Tiny black flies in potting compost.

[shabbysquire]

Hi there. New to the forum, & look forward to getting some good advice!

I'm having problems with some potting compost. Lots of tiny black flies (similar to fruit flies), are emerging from the surface of the soil. The chilli seeds that I've planted haven't yet sprouted. Will these flies cause any problems once the seeds sprout?

[Two_Sheds]

They are fungus gnats, a common pest caused by over-watering

If you lift the pots up you might see tiny maggots wriggling around

[starloc]

Make sure the compost dries on the surface between waterings, to get rid of them you can dust the compost with cinnamon powder,
another way is to water with water containing a small amount of neem oil, the neem oil will kill the maggots in the soil and kill the flys
To get neem oil solution, put a spoon of it in a jug, add 1 tiny drop of baby shampoo ( not fancy shampoos ) and mix it till white, then add about 50ml of hot water to dissolve it, then dilute with cold water

[shabbysquire]

So that's what they're called. The Sciarid / Fungus fly is proving to be more than annoying due to the potential to kill off seedlings.

I'll give the neem oil & cinnamon powder a try, should be cheaper than using nematodes.

Thanks for the advice!

[dope540]

excellent timing on this. gonna OD them on cinnamon

[shabbysquire]

Another thing I've noticed is that these buggers go straight for your bin to do their stuff.

So I'm going to keep the bin air tight (plastic sheet kept in place with a bungee), so they can't get access to the organic stuff. And in case they managed to get in, I'll take the bin outside to empty / change the bin bag.

Don't forget that waste food sitting around attracts them. Just have to keep the place a little less shabby!

[dope540]

Argh mayn! Gonna cinnamon the bins as well. Choke them out!