Teeny flies on my house plant

[fedup21]

I have a house plant that I’m very proud of as it’s the only one I have ever kept alive and flowering all summer! However... over the last few days I’ve noticed lots of tiny flies on it which is really annoying and I don’t want them in the kitchen.

Is there anything I can do? Have tried putting it out in the sun for a bit and moving the leaves to discourage them and make them fly off, but is there anything else?

They are probably Sciara flies, which like damp compost. They lay their eggs in the compost, and the tiny larvae chew the roots. Not much you can do, apart from removing the plant from the pot, cleaning off all old compost and replanting in new. Sometimes bags of compost already contain the flies and larvae, so it doesn't always work.

Hmm-I repotted it a couple of weeks ago with new compost-maybe that’s what did it!

Do I accept defeat!?

Make sure you have no grubs in the compost - they're about 1cm long and almost transparent. You can try covering the top of the soil with grit or sand which will deter the females from egg-laying - they are seeking out humus-rich soil. Squash any flies you see (they tend to crawl over the pot sides rather than taking to the air, or in desperation blat them with fly killer. They're more of a problem in peat free compost than in soil based compost because of the higher humus content.

They won't do any harm in the kitchen - they're an irritation rather than a health threat.