I recently bought a rubber tree plant and repotted it b/c it was root bound. After I got it home I noticed there were little gnats in the dirt and climbing around the plant. Is there anything I can spray that will kill the gnats and not the plant?
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Anonymous
ANSWERS: 2
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The Gnats either have eggs in the soil or the soil is wet or has food in it and is attracting the gnats from elsewhere.Try repotting it again , shaking loose all loose soil from the plant, and then use fresh.The gnats are only there because there is some sort of food in the soil. Use some packaged fresh compost from a garden centre. When you water it , put a couple of drops of lemon juice in with it.That should discourage any that are left !
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I think repotting the plant will put way too much stress on it. There are a couple of things that I would rather do: 1) Mix a solution of water, a little bit of detergent, and a little bit of oil (olive oil or whatever you have handy), and add about 10 drops essential oil like lemongrass, rosemary, or basil to it, and then spray the plant after it's been watered (so the watering doesn't wash it away) The essential oil will repel the insects, and the oil/detergent/water mix will a) coat and suffocate any insects or eggs it covers and b) it will make sure that the essential oil stays put and keeps repelling the insects. 2) Get some cigarette butts or other tobacco and soak them in water, and then spray the plant with that. The nicotine in it will kill any insect that comes in contact with the water or tries to eat the plant, as the plant will absorb the nicotine into itself. You don't want to do this with any plant that you are going to eat, as the nicotine is poisonous to you too. I would try the above methods before repotting the plant.
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