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Carnivorous Plants

Do any CPs like compost flies?

18 years ago

Due to my bad habit of growing things on the kitchen windowsill, we have a few compost flies/fungus gnats flying around the kitchen. I try to keep the soil as dry as possible, but with some baby seedlings and plants needing moist soil, it's not always an option.

I really hate having flies in the kitchen - are there any carnivorous plants that are particularly fond of these beasties? What about Drosera or VFTs..?

Cheers :)

Melanie

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Comments (9)

kakozord
18 years ago
Sure, D. Capensis love em. My Cape Sundews eat loads of fungus gnats. This doesn't stop em all together but it keeps them under control.

Hope this helps

Kyle
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fluffygrue
Original Author
18 years ago
Aha, thanks for that. There's not often I get a *justifiable* excuse for buying plants.. :)

(Recently acquired a water butt in the garden, which means I have as much rain water now as I need.. which means as many CPs as I want. :D)

Melanie
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kakozord
18 years ago
Yea I water all my plants with rainwater from a water butt n they love it. My nep ventrata catches a lot of fungus gnats aswell but doesn't seem to make a huge difference to the population.
0
xpochian
18 years ago
My fledgling pingicula 'pingy' as my girlfriend has affectionately named him, has eaten a truly heroic number of fungus gnats.

back when he was half the size he is now, roughly an inch and a half across, he was in a tank with a baby nepenthe that had some gnats on it. by the time i'd realized this, i figured they were both doomed, their tender roots as good as eaten.

then i noticed the gnats didn't seem to swarm his pot like they did the nepenthe, and they also seemed to get stuck on his dewy leaves. by the dozens at first and then, after a few weeks, it looked as if someone had ground a pepper mill over him for at least half a minute!

i decided to push the pots together, so the gnats could migrate to the newer soils and they did! within a few days i noticed their numbers down and pingy growing steadily and flush with vibrant green dewy leaves.

there's hardly a dozen gnats on the nepenthe now if any, and now that the winter set in, i'm sure they've all buggered off. i realized it was a risky proposition, but i figured they were already infested and it couldn't have hurt.

very pleased with pingy, the pingicula. gnats aren't though.
heh.
0
akheadbanger
18 years ago
Yes i didnt think pings would be as effective as they were, but soil gnats fungus gnats w/e they are Stand NO chance against a ping. Sundews do chow down on them, no wear as near as a ping.A ping and sundew is what i would sudgest!

cheers
0
FlytrpL8E
18 years ago
I put a Ping on opposite corners of the prop tray, when I plant nepenthes seeds. It does keep the fungus gnats in check and with the result, after one year, of some really large pings and many more nepenthes seedlings than before the ping placement.
Thanx for lsitening and keep 'em plants growin'
Lois
0
fluffygrue
Original Author
18 years ago
Woo! Think there's going to be a serious plants vs. gnats battle in the kitchen soon.. :D

Melanie
0
Patrix
18 years ago
if you place a half full glass of white wine or vineager near the fungus gnats they will fly into it
0
fluffygrue
Original Author
18 years ago
Ah, will definitely give that a go - we usually have plenty of homebrew wine around.. :)

Melanie
0

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