Many small, black flies cavort after a short time, especially in pots of bought chives. In most cases, these are so-called fungus gnats, which spread very quickly. Luckily, they're also fairly easy to combat.
What are fungus gnats?
Fungus gnats are black, very small flies. The insects lay their eggs in the substrate of potted plants, where the larvae eventually feed mainly on the roots. Without countermeasures, the animals multiply very quickly, they also endanger the health of your plants - not to mention that they are quite annoying. After all, who likes to have dozens or even hundreds of mosquitoes flying around in their kitchen? Therefore, you should act as soon as possible after noticing the infestation.
Fight fungus gnats
Most of the time, these little beasts can be controlled quite well with organic home remedies - fortunately, because chemicals are not appropriate for kitchen herbs intended for consumption, such as chives. And this is how you get rid of the flies on the chives:
- Remove the affected plant from the pot.
- Shake off the soil thoroughly, if necessary rinse it off in the shower or immerse the rootstock in a bucket of water.
- Take a new plant pot and fresh substrate.
- Repot the plant.
- Layer a good inch of coarse sand over the actual substrate.
- The sand keeps the flies from laying their eggs in the soil.
- If the infestation is severe, you can also cover the pot, e.g. B. with a transparent film.
- If possible, treat all neighboring plants in the manner described.
Incidentally, an infestation with fungus gnats is always an indication that the plant is being kept too moist - the animals feel particularly comfortable in a warm and humid environment.
tips and tricks
Chives - especially the seedlings - are often attacked by onion midges. In this case, it is important to act quickly, because the maggots in particular are dangerous to the plant. Take the same countermeasures as described and hope it's not too late. In many cases, infected plants cannot be saved.
IJA