Here is the problem: There are thousands (and more unknown)types of fungi in the environment. They all cause different symptoms and can require different treatment protocol. The key to treatment is finding out the particular strain from which you are suffering. I have been dealing with kerion lesions all over my body for the last few months and I'm very quickly discovering that doctors and vets are CLUELESS in Mycology. They learn the very basics in med school and don't further their education. You have to be proactive with your health and do the research yourself. There are fungi out there that are zoophilic as well and you can pass infection between your pets and vice versa. You really have to see a doctor, preferrably a dermatologist and ask for a fungal culture. They will take a scraping of your skin, a biopsy, or hair samples and send it off to a lab to culture. There it will grow in a dish and go from there. Some fungi grow relatively quickly, others, it may take weeks for results. I just can't believe that the medical community isn't better educated. I went to the ER because I don't have insurance. I told the doctor about my symptoms, ranging from fatigue, hair and skin problems, all the way to arthritic joints. I also mentioned my 3 dogs have the same type lesions. I told him I thought I might have a systemic fungal infection and his response was "First of all, I'm not a vet, so what your dogs have is of no concern" and "Systemic fungus won't present this way". STUPID!! So...what does he do? Takes a skin scraping, goes and looks at it under the microscope and says to me that he didn't see anything crawling but he did see something that looked like it had 'branches'. Ummmmm, HELLO?!! Branches=Hyphae=FUNGUS!! So he prescribes LAMISIL and Bactrim (antibiotic). Well, if he knew anything about fungi, he would have known that antibiotic are the worst treatment for fungi. They kill bacteria and then the fungi have all the room in the world to grow. Making your infection even worse. Don't let a fungal infection spread, they can be very dangerous and I believe are the source of a lot of major illness. The post above me mentions the light and dark spots and not being able to get rid of them. I'm not a doctor but it sounds like Tinea Versicolor, which is a non-invasive fungus that can be treated with over the counter preparations with active ingredients such as clotrimazole or miconazole. You have to treat this for a long time and may never completely kick it. Don't start and stop any treatment because it can become resistant and stronger and your condition may get worse. Probiotics are readily available at any health food store or pharmacy. There are food products out there with them in it also. Not just any yogurt will suffice. It has to have live cultures in it and if it doesn't say that, it doesn't. I think Activia is a popular brand that has lactobacillus acidophillus in it. Just do your own research and take your findings to your MD. Hopefully, he/she is open to learning and listens. If not, seek out another doctor that is!!

Blueboy- I'm not sure what may be causing the variations in color, but one thing for sure, most mites love heat. Look for webbing. Consider a light oil spray in the evening and be sure to get under the leaves, stems, and cover the soil a little with the mix. Repeat in a week, and as a dormant oil spray later on. See if the buggers crawl after that. I'm not sure that the bud mites bite stems, however. I see some of this discoloration on older stems of my plants, but not on new growth. That gradually becomes bark later on. Our max heat was 96f. Good luck. Noogy

"Popping" nails or screws is usually caused by changes in moisture levels, and those moisture level changes occur within the wood framing members themselves. When that occurs, it is likely due to normal 'drying' of the lumber or in an existing house, due to changes in the (air) 'conditioning' of the home from summer to winter. But that said, you may be surprised to discover that the nail pops are not really caused by the house 'settling' or changes in moisture content in the lumber. There is a growing recognition amongst builders and code inspectors that the culprit is the drywall itself. The drywall? Yes, the drywall. Why? Most builders now use 'lightweight' drywall. The trend began about 4 years ago. Not only is 'lightweight' drywall actually lighter in weight, and therefore easier to physically handle and install...it also costs much less than standard drywall board. The problem is, (and a problem that drywall manufacturers refuse to admit), is that unlike standard weight drywall, lightweight drywall itself actually 'shrinks' and 'expands' with changes in humidity. Rather than producing traditional nail 'pops'... which are typically concave indentations in standard drywall caused by drying of studs...and which pulls the fasteners "in"... "Pops" caused by lightweight drywall 'shrinkage' are evidenced by fasteners protruding "OUT" from the lightweight drywall surface...as the drywall itself changes thickness with less humidity. How is this possible? Drywall manufacturers won't admit that the lightweight 'fillers' they use which adds rigidity to the board and which decreases its weight, are also hydrophilic, that is, they absorb moisture and expand when they do. ----------------------- I was recently made aware of the problem by a townhouse developer and builder whose homes I regularly inspect as the Building Official. He took me through his 20 or so townhomes he built over the last 5 years and showed me where he stopped using standard drywall and began using 'lightweight' drywall. The conditions of installation were the same. It became IMMEDIATELY apparent that there was something amiss when he switched to 'lightweight' drywall: No 'pops' before... 'Pops' all over ever since.... He has since gone back to using standard weight drywall and his problems have disappeared....

I"m sure there's a lot of smart people here that know a lot more about plants and house plants than I do but to say that "If you have gnats, there's a 99% chance your plants are suffering from excess water retention", just isn't true. I've had the same 28 house plants for 5-15 years (depending on the plant) and all are thriving. I've only had a Dracaena die on me a few years ago due to my water quality i believe but it certainly wasn't root rot. Last July, a friend of mine gave me this amazing Philodendron Micans becuase he was leaving the country. Shortly after getting the plant, my wife and I went away for 10 days. We came back to fungus gnats. I immediatley quarantined the new Micans and completely changed the soil but it was too late. Many of my other plants, including plants i run very dry like ZZ, hoya, snake plant had fungus gnats. I've never had a fungus gnat issue in the past so i really didn't now what to do. Like many people, I tried using BT and yellow sticky tape combo (the rememdy that many poeple are recommending), Bonide systemic granules, hydrogen peroxide, diatamacious earth, neem oil and nothing worked. I tried completely drying out my soil and again, fungus gnats came back weeks later. After hours of gnat research, I read about someone with a similar problem and she said to cover the drainange holes in all your plants and cover the top layer of soil with sand. It appears that fungus gnats are skilled at finding any moist soil, top or bottom so they can and will use your drainage holes to lay their eggs. Their eggs can also lay dormant for many weeks in dry soil and then hatch again when you water your plant so drying out your soil, even the top two inches bone dry, doesn't always work. So no, it doesn't take just poorly drained plants to make fungus gnats happy. Poorly drained soil certainly helps them thrive but they will thrive just fine even in slighly damp, properly draining soil. I was desperate and I really hated covering my soil with sand and wil likely remove it at some point but i'm happy to report, i've been fungus gnat free for about 2.5 months and all plants are doing fine. You have to make it impossible for any gnat to gain access or escape from your plant's soil. This will break the life cycle. Hopefully this is helpful to anyone else looking for a gnat solution. (And there's no sign that my plants are under any additional stress due to the sand compacting the soil undernearth. I used about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of sand, just don't go too crazy with the sand and you will also have to slow down your watering because the water pools temporarily on the top of the sand before it is absorbed and reaches the soil underneath)