Question
I have a lot of plants in my upstairs room and have noticed these little flying insects have lately been in abundance. They look like gnats or tiny flies and are very annoying. I looked in the dirt of a couple of my plants and have noticed these little beetle looking things crawling around in the dirt. Do you think that these are growing into the flying kind? I have used some insect killing granual type of thing yesterday but don't know if it will be successful in killing these crawling things. I also have a problem with spider mites on one Ivy type of plant. Can you recommend something that would kill these spider mites and do you know what these flying things are?

Thank you,
Jon

Answer
Hi Jon
Sounds as if you are having quite a time!  The little flying bugs that look like gnats are exactly that; soil gnats.  They breed in the soil. They do not do any damage to the plant, unless they get so out of control, then they will begin eating at the roots, but by that time you will really notice it.  Soil gnats love the moist soil.  The best way to get rid of them is to allow your plants to dry out a bit.  They will have nothing to live off of then.  They eat the fungus, etc. that grows in moist soil.  Also, spraying the plant and soil with a mixture of dish soap, rubbing alcohol and water will get them under control.
The beetle type bugs have nothing to do with the soil gnats.  They are probably just some bug looking for a comfy place to sleep.  The above mixture will probably scare them away.
Using the systemic will take care of the spider mite on the ivy also.  
You will need to give it a few days to begin to work.

Hope this has helped you, Jon.

Good Luck,
Leslie