Soil-dwelling mites. Likely the potting mix is too moist.

especially indoors.. i always sterilize my potting media ... see link ... i dont care what the bag says..i do it myself .... in the microwave for small amounts.. in the oven with a dollar store turkey pan [a giant jiffy pop] ....

outdoors.. if it gets that bad.. i would simply repot in fresh media ... and skip the cost of all the remedies .. beyond media of course ...

the prime problem causing fungus gnats.. IS YOU .. over watering.. keeping it too swampy in the media ...

repot... get rid of as much old media as possible.. in other words.. wash away you problem ...

and try to let your media NEARLY dry out .. in between waterings ...

do keep the freshly repotted plants in shade for a week or so.. so they can get over it...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Thanks guys. Julia, my research is showing that these are harmless to the plant and will go away once the soil is maintained at a low moisture level for a while. Is that correct?

Ken, the gnats I got came in a bag of miracle gro moisture control soil. Take a look at the link provided. I had no problems with these plants for over 2 years before this (it actually was healthy enough to grow new shoots up from the roots which was the initial reason for re-potting them). The last time I potted these I microwaved the soil then put the plants in, then I covered it in an inch of sand, then I treated for any gnats that could have remained. I can see the sand keeping the top layer of soil moist enough to promote soil mites...

Thanks for the help guys!

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil with Gnats

I had no problems with these plants for over 2 years before this

==>> potting media has an extremely short USEFUL life ...

one might suggest.. two years.. lol ... by your experience .. [unless i am misunderstanding what you said]

media is 'engineered' for water management ... when the media fails.. all of a sudden you cant manage the water. .like you used to ...

the peeps who succeed wildly with pots.. replace their media yearly ....

this is the root of your gnat problem .. IMHO ... [if i presumed correctly]

ken

I had change the soil in the pots once in those two years with a bag of soil that was given to me when received the plant (I don't remember what brand it was, but it was not miracle gro). After the initial soil change the plants actually started growing fairly aggressively, growing a few new shoots, and then stalled a few months after (which I guess speaks to your statement of short soil life). After noticing little to no growth for a long time (but no pests of any kind) I went and bought new pots, separated the shoots in their own containers, and re potted with the miracle gro i purchased. 5 days later i had an infestation of gnats.

All that to say, I don't think i was the initial cause of the gnat problem, although by my own admission I'm far form an expert, and I'm sure i did my part to help them flourish initially. I've done an extensive amount of research on the fungus gnats and I'm confident I wont ever have a problem like the one I had with them moving forward. These soil mites are new for me though...

Moisture control soil indoors is always going to be too wet. Also, your plant is over potted (too big of a pot for the plant). This, too, will keep the soil too moist. There are many soil recipe on the container forum, but for a quick fix use 50-50 mix of a non-moisture control potting soil and perlite (in a smaller pot) and go easier on the watering.

tj

Thanks for the tips tj. I'll definitely give that mix a try.

The plant was twice as big, but the gnats did a number on it. Half of the girth of it is gone!