its a cactus [by name, if not botany] ... how thoroughly are you watering it ... mine are kept so dry.. the tops nearly make them fall over ... google: fungus gnats .. to see if we can ID them ... the prime problem with gnats .. is too wet media ... which should never be a problem.. on something called a cactus .. eh??? we have to ID them ... to get you on track ... and pix just dont work in this type of case ... one should not segregate.. its not politically correct.. think hospital.. we isolate ... lol ... the isolation ward ... ken

I love impatiens but I am also sick of them getting all kinds of bugs and diseases. toward the end of the summer, they always start dying or majorly going down hill from one problem or another. I will always have some, but I am going to more geraniums now, because they are basically care-free and, like impatiens, come in so many colors. Good luck with yours!

in my z5 ... its getting time to almost be getting rid of annuals .. and cutting back perennials ... that time is near.. even in your zone 7 ... the point being.. at some point.. we dont treat bugs anymore ... and we dont do it prophylactically for next year... we clean up.. and wait and see.. if the problem recurs next year ... i cant really tell what the bugs are.. too far on the second pic.. but my gut suggests.. yea.. sometimes it talks to me.. earwigs ... if you want to discuss how to cut back perennials.. see you in that forum .... ken

I had two seasons in a row where I had a very bad earwig problem. Everything was being eaten and I couldn't see what was doing it. Someone on GW suggested I go out at night with a flashlight and sure enough, I discovered the earwigs. I used a cup of soapy water and just knocked them into the cup. I did that every night as often as I could for a few weeks and got them under control. Pulled off the chewed leaves and the plants went on to produce another crop of leaves. They loved basil among other things. I kept the plants watered and fertilized with Neptune's Harvest half strength weekly. I haven't had a problem with earwigs in at least 5 years now, so things do improve over time. I grow in a neighborhood that is more urban/suburban than rural, so maybe we have less to deal with. No deer, few rabbits, a mole or a chipmunk once in awhile, and two years we had a groundhog that stripped the vegetable garden among other things, in a couple of nights. Lucky you have a cat that will catch moles. My dog sniffs them out when they are around, but is more curious than killer. [g] Some years I get aphids but I let them go since I noticed that when I ignored them, they attracted ladybugs who took care of them in a blink of an eye. Last year I had a lot of cabbage flies laying eggs on my brassicas, and then I noticed I had yellow jackets flying all around the vegetable garden and no more cabbage worms. So, if you have a new garden in a new location, I would encourage you to try to go with the flow. Learn about what is destroying your plants and what natural predator you can enlist to help you. Sometimes all you have to do is just let it work itself out. Sometimes hand picking is needed. I get oriental beetles in small amounts and I pick those off. If things are really in jeopardy - I mix up hot pepper, garlic and a few drops of soap, strain that through cheesecloth and put it in a spray bottle and that has helped in a lot of situations. I've been trying to grow sunflowers and the squirrels drove me crazy last year. I tried covering the seedling area with hardware cloth, but as soon as I removed it they showed up and pulled 6" tall seedlings right out of the ground. I tried a couple of other things and resowed the seed 3x. By then I was determined to beat them, and I decided to try ground cayenne pepper. I sprinkled it around the edges of the bed. Watered the seedlings and sprinkled it on the leaves of the sunflowers and that was the end of the squirrels bothering them. I did the same thing this year and had success without having to resow three times. But I'm going through very large bottles of cayenne pepper powder, pretty fast. [g] I replace it after rain. I did get lazy once a couple of the sunflowers reached about 2ft tall and sure enough, I came out Friday morning to one very healthy pretty sunflower plant broken off just about at ground level. So, it's back to coating everything with red cayenne pepper religiously. :-) It does feel like a battle…lol.