, so you need to water the flower regularly.

A sign of their presence can be dark spots on the leaves. They reproduce quickly and lay eggs on leaves. Adults damage all parts of the plant, sucking out the juice, while the larvae damage only the leaves.

Whiteflies

You can learn about the appearance of white small flies by carefully examining the plant (you can see yellow marks on it) and the soil where the eggs or light-colored larvae will be located. If you touch a flower, butterflies will scatter throughout the room.

Whiteflies live on the undersides of leaves, making them difficult to detect

The larvae feed on leaf sap, so the leaves of orchids affected by whiteflies begin to dry out and turn yellow.

Sciarides

They are black mosquitoes, not exceeding 5 mm in size. They are most active in autumn or spring.

Adults (this is their second name) do not harm phalaenopsis, but lay eggs in the ground. The hatched larvae feed on the roots of the plant. The affected areas of the root system begin to rot, fungus and infections penetrate inside, due to which the orchid may die.

Drosophila

Fruit midges do not eat the plant; they feed on rotting organic matter. As a rule, they appear in groups, hovering over areas of interest to them. They pose a danger because they reproduce at high speed. If you do not remove insects, they will quickly fill the apartment.

How to get rid of larvae

To destroy pest larvae remaining in the soil, use a solution of hydrogen peroxide. The drug is mixed with water in a ratio of 1:4 and the soil is watered with this product. A hissing sound will be heard for several minutes, indicating that a chemical reaction is taking place. When the substrate dries a little, you can repeat this procedure again. All larvae will die from exposure to such a solution.

To destroy sciarid larvae, simply do not water the orchid for a while. They cannot tolerate dryness and die quickly. If there are too many of them, it is recommended to replace the soil with fresh one, after thoroughly washing the root system with warm water.

Midges in orchids: how to get rid of them at home

Mealybug on an orchid: how to get rid of pests and treatments

If there are midges in an orchid, what to do first:

1. Place the pot with the infected plant in quarantine for a month, that is, place it separately from other flowers.
2. Place the flower under a gentle stream of warm water to wash away larvae, eggs and adults.
3. Inspect the soil, stems and leaves, remove any remaining eggs and larvae with a damp cloth.
4. Cut off dead and damaged parts of the plant, dust the cut areas with ash or crushed coal.

To remove pests from the roots, the plant is thoroughly washed with warm water.

Important! If the soil is heavily infested with pests, it is necessary to replant the orchid, thoroughly washing the roots.

Traditional methods

What to do if midges appear in the ground in orchids:

1. Treat with soapy water. 1 tbsp. l. soap (preferably without dyes and other additives) is diluted in a glass of water. Moisten a cotton pad with the composition and gently wipe all parts of the plant for a week. After a break of several days, another 2-3 treatment cycles are repeated. When the insects disappear, wait a month, after which they wipe the flower once to prevent the reappearance of midges.
2. Use garlic infusion. The cleaned head is crushed, poured Art. boiling water The liquid is used in the same way as a soap solution.
3. Prepare an apple cider vinegar trap. The liquid is poured into a small jar, mixed with a couple of drops of dishwashing gel, and closed with a plastic lid with small holes made in it. The prepared container is placed next to the flower pot. Midges (fruit flies and sciarids), sensing the smell, will fly inside and die, since they will not be able to get out of the trap.
4. Place citrus peels or garlic cloves around the plant. This folk method is based on the fact that strong odors repel insects.
5. Prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate and pour it over the soil. The disinfectant liquid will destroy the eggs and larvae.
6. Sprinkle the soil with mustard powder. Repeat the procedure once a week until all midges disappear.

Spraying with garlic infusion is a plant-safe way to remove pests

Chemicals

Getting rid of insects using potent drugs is recommended in extreme cases when other methods have not helped.

The most difficult thing to deal with are sciarids. You will need to use several products in combination: the above-ground parts of the plant are treated with “Raid”, “Raptor” or “Neo Dichlorvos”, for the soil use “Bazudin” or “Grom-2”. Pests can remain not only in the pot, but also on the surfaces around it, so you need to wipe the windowsill with a disinfectant.

Actillicom is suitable for killing thrips. The infected plant is treated with this drug three times over a period of 10 days.

“Actellik” also effectively copes with whiteflies. They are also removed using insecticides “Sherpa” or “Fury”. To get rid of eggs and larvae, the soil is spilled with water.

How to get rid of it at home using biological methods

If midges appear in orchids, you can get rid of them using home remedies:

• Vacuum cleaner. It will help collect whiteflies. When you touch the phalaenopsis, the butterflies immediately fly up, disturbed. You can take advantage of this behavioral feature of theirs. You need to turn on the device in advance and point the end of the suction tube (it is better to remove the nozzle) just above the plant. Touch the orchid and the whiteflies will fly up and be sucked in. It will not be possible to collect all the midges at once; you need to repeat the operation several times, taking breaks.
• Fly tape. A ribbon hung near an infested plant will collect most of the adults.
• River sand. It is pre-calcined in the oven and then poured in a thin layer onto the ground. Monitor the condition of the plant: after a few days all the midges should disappear, and if this does not happen, the procedure is repeated.
• Soil washing. Since the most difficult thing is to remove not the adults, but the larvae, you need to thoroughly wash the soil every 4 days.

Note! If there are fruit flies in the house and flower pot, you need to fight them differently. You should throw away the remains of moss, tea leaves and other natural fertilizers, if they were used, and reduce the frequency of watering. Inspect the room, remove all food that attracts fruit flies (fruits, vegetables).

To get rid of fruit flies, all moss from the ground must be removed

How to deal with pests?

What to do if your orchids are infested with midges? First you need to determine what insects appeared on the flower. After all, the control method will be determined precisely by the type of pest.

If fruit flies appear in the plant, then you don’t need to use pesticides. It is enough to reduce the frequency and volume of watering, eliminate the mulch layer (moss or tea). It is important to let the soil dry completely. To destroy fruit flies, it is enough to deprive the pests of food (eliminate missing vegetables and fruits).

Important! To speed up the fight, it is recommended to hang sticky tapes near the flowers.

It is quite difficult to remove sciarids. Flying insects can be destroyed using modern insecticides: “Raptor”, “Raid”, “Neodichlorvos”. These compounds must be used to treat shelves, window frames, and window sills. To cope with larvae living in the soil, “Grom-2” and “Bazudin” are used. You can also spread citrus peels, garlic or lavender in the soil to repel pests.

Whiteflies can be destroyed using the following insecticides: “Aktara”, “Bazudin”. Affected orchids will need to be sprayed once every 5 days. To increase efficiency, you can use a solution of laundry soap diluted in a ratio of 1:6.

Important! To increase the effectiveness of the fight against whiteflies, it is recommended to periodically water the soil under running water.

Tips to help get rid of midges on orchids:

Prevention of infection

Whitefly on indoor plants - how to deal with it at home

To prevent insects from starting again, you should follow some rules:

• Sprinkle the soil purchased for indoor plants with plenty of water and then place it in the freezer for several days. During this time, the larvae, if they are present in the soil mixture, will die.
• Do not immediately place a purchased new flower in a room where others are located, but place it in a separate room. If after a month there are no pests on it, you can move it to the others. However, it is not recommended to keep the entire collection on one windowsill.
• Install mosquito nets on the windows to prevent insects from entering the house from the street.
• Keep the room where the orchid is kept clean and promptly throw away spoiled fruits and vegetables.
• New pots, before transplanting the plant into them, should be disinfected: pour boiling water over them or rinse with a manganese solution.

Why did midges appear in an orchid pot?

Insects breed where there are optimal conditions for their life. The main requirement for their development and reproduction is high humidity. The causes of small midges may be the following:

1. Substrate infested with insect larvae. After watering the soil, they become more active - they begin to multiply and settle on leaves and peduncles. If the humidity in pots with other plants is also high, flies will colonize them too.
2. Decaying moss is a favorable environment for pests. It retains the moisture and warmth that midges require.
3. Insects can fly in from the street. They lay larvae in moist substrate.
4. Next to the orchid are fruits and vegetables. If the food begins to rot, midges appear in it and move into the orchid pot.

An orchid that is watered frequently and abundantly is an attractive place for pests. Therefore, the primary reason for their attacks is illiterate care and non-compliance with the conditions of keeping the flower.

Types of insect pests

If you don't look closely, all the little insect pests look alike. However, it is not. There are many varieties that live on indoor plants, and the gardener’s task is to identify them before midges destroy the crop. This is necessary in order to understand what means to effectively influence not only the insect, but also the larvae. Only under such conditions can you completely get rid of them.

If there are midges in orchids, then you need to try to get rid of them immediately before they harm the plant. Among the insect pests, there are not particularly dangerous ones, but more often there are species that can harm the plant in a short time.

Sciarides

These insects are also called soil gnats. There are several varieties of houseplants. It is quite difficult to distinguish them. The insect is dark in color, small in size - no more than 3-5 mm. The body is narrow, rounded head, two wings. Adults are not dangerous to the plant because they do not have a developed oral cavity. The threat to the plant is posed by the larvae, which the female lays in moist soil. They feed on the roots, after which the orchid dies. It is impossible to get rid of them if you constantly over-moisten the soil - even after exposure to chemicals, the midges will fly out the window again and settle on the wet soil.

Thrips

These parasites are dangerous for any indoor plant. They are small in size - up to 2 mm. The legs have suction cups with which they are attached to the leaves. The mouthparts are well developed enough to feed on plant sap. The developmental stage of insects is complex and occurs in several stages. It is known that in a year a female can give birth to up to 10 generations of thrips. After the attack of these insects, the color of the leaf plate changes and a silvery film appears. Then the leaf dries and falls off.

Whiteflies

Such insects eat both thin-leaved plants and fleshy succulent plates. It is easy to identify by its appearance, since its white color distinguishes it from other insects. The whitefly's body is about 2 mm and has 4 wings. It is characterized by rapid reproduction and development. The female lays eggs on the inside of the leaf blade. The hatched larvae are mobile and voracious. By sucking on the leaves, they draw out the juices from them, after which the plant dries and turns yellow. Insects can be detected by the sugary secretions they leave behind.

Drosophila

The fruit fly Drosophila is known to everyone. The insect cannot cause any particular harm to the plant, but the rotting products it leaves behind have a negative impact on the soil. Therefore, it is necessary to fight them.