My seedlings are all coming up nicely in pots but there are lots of small flies in the compost. What shall I do?
It sounds as though the compost is too wet and not draining properly. Once these flies are noticeable they will have infested the compost in your pots and hundreds of eggs will have been laid. It is the larvae of these flies that do the most damage, feeding on roots and stems of susceptible plants, especially seedlings. Immature plants, cuttings and seedlings are most at risk of collapse. Damage to these plants can also allow other plant diseases such as fungal infections entry to the plant tissue. You can help the problem by reducing watering and allowing the compost to dry out a little in between watering. Don’t use reservoir based watering trays for seedlings, as the compost stays too wet. If possible prick out the seedlings as soon as possible into a loam based compost. Choose Westland John Innes Seed Compost. Top dress mature plants that are growing the same area with 1cm thick mulch of Westland Horticultural Sand. Remove all dead and dying material from the greenhouse, especially
