Gardening Questions – Small Bugs and Choking Orchids

Happy January everyone! This month we are answering two of your great questions!

“I have these small bugs flying around my plants when I go near them, what do I do? “

Do they look fragile and very similar to fruit flies? There is a good chance they’re Fungus Gnats. They love to lay eggs in moist humid soils. To deter them from laying eggs, you should let your plant’s soil dry in between watering if you can. A good way to combat them is to take the first inch of soil out of the pot and replace it with straight perlite. Perlite improves aeration, draining & insulation in Potting Mixes so this won’t be harmful to the plant but beneficial. Now for treating the soil with eggs already in them, I like to buy Mosquito dunks. Just add it to your watering can that you water your plants with and use it until completely dissolves.

The second question this month is “My orchid is choking in its very small pot, How do I repot it ?”

The first thing you want to do is soak the roots so that they are back to a nice green and easy to move around, this is to avoid breaking them. Slowly remove the orchid and remove the drenched moss from the plant so you can see if any dead or decaying roots need to be removed. When looking for a growing medium for orchids, it should be a bark-like coarse substrate. Orchids are epiphytes so they need to have airflow where they grow and they are not sitting in water but they do need some humidity.

Epiphytes grow on the surface of a plant and derive their moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and water. The orchid should be sitting in a plastic pot with drainage holes that is sitting in a decorative pot. Spraying is ok but the correct way to water would be to soak the entire pot with water in its decorative pot, wait 10 mins and then drain the water out. Then you’ll notice the orchid roots will be back to green and plump.

If you would like me to answer one of your questions next month you can send your question to me at: [email protected] attention Ask Anna.

I hope everyone has a fantastic month and be sure to stop by at Harvest on the corner of Vincent Massey Drive and Powerdam and say hi!

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