I had a ton of fungus gnats on my peppers that I wintered indoors. I did 2 things and it drastically reduced (but not eliminated) the problem. I sprinkled cinnamon on the top of the soil and I began watering with a weak chamomile tea. Both are natural anti-fungals. Now I water all my seedlings with a weak chamomile tea. You can search on this topic, or google it and read about the benefits of watering with chamomile tea. Also, if you want to get a more focused search scroll to the bottom of the forum you are on, just below the last post on the page, and use that search function. Make sure you click on search this forum rather than entire site. When I first started using this site, I used the search function on the top and found it impossible to weed through all the topics the search brought up. Good luck!

Why not give them a try? Conventional methods say to start them in early spring, when the soil has thoroughly thawed. So what if it's late spring? You might get something from them before the real heat hits. I think I'll try some too. PV

I can't address your questions about the use of sundew plants as a successful pest manager. I can't help but think that a good many beneficial or benign critters might become victims, though. The sundews attract insects by their sweet secretions, making them (I'd think) a magnet for bees and other nectar feeders. Squishing and spraying with strong streams of water from the hose should be your first line of defense. Keep checking for ladybug larvae and other predators to join in the fight. Neem can be used if you aren't having any luck with the physical means. But remember, plants can do just fine with a few aphids pestering them. You just don't want them to get out of control, which they can do in a hurry. The squishing and water sprays ought to do the trick. I'd save the neem for the bigger problems.

rina I was answering the ? on a ficus. it is my opinion a thin layer of sand ON TOP about a 1/2in you still get airation you just do not have to water as often. You will have to experiment with how much water you give it cause it will be less and sand still compacts enough to kill the eggs (has to be coarse sand) .does not effect drainage if using right medium with good pots with alot of drainage holes it take alil longer to go threw the sand if you pouring water on top and get a more even watering to go threw the sand. But when i use organics and also making compost tea with the heat from the lights i got this problem.But I am activating the micro organisms with air pump to maximize the organics that im buying and using in media and teas so i go threw alot less fertilizers when i feed and when I water the roots are getting air h20 from the water.But this is how i got fungus gnats with the organics and the heat from my lights and how i cured my problem was with sand. I dont water every day or every other day cause in my soil i use coconut fiber,sand, and other media which retains some moisture and it gives it more time before I water again. I only feed once or twice a month and water in between depending on my plants When i have grown lilac trees using organics i had a good pearl white root zone.It also depends on what you are growing succulents most of them only get watered twice a month . Also some succlulents do prefer a sandy soil cactus is part of the succulent family what do they grow in?Also there are other succulents that prefer sandy soil too or peat or rock. Check further down in container gardening there is a thread called water release curve for growing media ingredent. But in the end it is what works best for you and what results you want to achieve and how much you want to experiment,research and read . This is what works good for me.