I went out yesterday to check on the garden only to discover an unexpected, unwelcome visitor to my squash and potato plants (and I think I saw some on my tomatoes). What are they? I tried a google search to figure it out, but no dice. All I can tell is they are some sort of small fly and they have totally infested my plants.
They are everywhere and they're making babies. And there's little black
specks peppering the squash vines and I think that is either eggs or
excrement. I called my grandpa who is an entomologist and he believed
that whatever they were were there to suck the sap and life out of my
plants. He recommended killing them with a solution of dish soap and
water in a spray bottle.
I got off the phone with every intention of
doing just that only to discover that our dish soap didn't have labeling
that told us whether or not it was anti-bacterial (which you don't
want). So, I googled some more and came across a youtube video praising
diotomaceous earth and it's pest control properties. I had just
sprinkled that stuff around the base of my plants last week as a precaution, remember?
Then, the wind started blowing and when it died down, so had the
infestation. Gone, that fast. I went out early this morning, and there were hardly any of
these flies anywhere, but as the day went on, a few more were showing up. I couldn't tell if they were hiding in the ant holes nearby or what. Whatever they are and wherever they are, they are not welcome and I'm not going to take any chances. After all, I raised these plants since they were just seeds. I'm totally invested.
After
watching the short video, I decided that I needed to reapply the
diotomaceous earth around my plants and in a much thicker fashion. I
did just that. I hope I didn't go too crazy with it, but I'm told that
would be impossible. We'll see. I sure hope it works!
P.S. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to whatever those flies are because my face and nose got totally itchy around them.
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