Indoor plants and gnats...

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Dina

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Joined
May 25, 2004
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2,685
Location
Mission, Texas
Wondering if coffee grinds are okay to use on houseplants. I read that they are good to get rid of knats in the soil. I have a couple of palm trees, some tropical foliage, ivy plants and orchids. Will coffee grinds affect the plants? I'd appreciate any advise or suggestions. Thanks.
 
Dina, just stir some liquid dish soap into the water in your watering can. Don't let it get all foamy, but stir it in well. The soap coats the little bugs and they can't breathe or something. Works like a charm. The coffee grounds are good in your soil, but you have to make sure they are really well dried or they start to mold. Icky.
 
Thanks Alix. The whole house smells like vanilla coffee. LOL I'm going to remove a bit of the ground coffee off the soil, especially on the orchids. Could be too much acidity for the flowers. I'll go and do the dish soap and hope for the best or those babies are going outside.
 
I got a flyer from the hort department at the U. of Missouri the other day--they said to cover the soil with 1/4 inch of clean sand. The gnat larvae cannot dig their way out thru the sand.
 
I'll keep that in mind Sparrowgrass. Thanks. I saw one or two gnats around the house but not as bad as it was. The dish soap and ground coffee has helped.
 
cleanest little triple "a" personality bugs you've ever seen!

dina, are you sure you have gnats? gnats fly around. you'd see them in other places than the plant.

if not, then my guess is you have mites or another bug. soap will help a little, but it doesn't smother all bugs. it just washes some of those away. primarily, soap is used to help the other ingredients to stick to the leaves.

hope this helps.
 
Buckytom, there are fungus gnats that live in the soil around houseplants. The only time you see them is if you disturb the plant in some way, then they fly around a bit.
 
I'm am pretty sure they are gnats Buckytom. Have also noticed them crawling around the soil so I try not to disturb the plants. I got the indoor houseplant bug spray if the problem worsens. I'm more concerned about my orchids. Hope the soap, coffee and spray don't affect the orchids. Thank you all for your help and suggestions.
 

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