Barbara -

if you do not have any critters, why are you spraying? Do not spray at all, and if you have a desire to do something nice to your violets - give them all a nice bath and leach the soil.

When I got AVID - I read everything I could find on it. In 24 hours it falls apart, so no residuals. I sprayed with it - when I suspected mites - and I would say I didn't see anything bad happening to the violets. No reaction.

If you have something relatively harmless like gnats - you can do the follow up - because the larvae lives in a soil and the new batch will be coming.

Would you have any critters that are not that harmless - like thrips or God forbid mites - you need to spray up and down and undersides and repeat it 2 more times.

Cheers

Irina

Barbara,
As the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". I use as few sprays or pesticides as possible. If anything needs spraying I have used Neem Oil becuase it's a natural product and isn't harmful to people or animals. I standby the old rule of isolation. Whenever I get a new plant or leaf, I isolate it for at least 2 or 3 months before before I introduce it to my collecltion. That way I am pretty sure I haven't brought in any critters.
Fred in NJ

Well, now you have me wondering. It seems as though I have read a number of times about people that do a 'preventive' spray avery few months or so to make sure there are no sneaky bugs hiding out in their AVs. It certainly seems like a good idea to be pro-active rather than re-active, but I could be paranoid too without too much of a push.

I have a few little black gnats but nothing else I have been able to spot. I keep two magnifiers handy when I pot or water, and try to be diligent about isolating also.

Last night I explored other forums at this website, and under the home forum, somehow ended up reading about snakes in the house, remedies for bedbugs and lice, mice, bats, etc. Itched my way to bed with the heebie jeebies!!!!Eeyewwww.

Maybe tomorrow I'll read the one on home orgaization, HA!.

Barbara

Barbara-

I slept one night at friends - and they had bedbugs. This was very itchy. Once I was on vacation and the house was infested with fleas - they sure bite like red hot needles. And I am really good at trapping mice.

But all these critters together cannot hurt you as much as one bottle of insecticide you bought in a store.

I second Fred. Get some Neem oil and spray with this thing. If you do not have any serious infestation - you can use this thing against your gnats and powdery mildew. You can do it every week - it really works well as a prevention against PM. If you already have it - it is too late.

Cheaper too. For me - it reminds me a smell of rotten onions.But some people actually like it. You also need to make a fresh solution every time.

Irina

I too have the neem oil and I sprayed my plants down good once top and bottom of leaves and crown and I think I will hit the soil once again to kill anything in that, but I also have the blue sticky cards that I really believe in. I had the knats pretty bad and even ones that hatched wound up on the cards and eventually had no more. I wasnt using the neem oil then just the cards. Man now Im starting to itch,,,,,

Mine are also reaching the end of their blooming cycle. I know I need to repot soon, also. If the only problems are gnats and PM should neem be sprayed as a preventative? Or do nothing but wash and leach? I have gnats throughout the house, including with my AV's. Not a major infestation but they're there. Where do you find those cards, Steve? HD or Lowe's? And where do you find neem? HD or Lowe's? Also, I only have PM on one of my AV's. I've tried Lysol and the milk/water mixture, but it didn't work. Would the neem not be effective because I already have it? Sorry to hijack your thread Barbara! I think it is still on topic, though! :) Christy

Christy, at one point I was misting my avs to create some humidity and boy did the knats love that , so yeah that was mistake #1 for me , wont do that again. Anyway, I got my neem at my lowes but hd probably has it too. Neem doesnt seem to have a bad smell either. One thing with that stuff , when you spray make sure to completely wet the surfaces, dont spot spray. I got my sticky cards at this greenhouse and they have a lot of interesting supplies too:

Here is a link that might be useful: reeds greenhouse

If you have a normal size collection, it is probably not necessary to use chemicals as a preventative.

The only people I would recommend to use preventative spray are those with large collections or those that tend to buy from many different sources.

When a chemical is used too often such as for a preventative program, the bugs it intends to kill begin to get used to the poison and develop something that begins to allow them to live although they are sprayed. Then the chemical is useless for that type of bug.

Prevention is unnecessary if you have a clean plant room and have not introduced new plants to it.

However, since I have over 100 mini and semi mini and around 200 standards and have bought from many different sources this past year, I have done prevention with Imidaproprid against soil mealies and may do one against mites.

Nancy

Nancy - you are right

That's what I was thinking - Marathon (imidacloprid). It takes care of the gnats, thrips in the soil and leaves - and since I disbud when transplanting - means does them all, it is a soil systemic, works up to 4 months. God forbid - any kind of mealy bugs doesn't have a chance.
Expensive though, about $100 for half gallon. Better do it as club, or group of AV lovers.

Christy -

I just tried Phyton 27 - it copper sulfate pentahydrate - works miracles against PM and doesn't spot the bloom.

I think you can find it on internet.

Irina

PS I have doubts about sticky paper. How many of them gnats get attached to this sticky thing AFTER laying new eggs...

If you havent tried it dont knock it, ahhhh for the nonbelievers.

Steve -

Just put yourself in the gnat's place - what would you do first - go for a hot date - or sightseeing this blue point of interest?

I.

Hmmmm, never heard of them being attracted to blue -- always heard it was school bus yellow. If you can find cards [preferable plastic] of the correct color, you can just coat them with vasoline.

Irina, you have to remember, my dear, that fungus gnats are.... well quite stupid. : D Had quite the infestation going in my bog terr but my butterwort took care of the problem. Even with it covered in 'corpses', still had gnats landing on it & getting stuck.

I use a Butterwort called Ping but he is three years old and leaves are paper thin. I think he has alsheimer's since he is not catching the few fungus gnats I see flying around. Time to replace, I'm sure.

Some people are saying thrips and gnats are attracted more to blue flowers and to blue cards over yellow. Helen Van Pelt Wilson wrote her books in the 50s and possibly new studies need to be made, but she says gnats and thrips can be seen more easily on blue flowers over other colors--not that they are more attracted to blue.

I guess a study is necessary to prove whether or not blue is favored over other colors.

Nancy

I thought I had posted Irina in response to your what would a knat rather do "hot date or blue sticky thing" but it didnt appear. My answer is my blue card was covered with knats , it was almost black. Maybe their date had a headache!!

Steve-

I think you have too many of these pests in any case - not enough square footage of your sticky cards to collect them all. May be it is time to spray. There is a product called Gnatrol - you can investigate where you can get it on internet - and it is based on the bacteria BT that feeds on them.
You need to drench you pots 3 times week apart to get rid of the larvae. I used it - it works OK, doesn't eradicate them 100% though, but reduces them significantly. And it is inexpensive, not poisonous for humans and pets etc.

I.

Sorry sweetie , but I dont have knats, should I have an infestation in the future I may consider, thanks anyway.

Steve, honey ;-))

- good for you.

Sweetie (aka Irina, 50 years old as of yesterday)

I have treated my violets with Avid (strongly suspect mites). Now how long do I wait to bring them inside the house? I have pets. I understand the chemical breaks down in 24 hrs. Is that long enough to wait? What an ordeal! Protective gear, shower after, dispose of your clothes! (OK, I am exaggerating a bit about the clothes) I feel like I work in a lab at the CDC!

What we go through for these plants!

seriously, how long are the plants in time out? My basement is not very warm and I don't want to stress them anymore than they already are.

Ann -

you answered it - 24 hours. Do not forget - 3 times week apart. So if your basement is not much lower than 65 degrees and you can provide some light for them - you can as well keep them there.

As far as I remember Avid is very weakly toxic to warm blooded animals, but lethal to fish. So - you do not want to spray near the fish tank. I imagine that the contamination can happen from the spray in an air - so glasses, nose-mouth protection, gloves, shower and washing your clothes is adequate. It is not DDT!!!

Good luck and hope you kill them all for good.

Irina