Question
I have an indoor garden basket that was purchased from a gift shop about a month ago.  It has a little bit of palm, pothos, croton, syngonium, and dieffenbachia.  It also has two additional types of plant I cannot identify-one has several slender stalks that end with eight oblong smooth edged waxy leaves arranged in a circle.  The other is a small shrub that has layers of oblong, ridge-edged waxy leaves.

The basket it is in is approximately 2 feet in diameter about about 5 inches tall with a plastic liner inside.

The office it is kept in is an interior room with no sunlight.  Instead I have a small full spectrum desk lamp about 4 feet away, plus overhead flourescent lights.  Lights are on 9 hours per day.  Temperature ranges from 75-85 degrees farenheit.  Humidity is moderate, not moist, not dry.  Plant is not in draft area.

I have noticed gnats, so I have been applying a product called Garden Safe Fungicide 3 which is supposed to control fungus, insects, and mites.  The directions say not to use on stressed plants but to thoroughly cover the plant tissue to runoff and time it either early morning or in the evening.

I have applied this product twice waiting 2 weeks between applications.  I have mostly concentrated it on the soil since the plants themselves seem delicate.  I am still seeing gnats flying around.  Last week about 4 days after application, my croton started drooping and almost all of the stripes dissapeared.  The palm started drying up.  The little green shrubs also started drying up. I checked the soil and it was dry.  So I gave it a good watering and everything perked back up.

Today there are still gnats flying around.  The soil is moist from the watering I did last Thursday (it is Tuesday now).  I am noticing that my pothos has one big yellow leaf.  My palm is drying up and getting crispy on the ends.

My question is really, do you have a general recommendation for caring for this plant basket (watering frequency, food/fertilizer, etc) and a specific recommendation for getting rid of the gnats?  I was thinking of treating again but I am concerned that maybe I need something else, that this product is not working and/or is too dangerous for my stressed plants.

I think these plants are so beautiful together and I hate to take them apart-I don't want to kill them either.

Thank you sincerely for any thoughts you could share on this.

Answer
Hi Margaret,

Dish gardens are beautiful to look at and hard to maintain. The different plants have different light and water requirements, so it is hard to meet them all. In addition, there is no way for excess water to drain out. Inevitably, you will lose at least a few of the plants. I do agree that it is best not to separate the individual plants.

Most of the plants will do OK in moderate light with the exception of the Croton, so you will probably lose that one. The Croton also does not tolerate dryness, whereas the others prefer to get a bit drier.

The fungus gnats are a problem. The larvae live in the soil and mature into adults with wings. The larvae feed on damp decaying organic matter - soil and rotting roots. If there is any lose soil on the surface, scrape it off and discard it. Then place a thin layer of sand over the surface. The sharp edges will carve up the larvae as they move about the surface. Another technique is to place half-inch slices of raw potato on the soil surface. The larvae will be drawn to them. Remove and replace the slices every day until you no longer see any larvae attached to the slices.

Keeping the soil as dry as possible is also a deterrent to fungus gnat larvae.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.
   
Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

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