I have gnats, and didn't know they were a problem till recently.  I've been noticing some of the leaves on the figs are droppy/curling.  Some of the lower leaves are turning yellow. 

Are any of these the result of gnat/root damage?  

I want to go on an all out gnat blitzkrieg!  Can I use Gnatrol and nematodes simultaneously?  

Or should I use Peroxide first, then gnatrol/nematodes?

Lastly, to "water from the bottom", do I need to drill holes higher up?

Thank you in advance for the help, these are the only ones I got left!

     

I think your plants look great.  Please don't take any drastic action or use any additives or chemicals.  I think that is unnecessary.  If anything the soil on the first one looks a bit dry, but maybe that's just the top

Once they are that size they are unlikely to succumb to gnats.  I bet they are just ready for spring, like the rest of us.  Looks like they've been inside since fall, given their size.

It's natural for some of the early leaves to yellow and fall off once the plant is more established in the pot and has larger, more effective leaves up top.   

Maybe they are getting root bound and need a larger pot?  Can't really tell.  What size pot are they in?  Do they have a bunch of roots trying to grow out the holes in the bottom?

Do you see adult gnats flying around?  If so, they lay eggs which produce tons of larvae that eat the roots.  Gnatrol or BT will kill the larvae. Put that in the water.  An inch of sand on top of the soil helps.  They don't lay eggs in sand.   My fungus gnat infestation occurred on baby plants with 4 or 5 leaves.  They went from bright green to shriveled, gray green.  I don't recall yellow leaves.  Your plant looks healthy.  just be on the safe side when you water.

Suzi

As evident from  your picture, the larger top leaves are preventing the lower leaaves from getting light.  I do not think the yellow leaf is necessarily an indication of another problem.

I don't think I'd do anything drastic, either, because your plants look pretty good.  If you have a gnat infestation, the whole plant just droops and the leaves shrivel.  The larvae will eat the roots completely off the cutting, leaving the whole cutting to rot.  I don't recall any single leaves turning yellow.  All I saw was that the whole thing just droops as though it isn't getting any water (which it isn't, because there are no more roots).

Rob, you have a good eye - I cut them in late August and they grew roots around October; They've been indoors the whole time.    Those containers are about half-gallon sized.  I transplanted them from plastic cups into these containers about two months ago.  I don't see any roots coming out of the bottom, so I think I'll wait another month or two before I check for root bound. 

I do see adult gnats flying around (only a few so  far), as well as the grey, wingless younglings scurrying in the dirt.  It sounds like Gnatrol WDG is the safest/most effective way to go from what I've read, so I'll give that a shot rather than a whole blitz of chemicals as I originally intended.  

Thank you Rob and James for pointing out that the leaves turning yellow is most likely due to a natural process, will help me sleep better.  

I'm not so sure about the sand method - seems like they would just burrow underneath or get around it.   

Does "watering from the bottom" really help?  


Also, can anyone identify what kind of fig this is?  I have no idea.

I used beneficial Nematodes last year with yellow sticky tape and that seemed to work pretty well. Had a lot of problems with miracle grow potting soil....it came with gnats already in it .

That yellow sticky tape is a good idea.  I've got some on order...can't get her soon enough.    

How often to you need to apply the Nematodes?

I applied it twice.....in three or four days you should see reduced activity .....as the nematodes start to feed on the gnats larve and continue to do so until they are gone...the nematodes then start to die off . That is why you should use the yellow sticky tape to control the adults so that the cycle doesn't start all over again. At this point if you can get old pair of pantyhose and cover any expose dirt area to prevent the adults from laying more eggs you should be ok, I got a few pairs from my wife .....Wait two week and check your plants ,if you are still see activity reapply. Lol