Fly infestation...help please =)

Lurach 4/23/2011, 5:46 pm

I'm new to SFG, but I've read through the forums for info and can't find anything for ridding my garden box of fly maggots. We always have a huge fly problem here in the spring/summer, and they have hit us hard already this year. Unfortunately, they've turned my new SFG box into a maggot breeding ground. They are killing off my young plants by eating the roots! Does anyone have suggestions for how to get rid of maggots in the soil and prevent this from recurring? Thank you!

**Furbalsmom** 4/23/2011, 7:09 pm

Lurach

Glad you joined us but boy am I sorry you are having problems with your SFG Box.

Are you sure these are fly maggots? The sites I found never listed maggots in the soil, mostly they show up in uncomposted, rotting materials.

I really don't have a solution for you as the treatments for maggots I found always included chemicals I would never place in my SFG.

Hopefully someone else will have a solution for you.

Anyway, Welcome

Lurach 4/23/2011, 8:25 pm

Furbalsmom - Thank you for the welcome! =) I'm pretty sure they're fly maggots. I've noticed tons of them on and around my SFG, as well as the dreadful sand gnats we're cursed with. I noticed that my newly planted veggies were beginning to look droopy and the leaves were starting to shrivel up. I discovered the maggots quite by accident when I was adding a marigold to my box. They are all in the soil...disgusting!

Like you, I don't want to put chemicals into my SFG. The only non-toxic way I've found is to pour boiling water into the soil to kill them. I was just hoping there was another way. I guess right now the plan is to remove the plants I may be able to save and try the boiling water. I hope this works!

Thanks again for your reply. =)

**camprn** 4/23/2011, 8:32 pm

Welcome !!!!! can you post a photo of them?

buttaflie143 4/23/2011, 8:56 pm

I was just doing some research on pest control. I think you might benefit from looking into Diatomaceous Earth. I would incorporate it into the soil to kill the maggots.

Lurach 4/23/2011, 9:08 pm

Camprn - Thanks! =) Here's the best I could do for a photo. ETA: They're about 1/4" long, white and very wiggly.

Fly infestation...help please =) Img_3310

It says something about my desire to make this work, that I was out in the dark digging up maggots for a photo op. Bleh!

Buttaflie143 - Thanks for your suggestion. Is diatomaceous earth something that is readily available? I live in the middle of nowhere but do have access to a home improvement store/garden center nearby.

**walshevak** 4/23/2011, 9:32 pm

Does anybody know anything about beneficial nematoads. I found this at gardens alive

http://www.gardensalive.com/search.asp?ss=nematodes

It talks about cabbage maggots that attact cole crops roots.

1/3" long, white, legless, with a blunt rear end

Kay

buttaflie143 4/23/2011, 9:34 pm

The orange box store carries it. I saw it online, but I think it was for in-store purchase only. You might want to call around. And you could look into purchasing it online through a company that offers express shipping. I hope this helps.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202072089/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

buttaflie143 4/23/2011, 9:36 pm

By the way, it doesn't say anything about flies or maggots, but if you look it up online there is some info. available.

Lurach 4/23/2011, 9:42 pm

Ah thanks again, buttaflie143. We don't have the orange box store here, but I'm heading to my parents' house tomorrow and they have one. I'll pick some up there. I really appreciate the advice! I'm a novice gardener and SFGer, so I have a lot to learn.

**camprn** 4/23/2011, 9:51 pm

Lurach wrote:Camprn - Thanks! =) Here's the best I could do for a photo. ETA: They're about 1/4" long, white and very wiggly. It says something about my desire to make this work, that I was out in the dark digging up maggots for a photo op. Bleh!
.

LOLOL, good job!!! Fly infestation...help please =) 311672

sceleste54 4/23/2011, 9:54 pm

Sounds like a good job for a Rent-A-Chicken !!

**walshevak** 4/23/2011, 10:03 pm

I also found this

Apply a hot pepper treatment to the soil instead of the insecticide, if you prefer a more natural method of killing the maggots. Add 3 hot peppers, 3 cloves of garlic, and a chopped onion to a blender. Pour in 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap and 3 cups of water. Blend until smooth.

4
Let the blended mixture sit for 24 hours, then pour it through a strainer and into a jar. Pour the mixture directly onto the affected areas of the soil.

Read more: How to Kill Maggots in Dirt | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7640610_kill-maggots-dirt.html#ixzz1KOzUUq5T

buttaflie143 4/23/2011, 10:07 pm

Lurach wrote:Ah thanks again, buttaflie143. We don't have the orange box store here, but I'm heading to my parents' house tomorrow and they have one. I'll pick some up there. I really appreciate the advice! I'm a novice gardener and SFGer, so I have a lot to learn.

Believe me when I tell you I am exactly where you are! Dizzy recommended some organic pest control items I should keep handy and the DE was among them. I'm just trying to pay it forward. Very Happy

**walshevak** 4/23/2011, 11:19 pm

Not sold in any of the HD stores in the Wilmington area or within 50 miles of Elizabeth City. Closest store listed was in Myrtle Beach. Sad

But I'll find it somewhere. Hmmm wonder if Lowes carries it. I'll have to check

Kay

middlemamma 4/23/2011, 11:24 pm

If you are pretty rural you will find DE in a farm store. If they sell cattle panels, baby chicks, feed for cows and horses, tack, etc they will have DE. Farmers put it in with livestock's grain and food to prevent parasites and worms.

Lurach 4/24/2011, 8:06 am

Walshevak - That hot pepper treatment sounds good. It would take a LOT of it though. The entire 8x2 box is infested. Also, I looked on the Lowe's website and found an insecticide that includes DE, but not actual DE itself.

Middlemamma - I hadn't thought of that. There's a farm supply store not to far from my parents' house. I'll have a look there.

Update - I tried the hot water trick last night on a couple of squares. Instant death! Of course, by this morning other maggots had wriggled their way into those squares. So now the plan is to douse the box with boiling water to kill them off, then add DE to the mix for further prevention.

Thank you all again for your advice and assistance!! =)

**walshevak** 4/24/2011, 8:22 am

I guess that means you will lose all of your plants as well. Sad

If you bring in transplant to replace, be sure your check the roots so you don't reintroduce the problem. And keep that DE handy

Good Luck!!!!

Kay

Lurach 4/24/2011, 10:07 am

I've already lost a few plants and all my seeds in that box. When I moved the others, I checked them really closely to make sure all the maggots were off them. Hopefully they'll survive to be replanted. I'm going to pick up some replacements at the nursery just in case. Thanks for the luck! Looks like I'm gonna need it.

Happy Gardening!!

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