Indoor Herb Garden

I have an indoor garden where these tiny little gnats seem to spring forth like wild-flowers after a long rainy winter from the soil of my plants. I have a few yellow fly strips up, however, after about a week and a few hundred flies later, they stop having any space left for more flies!

I have tried nematodes and ladybugs, however those are very expensive require lots of work. My indoor garden, because of where I live, is going to be prone to these bugs no matter what I do.

I have a small outdoor garden where spiders have taken residence and seem to keep my bug problem at bay, and I have had MUCH experience with spiders and how beneficial they can be as predators. I always leave 2-3 in or around my house or garage that are out of reach to keep my bug problems at bay. (we all have flies, face it…)

Is there a "safe" species of spider that I can introduce into my very small indoor garden that will keep the bug problem at bay? Can a "safe" sepcies be kept under control?

Curious answers, I agree with some, not with others. (also a degreed horticulturist)

There is no one general pest control method. For example, the insecticidal soap works great on soft bodied insects, but not the hard shelled. Plus the soap can severely harm certain plants. Horticultural oil works by smothering insects, but once again, can harm certain plants. Neem is selective, diatomaceous earth is selective, pyrethrum isn't all that safe (even if it is from nature….so is tobacco/nicotine and nicotine is extremely toxic and no longer available for pest control. Get the idea? Same thing with predatory/beneficial insects; they are selective and with pray mantids, they eat all the other bugs including fellow family members.

The answer……….use a multiple approach, what we call integrated pest management. First know what your pest problems are, learn how to treat each (hopefully there will be something that will work on many, be prepared to have multiple pest control options running at the same time. For example, the yellow sticky traps, make your own out of bright yellow plastic, coat with a sticky substance and when filled with pest, scrape them off and put the boards back out. Release parasitic wasps, use beneficial nematodes if you have large container plantings, use insectidial soap where appropriate, oil elsewhere, Neem, etc. By alternating treatments you keep the pests from developing a resistance. Also…….have a look at your growing environment. Is it such that you have breeding areas for these pests and through good cleanliness and techniquest you can eliminate many of these pests before they reach your plants?

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I would like any information, web addresses etc. you have on making a simple hydroponics system at home or hydroponics in general. This is a school project. I would like any information on herbs too.
Thank you very much for your help.
I'm in Year 8 at school,
pal2k_2001. Thanks for your great answer.

Here is a good 10 lesson journal of hydroponics. It should give you some great insights, step, by step.

http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/lessons/table-of-contents.htm

Good luck with your project,
…jj

Herb info:

http://www.grodan.com/sw58028.asp

…jj

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I am trying to get a nice indoor windowsill garden going, but have a very tight budget. So I've been saving used gallon milk jugs and Era clothes detergent containers to fashion into my 'pots'.

The problem is, these containers are very ugly. I've tried painting them with some basic craft paint I have, but it rubs right off after it dries and makes a big mess.

Any ideas on how I can decorate these plastic containers to look less cheap, classy not gaudy, and easy to do at home?

You should try this great stuff called "Mod Podge". It's a water soluble solution that's used for decoupage. When I was little, my mom used old newspapers to decorate old ice cream cartons (the old 5 gallon wooden ones) with Mod Podge. It's very retro and cool. You tear or cut up the newpaper, and brush the M.P. onto your piece. Position it on the container. Continue until it's all covered. Let dry overnight. Then, cover the entire the container with M.P. It will dry into a hard finish that is waterproof and really tough. It will go on white, but dry clear. Best application is with a foam craft brush. You can get M.P. at Joann or Michael's (and clip the 40% coupons in the paper-they both take each other's coupons). Use newspaper, magazines, leftover wrapping paper, or plain paper. It's up to you! When I was in college, I Mod Podged everything. lol

Good luck. If you have any questions, I can send a pic to your email of a screen I covered with joss paper and M.P.

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