Gnats on my fig tree

General Fruit Growing
1

After a initial poor start my 6 fig trees that I potted this year are growing wonderfully. I keep them on my deck with 5 potted apple grafts. They get plenty of sun and ample water.

Today I noticed the prettiest fig out of the bunch (a Petite Negrone) had a bunch of gnats gathered around the pine bark mulch in the pot. All of the figs use the same 5:1:1 potting mix and are topped with the pine bark mulch. This particular fig had gnats while I didn’t notice them on any other figs.

What would cause this? As I said, the fig is small buy looks great and the planting and soil conditions were identical amounst all figs. Can the gnats actually cause any damage to the young trees or are they just an annoyance? Should I spray them and the mulch with triazicide?

2

Fungus gnats most likely, from the soil being too wet. I would make sure you have a well draining potting mix, and you can treat with Gnatrol as a soil soak. You may have to apply the Gnatrol a couple of times, but it is quite effective. They happen to love fig roots, sadly. Do not treat with Triazicide, not necessary. Gnatrol is safe and very effective.