Why it's so hard to terminate a plant?
 

I've been a big fan of growing plants indoors and I have quite a number of "friends" maturing in my complex right now. My buddy needed me to resurrect his trouble-some plants so I invited them into my place. I instantly was attacked by gnats so I changed the soil in freezing outdoor weather and it seems that the gnats have survived the soil transfer and started spreading the orange-poke-a-dot leaf disease to my other plants. I told my buddy of the situation and he ok'd the termination of his plants but I could not do it. I had to ask my gf to terminate them by placing them outside between two big bushes in front of my apartment. They are now out there in temps that will kill them. I feel terrible about it and I cannot shake the feeling.


I never felt this way before and I blame Avatar. I guess it's a good/bad type of thing but it sucks having to kill a living plant because of a bug. Ehhh.......

If you absolutely must think about it like that, imagine that the plant felt pain and was suffering from the disease and that you acted mercifully.

That's your way of making yourself feel that you're connected with nature.

I don't think it's bad you feel this way. I'd actually say it's good. Maybe it's just you ascribing human characteristics to the plant, but it's a much better sign than feeling nothing at all.

You don't really have a reason to feel bad.

Plants do not have nervous systems, and thus they cannot feel anything. They respond to outside stimuli in order to do things like close or open flowers or leaves, or produce different kinds of pheromones or toxins to attract pollinators or drive off pests (respectively), but this should not be confused with the cognitive abilities of the members of kingdom animals.

If you had fungus gnats and they were spreading disease, they could have wiped out your all of your other plants.

Also, I hate to say it, but you didn't need to freeze your friend's plants. I used to keep several dozen reptiles and amphibians in assorted terraria, and many of the terrariums were planted with tropical plants. I used organic potting soil mixed with coconut fiber for the first terrariums I built, but these quickly drew fungus gnats.

I wanted a solution to the fungus gnats, so I tried to think of ways to alter the terrarium environment to make it behave more like a balanced ecosystem. If you pick up a handful of leaf litter and topsoil from the substrate of your average forest, it is crawling with various microinvertebrates, many of which are predatory or at least omnivorous opportunists. Because of the complex dynamics between the members of this soil community, none of them are able to completely dominate the ecosystem.

So, I starting using forest soil in all of my terrariums to control fungus gnats. Within weeks, there was not a gnat in sight, and the substrate in the terrariums was now populated with isopods, nematodes, mites, springtails, and probably more that were too small to see.

I've been maintaining a moderately large number of tropical plants, aquariums, and terrariums for years, and this is how I keep small arthropod pests out of them; by introducing predators and competitors to the ecosystem, I do not allow potential pest organisms to multiply and cause trouble. You should try doing this the next time you have trouble with fungus gnats. If forest soil is not available for you to collect and bring home, you could always order predatory mites or nematodes from the internet. Either of these two options will be highly effective at removing fungus gnats from your home, and they tend to last for a long time after being added to the soil community, which prevents the re-establishment of fungus gnats in the future.

Holy thanks! I've always had issues with the gnats and tried a number of remedies that did not work. The only thing that did control them in a way was longer times between waterings. I usually wait about 2 weeks and the soil is dried out enough that no gnats can hatch.

I remember the first time I dealt with them and it was HORRIBLE. I kept a bag of soil that was MOIST in the storage room inside my apt and that was a breeding ground for them. The apartment had thousands of gnats all over the place. No more soil indoors LOL.

But anyways, thanks for the tip on the forest soil. I will do that this summer when it's time to change the soil.

No problem.

I've been keeping non-human life forms around my home as a hobby for years, and I have found that introducing naturally occurring soil into terrariums and potted plants is the most effective way to combat pests, while also creating a more natural nutrient cycle. You may also find that it is not necessary to replace soil in potted plants for longer than without adding beneficial soil organisms.