Indoor Plants, Soil not drying, Mould and Fungus Gnats
Mary-Anne2
Posts: 5
Hi Everyone, I really need some help, I have 15 indoor plants all in different areas of the house ranging from the hallway, kitchen, lounge, bathroom and main bedroom, the rooms vary from facing north / north east and south / south east, I mostly have different varieties of Calatheas, Dracaenas, some Calla lilies and a rubber plant. Most were pot bound when I purchased them (apart from the Dracaenas) so I moved them to the next size up, e.g. the Calatheas were in 17 cm plastic pots so I put them into 20 cm plastic pots, the Calla lilies were in 12cm pots so I put them into 15cm pots etc. All pots have plenty of drainage holes and sit in saucers, I used Verve multi-purpose compost, thoroughly watered them and the excess water that ran it the saucers was emptied straight away, this was about 3-4 weeks ago and the soil is still damp on all of them, they are getting white mould on the top of the soil and I am seeing fungus gnats, any ideas why the soil isn't drying? What I can do to help? How to eliminate the mould, gnats and larvae? I have an indoor plant in work that was potted the same way and watered 2 weeks ago and the top layer of soil is dry. My plants are positioned so they are not in direct sunlight or they only get a little for a short period of time. I don't understand why the soil is not drying at home, this is happening in all of the areas my indoor plants are situated not just one place. Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated.
Posts
If the surrounding air is already heavy and moist it will slow the drying process somewhat.
Try improving air circulation and reduce watering.
Would there be any issues with the multipurpose compost that I am using and is there a different type that you would recommend trying? The plants have only been watered once since I purchased them 3-4 weeks ago and the soil is not drying, not sure how I can increase circulation, any ideas?
Just off the top of my head, you could try opening a couple of windows. That could be a start and see if the soil condition improves. Or pop the plants out, pull some of the wet medium off and repot using fresh "dry" compost.
If I am not mistaken Verve is the brand name of a compost which comes from a well known DIY store (?) and I have to admit to hearing bad comments about this brand. Personally I get my compost from the garden centres and, touch wood, I haven't experienced any difficulties. The fact that you have lots of house plants all transpiring water vapour into your house suggests that - as Simon69 pointed out - the atmosphere in your house is super saturated already with water vapour and this is why your compost remains wet. You need to open your windows to get the air circulating.
Watering from the top causes damp compost which fungus gnats love. Try and bottom water, making sure the water is all soaked up. That will allow the compost surface to dry out, which gnats hate. If gnats persist, pyrethrum can be dusted on the soil surface to kill emerging flies. The larvae live in the soil, they are white worm like things.
Thank you so much for your replies, I will open the window's more when I am home, try watering from the bottom. Actually we do have issues with black mould in places in the house (mainly upstairs and this was before I got all of the house plants) so I will unpack our dehumidifier and start using it. I am happy to invest in better quality compost, are there any particular ones you would recommend that I can try that drain well? If you don't want to name them on the post I am happy for you to send me a personal message.
Last edited: 24 May 2016 13:41:14
M-A2.
If you have black mould I would really recommend you address this as it could possibly lead to respiratory and other damp related problems, let alone underperforming plants.
Upstairs is where the warm moist air that rises will condense as it cools and "wet" everything.
Get them windows open. It helps all-round.
I will definitely open the window's when I am at home from work and start using the dehumidifier. Would you recommend that I reduce the amount of indoor plant's I have to help reduce the moisture issues?
Forgot to mention we do keep the black mould at bay by thoroughly cleaning and bleaching the affected areas when we see the start of it. I will open windows when I am home and use the dehumidifier. Do you think reducing the amount of indoor plants I have would be a good idea? Also are there any composts you would recommend me trying?