Question
My indoor palm plant has bugs in the soil. There are little white ones, and millipede like bugs. The millipedes are a gray silver with multiple legs and are mainly around the base of the palm. The little white bugs are crawling all over the soil. And there are gnats. The corn plant has a fungus growing on the soil. Do you know anything that would kill the bugs and something for the fungus? I greatly appreciate it. Also, Do you know any tricks to keep my cat from eating the leaves?
THanks

Answer
Jamie,

All of these problems are happening because you are watering your plants too much and the soil is too wet causing the roots to rot. That is attracting the gnats and the bugs and worms in the soil are the larval form of the gnats. The mushrooms or fungus is swimilar to the toadstools that grow in your yard when it is really wet from too much rain.

Let your plants dry out more between waterings. The palm needs the top 3 inches of soil to be very dry before you water it again and the corn plant needs to be very dry to the point that the pot feels light weight when you pick it up or tilt it before you water it again. In the meantime you can spray the surface of the soil with aerosol Lysol spray to kill the fungus. You can also spray the insects and millipedes with rubbing alcohol and it will kill them on contact. However the ultimate solution to your problem is to allow a lot more time between waterings so the plants have time to dry out and when you do water them cut back on the amount of water you give them.

As for your cat, take a bottle of cayenne pepper and spread it on the surface of the soil and the cat should stay away from the plant. Good luck.

Darlene