How to Remove insects from plants?

[Anonymous]

I bought a small coffee plant. Now I have those flies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciaridae

I had problems with those before. Nothing I tried worked except to throw the plants away. Yes, I looked in the internet.

Do you have a working idea?

[Lliam]

You could try spraying the tops and undersides of the leaves with neem oil or horticultural oil.
Or mix a tablespoon of vegetable oil and a tsp of liquid dish soap in a quart of water and spray the plant with that.

[purplepoppy]

The issue could be eggs in the soil rather than the adults. You can easily kill the insects but new ones are always hatching.

Look for a pesticide that kills pests in soil rather than the type you spray on leaves.

[Asker]

Thanks for the idea. Pesticides don’t just disappear. If I later dispose of the soil in the garden, they’ll end up in the ground, in the drinking water, or in fruits and vegetables. Pesticides linger somewhere, and in the end, we end up harming ourselves. That’s why I don’t use pesticides. With many of them, it only became clear later just how toxic they really are.

[purplepoppy]

Pesticides are designed to degrade into harmless compounds pretty quickly. It's how farmers know when their product is safe to sell, it also allows us to minimise usage and save money. One of the reasons many farmers don't eat organic foods is the "natural" chemicals used have few regulations behind them and can actually be more harmful. Virtually all Pesticides problems stem from people ignoring the instructions and using a greater concentration

[FreyaRed]

Mospilan helps against all insects. You can buy it in every garden shop. You spray this solvent on a plant, eggs and larvae die even weeks after spraying. It's like VX agent for insects, it kills in nano gram doses.

[demonics]

Ironically, ground up insects, microscopic ones anyway... diatomaceous earth. Some people swear by copper wire contraptions.

[exitseven]

There are insects that you can get rid of by spraying soapy ware on them. Some respond to certain kinds of poison. Find out what kind of insect and do some research. If you are stuck call the county extension service and maybe they can help

[Jessica405]

Try a spray bottle with soapy water in it. Works for green fly on roses

[Massageman]

Add a spoonful of liquid dish soap in some water - a quart or two- and give it a spray.