Hmmm - you are definitely not lazy!

Funny you should say that, seen as I am blaming the entire episode on being too lazy to find a proper saucer for the violet in the first place :-p
Or was it the callousness of being worried about bringing pests into the house from stores, never mind breeding them on my balcony....
Ah well, I will be keeping a better eye from here on out.

Just chalk it up to a learning experience!
Joanne

Don't beat yourself up about this-dogs get fleas; plants get bugs. It happens!

Linda

Really - do not panic - find what bugs you acquired - find the way to get rid of them - and proceed. I do not believe you can stop thrips or fungus gnats with a saucer. If you bring them in a house - they will spread evenly in very room. Do the treatment - before you take the plant inside. Spray it and put some dunk in a soil.

What is dunk and where do you buy it? I have gnats in my soil.

the gnats were in the lemon planter to begin with - they would not have got into the av if i hadn't sat it straight on top of the soil in there (because i was short a saucer).

if i had stopped to consider, i would have doused them in cinnamon water - that has always worked for me in the past. (gets rid of the fungus which they eat). except when i used too much and it burned the roots of the plant...

ah well, in retrospect, they all needed a repotting anyways.
i mainly shared the story because i am sort of laughing at myself here.

but then the way i dealt with it is similar to how i deal with computer issues - wipe and clean install. so i can't promise that i won't do it the same way again :-p

Gnats fly in a mature stage. So - they just emerge - do their hanky-panky and lay eggs in all pots at once. Saucers do not make any difference.

Bayer now sells Tree and Shrub with imidacloprid - green goo you use in a ration I think teaspoon per gallon- for thouroughly soaking the pot - kills mealies, gnats, aphids - imidacloprid is systemic- so it travels up the plant. Works better than gnatrol. If you want to kill thrips - you need to disbud as well. That's the dunk I meant.
Doesn't help against mites, though.

Cinnamon water to kill the gnats... reduce the amount - that's I believe. Eradicate - nah. Pesky thingies - come back every summer - or every time you buy something in a greenhouse.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree and Shrub

Just a thought from a beekeeper-please do not use imidacloprid
outdoors. It is suspected of contributing to hive collapse and, believe me, this is a BIG problem. It's very sad to open your hives in the spring and see thousands of bees lying dead on the bottom. Sad and frustrating.

Linda

Thanks, Linda, for that advice.
To start off these comments, I just want to say that my preference is always to be organic, when possible.

What would you recommend for small, black flying insects?
I am not sure if they are the same as the gnats Irina described.

I brought home some Optimara's from my local Ace
Hardware store that are in isolation. They are in a separate room.

And noticed a small black flying insect. The last time I brought home some from Ace, the same thing, so I just used a household spray and isolated. That worked.

Since then, I read through all the threads on pesticides and picked up Neem and something else. But have not used them yet.
I am also about to have the exterior of the house sprayed for ants and black widow spiders. What should I watch out for?

I have an apple tree and a pear tree. So whatever the pest control company uses, I want it to be safe for the fruit.

In Calif where I live, is a big sand trap and no foundations under the homes. So in rainy season, it is necessary to do something preventative for ants. Otherwise, they get into my violets and eat up the roots.

The natural remedies did not work. Anyway, before I have the outside of the house sprayed, just wanted to check in with you.

I am so sad about the bees. If poisons do that to bees, it must be doing the same things to humans and pets.

Joanne

This post was edited by fortyseven on Sun, Dec 29, 13 at 15:02

Joanne -

we are not insects...so what is bad for insects not necessary dangerous for us - or mites or spiders... But NOT using imidacloprid for outside plants is a good policy. The selective action of different poisons is a benefit - otherwise we would be all infected by intestine worms and lice - and nobody would be able to help us. Nobody wants to use a guillotine to get rid of dandruff.

Joanne,

California is so stringent on various things as compared to the rest of us, the first thing I would do is check with your local extension office. You should be able to find it online and you can start your search there.

Landscapers and groundskeepers follow a practice called IPM, (Integrated Pest Management). The idea is to not throw everything and anything at an insect and hope for the best. The first thing, as I have mentioned before, is to find out what you are dealing with. Then, you manage it, keeping it at an acceptable level. You can find info online about this as well.

Linda

Not sure about ants, but apparently a gecko or two will rid a house of roaches ;-)

As for gardening, garlic, onions and lavender are supposed to repel pests. And beer traps will catch snails. But I assume you knew all that already.

For gnats, I've read you can manage them by eliminating their food source (fungi) so repotting in fresh soil, keeping it on the dry side, and maybe a bit of cinnamon on the soil can help (or keeping a cinnamon stick in your watering can.) too much can burn your plants roots though.

(Gecko pic just because I like it...)

I've had alot of problems with Ace hardware plants. I try to select the best ones, but I always end up with pests or diseases from Ace. They are my closest store by 30 miles. It's so hard not to shop there.

Zackey - you grow more AVs, you get better and you stop buying in Ace, HD, Lowes, Kroeger etc - even they are cheap. You would be more interested in fancy named varieties - that are never sold there - but as you see on this forum - people acquire from Internet stores, ebay, on Shows and from AV growing friends.
It just seems that $2.85 for violet is cheap. The pesticides, work and disappointment that comes with sick or infested plants is really not worth it.

Fight the temptation! Or get the plant you like - take a leaf or two, dip it in 1/3 alcohol solution - and start your own plant. Give the mama plant to the friend - who you know will kill it dead - but will enjoy the bloom for a month.

Irina

Linda,

Thanks for the advice, as always! I will check out the Extension Services. (My new MAC computer OS has a mind of its own, I type one word, it types another!)

My Tomahawk has bloomed, it is a nice, spicy, deep, vibrant red.

@ Irina, Thanks for the advice here and on the thread re: insecticides. And on Reds, I've got a running list.

On older threads, I have been reading your information on the growing habits of various hybridizers as well as on the potting medium used by different hybridizers.

@Karin, Cute gecko photo!

Joanne

Stopped by ace today. Learned they are only allowed to sell plants grown in Calif. Said Calif is very strict, as Linda wrote. Said that violets on bloom are very "sweet" to insects. That explains why their Optimara violets are all grown by locals nurseries.