Scarid Fly

One of the few Pests that I suffer from apart from the usual Mealy bugs is Scarid Fly. For those who may not of noticed, these are small flies that fly and crawl across the surface of wet compost. They lay their eggs just below the surface of the compost and the tiny maggots eat into the stem of the plant. killing it. I have been suffering from these with the seedlings. Someone recomemded buying some Carnivorous plants, the one's with the sticky leaves. Which is what I have done and I now have these dotted around the glasshouse. They are very easy to grow but you have to remeber to give them rain water only and often and has you can see they work very well.
Pinguicula sp.

Drosera sp.

Hello Mark, Glad this worked for you. Can you or anyone else suggest other ways of taking care of this pest on our mammalarias? What to do about mealy bugs too? Thanks and happy growing
Wendy

I was under the impression Sciarid only hang around when there's wet soil about and that dry soil is usually enough to finish them and their siblings off or at least convince them to go away.

As such, whilst Sundew and Butterworts take them down like anti-aircraft guns they can also attract more due to the damp peaty soil they like to leave in.

Arguably the best way to get rid of sciarid as far as I know is to allow your soil to dry out and avoid peaty compost mixes.

Carnivorous plants often attract as many pests as they kill because it's partly what they do, and outside their native environment insects aren't conditioned to avoiding them so just blindly head towards them.

Mealies are a different story wendy, I'm not really sure if there is an awful lot you can do to prevent them in the first place but vigilance and a constant eye out for the effects of them such as sick looking plants are the best bet. If a plant doesn't look well and there's no obvious reason why then it's worth checking the roots for root mealies.

Due to the method I use in my seed rasing I do tend to water them alot. The germinated pots are removed from the propagation after only 3 weeks and placed on the benching, in a shady spot and lightly watered daily.
I have only had the Scarid fly problem for the last few months, no problem at all last year, and the Carnivorous plants are helping to get it under contol. I have tried spraying but it doesn't seem to work, I think the life cycle of the fly is to short too for the chemical to have any real effect to work.
I have been pricking out the seedlings that are big enought to handle into fresh loam based compost, I do not use peat based composts for anything, being very careful to inspect each root for fly maggot. I am pricking out into polystrene trays then moving them to another part of the glasshouse.

Has regards Mealy.. you will never get rid of it once you've got it, all you can do is hope to control it. I use liquid Pravdo watered into the bottom of the tray so that the roots can take it up. I never water over head has some plants can burn on top no matter now careful you are.
I inspect the plants all the time by picking them up and looking. If I see any Mealy I use a tooth pick and then give them a spray with aerosol Pravdo and place the plant under the bench for a few days.