Saturday, January 03, 2009
What a day today! - Normally, I rarely miss church on Sabbath. Today it really couldn't be helped. Sometimes we have to live by the hours the secular world puts down. This was one of those times. My dog Minnie needed to get in to the vet for her -once every three years- rabies shot (and the other vaccinations that a dog regularly needs). I received a thing in the mail from the county here where I live, telling us that we won't be given her yearly dog license until the shot has been given and we send them proof. That had to be done today. The veterinary office where we take our animals is a very reasonably priced one. Planned Pethood it's called.
The veterinarians that run the place, I'm told, got fed up with the absurd amounts that other vets were charging for services and opened a place that they said would always be a price that regular folk could afford. They have always been good to us. Anyway, we got done today everything that we needed to get done and I mailed in the paperwork already for her new license.
(They have extremely nice people working at the licensing office too!)
I'm so glad it's all done. - In my November 10, 2008 post I shared with you about little black flies on houseplants and how using a spray bottle containing a mixture of dish detergent and water will kill the bugs. Well...NOT THIS TIME!!! These bugs are making me crazy. I spent a really long time on the computer looking for anything that could help me with my buggy problem. It seems I've tried tons of stuff, waiting it out... hoping when the dirt was all dry, bugs would be dead (the plants almost died, that was all that happened in the death department)...I went to the nursery and bought stuff. -I SO didn't want to do that, but I did...That didn't work either. There's so much on the computer about this subject. Everyone has something they say will work. Some say to do such and such, and if that doesn't work to try this; and if that won't work, this is the thing that will work!.....(Why didn't they just give me that last thing first?
There's a bug flying around me as I'm typing this...this is bad...) Anyway, I found this a little bit ago and I thought I'd give it a shot:
The "fruit flies" are fungus gnats and they and the fungus are caused by over watering the plants. Cut back on the water, water it less often and give it a smaller amount. Also, spray the fungus on the soil with a Lysol type spray twice a week, do this for 2 weeks and it will disappear. Spray the insects and the dots on the leaves which are probably eggs with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle twice a week or alternate days for 2 weeks and it will kill them. Too much water does more damage to my plants than too little water does. Cut back on the water and your plants will be happier. They hate sitting in swamps. Good luck. -Darlene
When I first read this I thought it might just be another nut job giving me more useless advice.
I had already tried the mixing of a whole chopped up onion, 6 chopped up garlic cloves, cayenne pepper and dish detergent, a quart of water, left overnight and put through a sieve, into a funnel and then into a spray bottle and then it had to be sprayed directly onto my dear houseplants.
This was said to kill ANY insect. I myself, was feeling very queasy, so I believed it might work.
(I had extremely bad breath just from being around the mixture and my house smelled
really bad for a good long time.) No one was gonna say my plants died from my lack of trying!
Well....It didn't work. When I spotted Darlene's idea I had just been reading about how fly paper strips swaying all around in the air was the way to go and how you could attach the strips onto Popsicle sticks and shove them down into the plants. I was almost on my way to the store at that point. I wasn't even sure if they make those nasty fly strips anymore, but I was willing to plunk down more good money after bad on this thing. I need to see it through to the end. I'm on a mission now. These little b**tard flies are going down! I can promise you that.
Well, I was noticing how on the sight I was on when I read Darlene's idea, it talked a little about her. It says she's been a Master Gardener for 19 years and she raises around 300 houseplants a year including tropicals, succulents and cacti. She's also studying the Japanese art of bonsai with tropical plants and is President of the Fort Wayne, IN Bonsai Club.
I truly believe I will need no further instructions on getting rid of these bugs. She seems to know her stuff. I will so let you know how everything turns out!
-Blessings! -Missybuggirl*
The veterinarians that run the place, I'm told, got fed up with the absurd amounts that other vets were charging for services and opened a place that they said would always be a price that regular folk could afford. They have always been good to us. Anyway, we got done today everything that we needed to get done and I mailed in the paperwork already for her new license.
(They have extremely nice people working at the licensing office too!)
I'm so glad it's all done. - In my November 10, 2008 post I shared with you about little black flies on houseplants and how using a spray bottle containing a mixture of dish detergent and water will kill the bugs. Well...NOT THIS TIME!!! These bugs are making me crazy. I spent a really long time on the computer looking for anything that could help me with my buggy problem. It seems I've tried tons of stuff, waiting it out... hoping when the dirt was all dry, bugs would be dead (the plants almost died, that was all that happened in the death department)...I went to the nursery and bought stuff. -I SO didn't want to do that, but I did...That didn't work either. There's so much on the computer about this subject. Everyone has something they say will work. Some say to do such and such, and if that doesn't work to try this; and if that won't work, this is the thing that will work!.....(Why didn't they just give me that last thing first?
There's a bug flying around me as I'm typing this...this is bad...) Anyway, I found this a little bit ago and I thought I'd give it a shot:
The "fruit flies" are fungus gnats and they and the fungus are caused by over watering the plants. Cut back on the water, water it less often and give it a smaller amount. Also, spray the fungus on the soil with a Lysol type spray twice a week, do this for 2 weeks and it will disappear. Spray the insects and the dots on the leaves which are probably eggs with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle twice a week or alternate days for 2 weeks and it will kill them. Too much water does more damage to my plants than too little water does. Cut back on the water and your plants will be happier. They hate sitting in swamps. Good luck. -Darlene
When I first read this I thought it might just be another nut job giving me more useless advice.
I had already tried the mixing of a whole chopped up onion, 6 chopped up garlic cloves, cayenne pepper and dish detergent, a quart of water, left overnight and put through a sieve, into a funnel and then into a spray bottle and then it had to be sprayed directly onto my dear houseplants.
This was said to kill ANY insect. I myself, was feeling very queasy, so I believed it might work.
(I had extremely bad breath just from being around the mixture and my house smelled
really bad for a good long time.) No one was gonna say my plants died from my lack of trying!
Well....It didn't work. When I spotted Darlene's idea I had just been reading about how fly paper strips swaying all around in the air was the way to go and how you could attach the strips onto Popsicle sticks and shove them down into the plants. I was almost on my way to the store at that point. I wasn't even sure if they make those nasty fly strips anymore, but I was willing to plunk down more good money after bad on this thing. I need to see it through to the end. I'm on a mission now. These little b**tard flies are going down! I can promise you that.
Well, I was noticing how on the sight I was on when I read Darlene's idea, it talked a little about her. It says she's been a Master Gardener for 19 years and she raises around 300 houseplants a year including tropicals, succulents and cacti. She's also studying the Japanese art of bonsai with tropical plants and is President of the Fort Wayne, IN Bonsai Club.
I truly believe I will need no further instructions on getting rid of these bugs. She seems to know her stuff. I will so let you know how everything turns out!
-Blessings! -Missybuggirl*
# posted by Missygirl : 3:56 PM
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