Very often, small midges appear in flower pots, which harm the plants. Their larvae feed on the underground parts of flower crops. Today, an effective means of control has appeared - Thunder 2 against midges. Midges appear in the soil of indoor plants for only two reasons:
- Increased soil moisture: midges are swampy insects, so they feel great in this kind of soil.
- They are brought into the house with low-quality store-bought soil.
If you want to get rid of midges, you can read numerous reviews on the Internet. Users advise watering the flower as little as possible to dry out the soil. However, this is not always possible and does not help in all cases. Therefore, to combat flies in flower pots, the use of other, more effective methods is required. Experienced gardeners advise using Thunder 2 to get rid of midges, including fungus gnats.
Midges in indoor plants
Description of the drug and purpose
A systemic insecticide designed to combat soil flies, garden ants, flower midges and other pests of agricultural crops. This product is also actively used for treating indoor plants.
Attention! The effectiveness of the drug is quite high - insect larvae are destroyed within 2 days.
When used against midges, thunder does not have a negative impact on the crops themselves and does not pose a danger to animals, birds, or humans. However, even in small quantities the chemical is harmful to the inhabitants of water bodies.
An effective remedy
Efficiency
Ant repellent Thunder 2
Reviews of Thunder 2 confirm the effectiveness of the drug against ants.
There were insects in the greenhouse with tomatoes. This was a surprise to me, because until that time I thought that tomato tops scared them away. There was no time to fight ants with folk remedies; it was necessary to save the seedlings urgently. I bought Thunder 2, made dimples around the plants, and poured granules. My tomatoes began to come to life within a week. This meant that during this time the family of ants became extinct.
Anna, Moscow
There are a lot of ants in the garden. They dug up the nests, poured boiling water on them, burned them, and after a while they were back in place. I bought Thunder 2, threw the granules around the garden, and dug furrows in the ground around the trees. Within a month, almost all of them disappeared. The best remedy in the fight against ants. Double effect - prevents the spread of aphids.
Elena, St. Petersburg
You can buy the product in a specialized store, hardware departments of supermarkets, or at the market. It is possible to order via the Internet. The cost of packaging depends on the volume. 50 g of product costs an average of 45 rubles.
Operating principle
The drug Grom 2 is an enteric-contact insecticide. Insects attracted by the smell rush to the bait and eat it. Once in the body, the poison immediately begins to affect the body systems that control nerve impulses.
As a result, the transmission of signals from the central nervous system to the organs and systems of the insect is interrupted, which leads first to convulsions and then to paralysis. The pests very soon stop breathing and die.
By the same principle, the poison also acts if it does not enter the digestive system, but onto the body of the insect. But in such a situation, the effect occurs with a slight delay - it takes time for the active substance to penetrate inside through the integument of the pest.
First aid
If the insecticide gets into the stomach, induce vomiting. The stomach is washed with a 2% soda solution (drink at least 2 glasses), and activated charcoal is taken. In case of contact with mucous membranes, you need to wash your face and rinse your eyes under running water. Atropine is instilled into the eyes for severe irritation.
Expert opinion – Zarechny Maxim Valerievich. Agronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best country expert. If the drug gets on the skin, carefully wipe it off with a cotton swab or napkin moistened with a 5-10% alcohol solution.
Mode of application
Before you start exterminating harmful insects, it is recommended that you read the instructions for use of the drug Thunder 2. This will allow you to achieve maximum effect and avoid negative consequences caused by violations of the rules.
Larvae
To kill midges on indoor plants, follow the following manufacturer’s recommendations:
- Before using the drug, you will have to remove the top layer of soil (2-3 cm thick) from the flower pot.
- The granules are evenly laid out on top of the remaining soil.
- The extracted soil is returned to its place, sprinkled with poison.
After using Grom 2 against midge larvae, the instructions recommend not watering indoor flowers for 2-3 days, giving the drug the opportunity to have the maximum effect on parasites living in the soil. Adult midges will disappear on the 5th day after applying the pesticide.
In a similar way, insecticide is used to protect vegetable seedlings. To protect flowers growing outside and fruit crops from insects, granules are scattered around the plants and immediately embedded in the ground.
When used on vegetable beds, the insecticide is evenly distributed along the furrows and sprinkled with a layer of soil.
Having discovered an anthill on the site, Thunder 2 granules are poured inside through the passages to a depth of about 2-3 cm. The paths along which insects move should also be sprinkled with poison.
What you need to know
The instructions for using the Grom 2 product against midges also mention safety measures that should be observed.
- To avoid direct contact with the insecticide, you must use a respirator (mask), safety glasses and rubber gloves.
- It is unacceptable to drink, eat or smoke during treatment.
- At the end of the procedure, you should thoroughly wash your face and hands with soap.
If the recommendations for use were not followed and the insecticide still got into the oral cavity, then it is necessary to lavage the stomach and go to a medical facility.
Reviews of the drug Thunder 2 for midges may vary, but most consumers are satisfied with the effectiveness of the drug.
Consumption rates
You will need a little of the drug Grom 2, used to treat the soil in flower pots and seedling boxes. In this case, the amount of granules is taken at the rate of 2-3 g per 1 sq.m.
Ants
To use the product in the garden, adhere to the following standards:
- 10 g packaging is enough to treat an area of 3-5 sq.m.;
- a package of 20 g is taken for an area of 15-25 sq.m.;
- 100 g – for 50-80 sq.m.
In the fight against ants you will need 30 g for every 10 sq.m. land.
Attention! The degree of effectiveness of the drug is quite high - a single application will provide protection to plants for 2-3 months.
How insects get into the apartment and flower pots
Ordinary small midges appear in flowers for a reason. Most often, this is facilitated by creating conditions that are comfortable for their development and reproduction. Insects happily breed in well-moistened soil with residual fertilizers, rotten leaves and flowers.
Any putrefactive process in the soil is a suitable environment for the formation and maturation of midge larvae, from which adults eventually emerge. Mature insects pose a serious danger to indoor flowers, sucking juices from stems and leaves.
The main reasons for the appearance of midges in flower pots include:
- low level of soil quality;
- humus residues that provoke decay processes;
- open windows and doors through which insects enter the soil of plants.
In addition, stagnant water in the trays of home flowers can provoke the appearance of unexpected guests.
Precautionary measures
The systemic insecticide Grom 2 is classified as having moderate toxicity to humans (belongs to class 3). Although the chemical is considered non-life-threatening, precautions must be taken when working with it to avoid even mild poisoning:
- Before opening a package of granules, wear protective clothing and gloves to protect your skin.
- To protect mucous membranes from exposure to toxins, use safety glasses and a respirator.
- While working with the insecticidal preparation, do not smoke, drink liquids or eat food.
Having finished cultivating the soil, remove protective equipment, wash your hands and face with laundry soap.
Important! When working with chemicals, do not allow strangers (unprotected people, children, animals) to be nearby.
One of the safety measures is proper storage of the insecticide. It should not be kept together with food, animal feed, or medicine.
Use in garden areas
Reviews of the drug thunder 2 for midges
Many people prefer to first get rid of midges using “old-fashioned” methods: potassium permanganate, soap, orange, garlic and the like. However, numerous reviews allow us to conclude that these midge repellents are ineffective. Or they only help in the initial stages of infection.
In cases where the soil is abundantly populated with midge larvae, the use of drugs such as Thunder 2 is required. Most of the reviews about this product are positive. Negative reviews most often refer to products purchased from dubious suppliers or used not according to instructions.
Irina, Odessa: “Oh, I’m very familiar with this problem! I would have unbearably many of these midges. It seemed to me that all the rooms were teeming with them. I did everything: I used various remedies for midges in the apartment, sprayed with potassium permanganate, stuck something in the ground, used various homemade sprays - the colony decreased for several days, then the same story again... I read on some forum that girls They are fighting this problem with the help of Thunder 2. Honestly, it was scary, since my son is small and the cat is always “grazing” in flowers. I did everything according to the instructions and, just in case, took the child to his grandmother for two days. The cat, however, remained. And then after 3 days I noticed that there were much fewer midges on the flowers. And by the end of the week there was none left at all. I hope they don't appear again. But if they come, I now know how to get rid of midges in indoor flowers.”
Olga, Moscow: “But I don’t understand what I suddenly started doing wrong... I already used Grom-2 once, everything was fine. Recently, midges appeared in an orchid. I bought a package, did everything as always - a week passed, nothing changed. Maybe they adapted somehow? Or did you buy a low-quality product? It seems like they shouldn’t be counterfeited – it’s not the right price category. Pests of indoor plants cannot adapt; these are different colonies, in no way connected with the previous ones. Strange, of course."
Advantages and disadvantages
Grom 2 is actively used by farmers due to its effectiveness, speed of action and low cost. Other advantages include the following:
- versatility of the active substance;
- harmless to flowers and fruits;
- safety for beneficial insects;
- duration of protection;
- not phytotoxic.
Grom 2 is easy to use - it is sold in small packages of different categories with ready-to-use granules.
The drug has one significant drawback - the active substance is poisonous to fish. Therefore, you cannot use the product in areas where there is a possibility of wastewater entering rivers, ponds, and lakes.
Important! When treating indoor plants, it is necessary to ensure that poisonous granules do not accidentally fall into the active aquarium.
Safety rules when processing premises
To avoid the toxic effects of the drug, the following precautions must be taken when working with it:
- exclude the possibility of access to the substance by children and pets, and do not carry out processing in their presence;
- protect the skin with rubber gloves and the respiratory tract with a respirator;
- Smoking and eating are prohibited during processing;
- processing of the site can be carried out in dry weather in the absence of wind;
- store the drug in a dark place, away from food;
- used packaging must be disposed of;
- After treatment, you need to wash your hands and face well with soap, rinse your mouth, and wash your clothes.
If the substance accidentally comes into contact with the skin, rinse with water. If it gets into the mouth, drink plenty of water, induce vomiting, then consult a doctor.
The other day I found in my supplies of drugs against plant diseases and pests two unused sachets of “Grom-2”, which is intended to combat garden ants and soil-borne house flies. Having retired and practically moved to live in the village, I became interested in this work and planted flower beds from a dozen pots on the windowsills. And then somehow I noticed that tiny black flies were flying around the rooms. And my flowers began to wither. Knowledgeable people suggested a remedy for this scourge, and this is it - “Thunder-2”. I immediately bought it, scattered the microgranules into flower pots and sprinkled them with soil. Pretty soon the flies disappeared and my flowers came to life. My indoor flowers are now planted in a flowerbed for the summer, the product is close to its expiration date, so I decided to use the remainder of the Grom-2 product to at least partially kill the ants in the garden. I raked the anthill (down to the ant eggs), poured out the microgranules and raked it back. Now I checked, there are no ants or their eggs. Either the remedy worked, or the anthill moved to another place. I plan to buy several packages of these in the near future to kill ants in the garden. At the same time, I’ll check whether this remedy is effective or not. From my first experience it is still unclear. But the fact that it helps fight soil-based house flies has been tested and helps 100 percent. I am sure that experienced indoor gardeners are familiar with the “Thunder-2” product, but for beginners or those who are not very experienced, my advice is: pay attention to this drug.
Effective ways to kill midges that have infested indoor violets
Violet is a favorite plant of many housewives; it can be found in almost every apartment. Such love and popularity is not accidental - violets have a wide variety of color shades, they are unpretentious in care and the usual temperature of an average apartment suits them.
Violets attract midges
But, despite its unpretentiousness, you should adhere to the basic rules of flower care:
Proper watering of violets
- avoid drafts;
- try to place flowers on the east or west side of the apartment so that direct sunlight does not fall on them;
- the dishes for placing the plant should have a tray to collect excess water when watering;
- it is necessary to use drainage to drain excess water;
- do not water with cold water;
- When watering in the ground, you must ensure that water does not get on the flowers.
But even with proper care, many are faced with the problem of midges. This is a rather unpleasant situation, since midges not only spread to nearby flowers, but throughout the entire apartment.
Some species harm the flowers, and the violet may die. In order to fight midges, you need to determine what type of insect is infested in your favorite flower.
How to get rid of flower midges
Collembola grows on flowers
There are two groups of insect pests:
- the first is insects that live on leaves and flowers, these include springtails of the Poduridae and Collembola families;
- the second is insects that live in the soil in which the flower grows, these include sciarid mosquitoes (Sciaridae).
Each type of pest needs to be dealt with using its own method. You can determine which midges have appeared on a plant with the naked eye - they are radically different from each other and have only their own characteristics.
Reasons for appearance
First of all, it is worth saying that midges are one of the most common pests. In addition to the fact that they constantly annoy their owners, they cause enormous harm to plants. Midge larvae are found underground and their diet consists of the roots of flower crops.
House plants weaken, cannot fully grow and develop, and vomit. If no action is taken, the plant dies.
Very often, infection occurs due to the fault of the person himself, the most common reasons include:
- Contaminated soil. Midge eggs and larvae can be found in soil that is purchased for planting and replanting home flowers. They develop quickly and young sexually mature individuals appear that are ready for further reproduction, thus infecting other house plants.
- High humidity. Of course, watering should be done regularly, but it is important to ensure that there is no high humidity, which is a favorable environment for midges, since they are swampy insects.
When the reason is high humidity, it is recommended to dry the soil, watering the flower less often, but as practice shows, this method does not always achieve a positive result.
In most cases, it is impossible to do without the use of specialized tools. Experienced gardeners recommend using Thunder 2, which allows you to quickly and reliably destroy midges.
What are flower midges, features of individual species
Various types of flies can settle on indoor plants. Most often these are pores or, as they are also called, springtails. Adults are small in size, easily and quickly change their location, love moist soil, and are distinguished by a characteristic white body color. In a short period of time, insects can cause irreparable damage to the root system of plants.
Dark gray midges are called sciarids. The main danger of infecting plants with these insects is the negative impact on the soil. Flies actively suck out useful microelements from the soil, thereby increasing its density. Both white and dark insects are not dangerous to humans, however, their presence in the room is depressing, not to mention the risk of death for your favorite indoor plants.
You need to understand that if you do not get rid of midges in flowers in time, their numbers will soon increase and so-called sciarid worms will appear. A characteristic feature of the pests is a translucent body and phenomenally fast reproduction. In a short time, the worms stick around the stems of plants in a dense ring and infect the inside of the leaf. Most often, insects appear in pots of plants, which are often fertilized with used tea leaves.
