Expanding your collection to include pinguiculas or larger sundews (capensis, madagascariense, etc) works well too 😎👉👉 On Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 10:53 AM Nils Hasenbein via pbs < pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > Dear all, > > a while ago the group discussed methods preventing root/tuber/bulb > damage by sciaridae. > > During the last years, I have tried to use as much peat-free potting mix > as possible, and my impression is that all brands I tried are heavily > infested, likely because the source material is much more yummy for the > flies than peat. For small batches e.g. for sowing seeds, I sterilize or > thoroughly dry my potting mix, and use yellow stickers to slow sciarid > population growth down, which works ok but is a lot of effort during the > most critical time for me, which is when many pots are indoors during > winter (Also, those pots which are not hidden away look much better > without yellow stickers with hundreds of dead flies attached). > > Uli mentioned nematodes, which are readily available from (online) > stores here in Germany (called nemabest, nemaplus and the like). I used > them before, but last autumn, I was more systematic and I am very happy > with the results. The treatment has to be timed well to treat all pots > at the same time, but the dry nematodes keep for some weeks in the > fridge, and the final solution seems to keep for some days - the > instruction leaflet leaves you with the impression that they are very > fragile, but my experience this last winter suggests they are a bit more > robust than I assumed. > > When most pots were inside, I dissolved the powder in a large watering > can, and each pot already in the house got a shot, and all pots entering > the house over the next week or two were treated the same. I still had > almost half a can left, so a little goes quite a long way. I used the > leftovers to inoculate the remaining bags of potting mix left outside to > unknown effect. The reason I report this now is that I just spotted my > first Sciarid since autumn (in a pot with vegetable seeds sown some > weeks ago), so I think the method worked extremely well. I can highly > recommend it. > > Nils > > (in central Germany, where sun, heavy rain and hail take turns and six > rainbows were spotted during the last two days. Galanthus nivalis are > dropping their flowers, yellow trumpet Narcissus start flowering in the > lawn, and the first tulip buds are emerging. In the woods, a lot of Arum > maculatum are breaking through the dead leaves) > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>