grrrr - soil maggots!

WilburMartin · July 16, 2016

I just noticed my soil moving in a container in which I was side-dressing with fertilizer - white, nasty maggots!

Permethrin put a stop to those?

Darren Abbey · July 20, 2016

Permethrin would kill them off, but I would be more concerned as to why they were there in the first place. Balanced and healthy soil wouldn't have food for such fly larva.

MissS · July 20, 2016

The only time that I had maggots was when I used bone meal in my planting pots. Since then bone meal is for the garden beds.

What fertilizer are you using? Perhaps the larvae need to break it down to make it available to your plants.

WilburMartin · July 20, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren Abbey

Permethrin would kill them off, but I would be more concerned as to why they were there in the first place. Balanced and healthy soil wouldn't have food for such fly larva.

I believe I got the problem from EarthGro compost that was possibly mishandled by the retailer - the ones I had seemed to be limited to the top 1" of soil, and I turned it all over to try and expose them before a good dose of Bonide sulfer/Pyrethrin spray. I was playing in the dirt yesterday - the plant is growing like crazy and no visible larvae. Maybe it is over for now.

WilburMartin · July 20, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissS

The only time that I had maggots was when I used bone meal in my planting pots. Since then bone meal is for the garden beds.

What fertilizer are you using? Perhaps the larvae need to break it down to make it available to your plants.

The fertilizer I had working in the container was Jobe's organic granular as a soil amendment, and in the plant hole when I planted - pretty vanilla and fool-proof. I believe the problem was with a compost batch a retailer had mistreated prior to my use.

Gardenboy · July 20, 2016

Are they fly maggots or black soldier fly larvae?

WilburMartin · July 20, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardenboy

Are they fly maggots or black soldier fly larvae?

They were pretty big - seemingly larger than gnat larvae

those wiggling, translucent nastiness creep me out in a way earthworms do not

brownrexx · July 20, 2016

You can use Mosquito Dunks which are bt in your watering can to kill fungus gnat larvae. I wonder if it would work for the ones you have too?

Cole_Robbie · July 20, 2016

Yep. BT will kill any larvae. It takes a few days to kick in.

July 16, 2016	#1
WilburMartin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Mississippi Posts: 169	grrrr - soil maggots! I just noticed my soil moving in a container in which I was side-dressing with fertilizer - white, nasty maggots! Permethrin put a stop to those? __________________ "Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better than bacon and lettuce, and home-grown tomatoes." - Guy Clark (RIP), "Home-Grown Tomatoes"

July 20, 2016	#2
Darren Abbey Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 586	Permethrin would kill them off, but I would be more concerned as to why they were there in the first place. Balanced and healthy soil wouldn't have food for such fly larva. __________________ http://the-biologist-is-in.blogspot.com Last edited by Darren Abbey; July 20, 2016 at 03:57 AM.

July 20, 2016	#3
MissS Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin Posts: 3,150	The only time that I had maggots was when I used bone meal in my planting pots. Since then bone meal is for the garden beds. What fertilizer are you using? Perhaps the larvae need to break it down to make it available to your plants. __________________ ~ Patti ~

July 20, 2016	#6
Gardenboy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 784	Are they fly maggots or black soldier fly larvae?

July 20, 2016	#8
brownrexx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Southeastern PA Posts: 1,420	You can use Mosquito Dunks which are bt in your watering can to kill fungus gnat larvae. I wonder if it would work for the ones you have too?

July 20, 2016	#9
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Yep. BT will kill any larvae. It takes a few days to kick in.