Little black flies

[caroline7758]

I have got a lot of little black flies around the peppers, herbs and other seedlings growing in my kitchen. They are bigger than aphids but much smaller than house flies and seem to land on the soil rather than the plants. Just wondering if they are likely to do any damage.

[caroline7758]

[ceres]

These are probably sciarid flies.  They breed in damp compost, particularly peat-based, and tend to eat decaying matter.  If your seedlings are healthy, they probably won't do any harm.  But they are very annoying!

[Tee Gee]

I'm with Ceres is this what they look like?




Sciriad flies; http://tinyurl.com/2383qz

[caroline7758]

not sure without amagnifying glass! Your description makes them sound quite destructive, TG. Is there anything I should do in the absence of nematodes? The plants are all fairly well established, just waiting for a bit more warmth before going out to the greenhouse- the youngest are squash, courgette and pumpkin, just getting there first true leaves.

[Tee Gee]

Is there anything I should do in the absence of nematodes?

Yes!

As you can see it is the larvae that are the problem so what I do is;

I have an old dinner fork that I use for all sorts of things such as removing plugs from cells. But in this case I rake the surface of the compost to find these larvae(if any) and dispose of them in the usual manner........under my boot!!

[tonybloke]

the maggots prefer moist compost. water from bottom, keep surface dry (if possible) let compost thoroughly dry before watering if you can,Hang up sticky yellow traps, by catching the adults you can keep 'em down! ;)

[caroline7758]

Thanks for the tips.