Easy Way to Get Rid of Black Gnats On Your Houseplants

Lately, since I've overwintered some of my plants which include coleus, hydrangeas, and geraniums, and also some of my African Violet leaves I'm trying to propagate, tangerine plants, Christmas Cactus, spider plants, etc. I've noticed a lot of black gnats around my plants. I've tried a lot of remedies to get rid of these things including cutting little yellow rectangles with petroleum jelly to trap these little suckers.

The only remedy that works with these pests is a dish of soapy water. All you need is a saucer (I got some at the dollar store in a pack of 4 for a $1.00), water and a couple drops of dish soap (I use lemon dish soap: it attracts these bugs). I add dish soap to the saucer and fill the saucer with a cup of water. I allow the soil in my houseplants to dry out to kill the baby fungus gnat eggs. I then put the saucer near the inflicted plants and the gnats eventually seek water and go to my "trap" saucers. The soap prevents them from flying away and they eventually drown. In a couple of days, you'll notice that there are dozens of gnats in the water! Success proven! I hope this helps anyone who are burdened with these pests.

Groco Seeds Order

This is what I ordered from Grocoseeds The prices are very reasonable and you get so much for your buck.

• flax, blue (perennial)


• Chicory, blue beauty (pretty flowers and you can use the roots as a coffee substitute)


• Chinese houses


• Oregano


• Shoo fly, nicandra


• Poppy, oriental scarlet


• Sunflower, maximilian


• Sunflower, regular


• Nicotiana


• Chives


• Maltese cross, lychnis chalcedonica

This week, I transplanted my coleus seedlings into individual containers. I got these little plastic containers from Wal-mart. I believe they are used for making "jello-shots" or rinsing with listerine. They came in a package of 50 for $1.50. That's a pretty good deal to me! I put holes in them with a heated nail. It only took a couple of minutes to make drainage holes. I can't wait to get my seeds in the mail. I hope they come this weekend. It would be a wonderful Christmas present. We'll see...

Next week, I'll start some broccoli and parsley seeds. I can't believe I'm already starting seeds. I would probably go stir-crazy if I didn't do something in the garden! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!

Garden Update 12-12-07

I know it's been awhile but I have been super busy with Christmas shopping and decorating our place for our first Christmas. I still have been tending to my plants inside. My coleus seedlings are still doing well. I'll put them into individual peat pellets or little pots soon. By spring, I'll have tons of coleus to enjoy and share.

The ornamental pepper I got on clearance is starting to die. I purposely let it commit suicide since I just wanted it for its seeds. I took some seeds from it earlier this month and I germinated them and success!

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be planting my early spring crops: broccoli, parsley, and cabbage. I'm using the square foot gardening as a guide. It's a wonderful way to garden in a small space. I would recommend it to anyone. Well, that's it for this week. Next week, my order from grocoseeds and maybe valueseeds! We'll see...Happy gardening everyone!