See through tiny slug things...

[shirlthegirl43]

I bought kits to grow an orange, a lemon and a peanut from Poundstretcher. I sowed all three according to their instructions a month or so ago (they didn't have a set planting time) using the compost 'brick' thing that came with each kit. I have just been examining my pots of chillies etc to see if there were any signs and spotted tiny sluglike things on the top of the compost for the peanut and orange

Any ideas what I should do about them?

[Nicos]

My first reaction would be to take a piccie and then squash them!!!!

[shirlthegirl43]

No way I could get a piccy - would need some specialist equipment, I only saw them coz I put my reading glasses on to check for seedlings in the chilli pots

[Two_Sheds]

They could well be fungus gnat larvae. The grids in the photo are 1mm apart

[shirlthegirl43]

That looks a likely culprit Two_Sheds - thanks, will look them up now.

[Gwen11ian]

I'd say mushroom fly larvae as well.. I had them in my indoor plants last spring as well. Have you seen something that looks like fruit-flies around that area? They eat the rotten bits in the compost, like bits of bark (often found in multi-purpose soil) and bits of plant matter like dead roots or leaves.

To get rid of them I sprayed the soil with organic pest spray (not soaking the soil, just a couple of squirts to cover the surface) every few days until the flies disappeared. My theory was that it stopped the cycle, flies that pupated didn't mature to mate and lay more eggs. So eventually they disappeared.

[shirlthegirl43]

We have a terrible plague of fruit flies in the house at the moment - actually we do pretty much year round. If the weather gets a bit better I might just chuck all the houseplants outdoors for a few days to see if that cures them. I have put the pots with the slimey things in outside - don't care now if I get orange, lemon and peanut plants - just don't want little sluggy critters indoors!

The compost that came with them was a coir based one as far as I can tell.

[srodders]

I might just chuck all the houseplants outdoors for a few days to see if that cures them.

I did that last year with a couple of plants and ended up with scale insect on them instead