1. By pitcher plant do you mean temperate (Sarrecenia - next to impossible indoors) or tropical (Nepenthes - need to be inside in z5)
2. Nepenthes would be my number two suggestion after sundews. Pings do well with sundews, and both love fungus gnats.
3. Fungus gnats are their own insects. Maggots are baby flies.
4. I too have the big fire ants. I only see 4-5 walking along my windowsill per day. I have no actual solution for it, but if you burn them with a mag. glass, or a lighter, their abdomen swells and explodes. Usually though, I just pick them up and drop them in a pitcher.
Good Luck
Bob

Clarita, I took your hint and called Oak Hill about the P Princess Kaiulani, which is not on their website. They said they had just gotten them and didn't have good roots yet, but were willing to sell me one. I got a very nice plant with roots and three leaves. Even a tiny spike nub.

And did I mention how ravishing the dark purple, waxy Ho's Black Cherub is that came with two spikes? Glorious with light on it showing it off.

Re fungus gnats (the tiny, tiny flying things that get up your nose) come out of nowhere when things are a little bit wet. I believe you grow some of the orchids that need wetter conditions. That is probably where they are starting.

The tiny maggot phase of fungus gnatstakes place in the medium. Watering with peroxide- or physan- water (physan 2 teasp/gal) seems to get rid of them. Or a drench with Safer's insecticidal.

Real flies? You must have a crack in your screens somewhere, or be keeping a door open for them to be getting in.

don't know what kind of growing space you are having problems with, but if you need human-friendly solutions...

Fungus gnats are very easily controlled if you target the larval stage. They are crawling in potting mix about an inch from the top (or bottom) of the pot, or in sphag, or in damp tree fern mounts. A drench every week for at least two weeks after you see the last flying adult will usually do it. Mosquito dunks did not work for me, but knock out gnats did an perfect job. Alternatively, I use Orange Plus cleaning solution as a drench or dunk. All my pleuros (pleuro masdie scaph etc - I don't grow dracs) get treated to an orange bath when they arrive and whenever I have a gnat problem. It's earth and human-friendly, works on larvae and softbodied pests, and smells good.

Any systemic applied to potting medium will also kill the gnat babies.

I also do have a couple of mexian pinguicula for the flying gnats. I find these to be much easier to grow than drosera, and they noid I have does not go dormant under lights.

I can't tell one ant from another, but I keep them out by spraying OrangeGuard around the perimeter etc. It's more a repellant than a killer (although it does kill. slowly.)

I know some people laugh or scoff at using non-traditional pest control, but for me, being able to do the pest treatment in the kitchen and then cook dinner is a big plus.

Thanks Mehitabel and Komi. Good memories, both of you! Thank you for serious responses.

I am willing to try anything humane at this point.

Yes, I grow in an indoor/outdoor unique conditions through October. Think climate controllled 6 car garage with a huge opening bay door. Very humid conditions. 60% minimum. Great for 'chids; better for bugs! Also have a restaurant dumpster nearby. Weekends are a living hell. I live for Monday garbage pick up. That will give you some idea of the scale of the problem. Preview of things to come.

Flies started early; January when the storm windows were in and the space was calked tighter than a drum. I can handle a few but not this many. The flies bite too! Have the big and regular ones. The City and restaurant are good about 4 legged pest control but not about insects.

Chicago is apparently notorious for bug problems. I actually saw a sign in a hotel last year that stated the windows will not open due to bug problems. Yikes! Chicago is basically a big swamp that has been land filled. Very still air, especially in summer unless you live on the lake. Common misnomer, Chicago was dubbed "The Windy City" for its politics, not actual winds. I lived in z-9 on the water, constantly breezy; never had to deal with the "delights of spring"

Thank you for the links. Let me ask a question about the Orange Plus. Orange Plus is for just the gnats? Are you mixing or spraying it in the medium full strength? or just around the growing area or both? I just started seeing the gnats and only in mounts/spag but a lot of them. I have more mounts than usual this year. Sprayed Safer's. Dissapeared for a day

The Big ants are driving me bonkers. It's hard to believe no one has had to deal with them. They like the water and heat, not food. I hired someone to calk the foundation, no change. I called an exterminator. 2 problems. They use chemicals that are not orchid friendly and the nests have to be destroyed. The ant nests are outside on city property. Can't dig up the sidewalk.

I bought 7 bottles of Terro and dripped it around the foundation inside and out. Nothing. Ants get stuck in it but that's about all. So do my shoes. I have a Coryanthes but he is too young to handle my ants. ;-) Wouldn't that be nice if they were the right type of ants to pollenate?

I am open to anything that eats flies, gnats, ants, mice.

What are the light requirement for Ping's? I am wondering how many would be needed? How big do Pings get? How are they fed in winter? Pings are for gnats only? What about flies? Anything that would swallow those? Someone posted last summer about some plant that can eat very large creatures, like mice size things. Can't find the post. Can't remember which GW board it was on. As you can tell desperation is setting in. Its not going to get better. Thankfuly, we have had very little rain this spring.

Thanks for hearing me out. I am itching writing this post!
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Oak Hill
Mehitabel always better to call OHG. I saw the first Princess Kaiulani in full bloom yesterday! Drop dead gorgeous! You made nice choices!

Oh boy the "Princess"... I have one that is ready to burst. I can see red. Several spikes. I bought several Princess Kaiulani's. Did the wholesale thing. I am not a phal gal but they were just stunning and very healthy. I adore the leaves. Leise is right, they are not well established but I repot most things anyway.

She isn't called "Princess" for nothing! My observations so far, they behave more the like the Phal Borneo parent. They can tear very easily. Fragile leaves; more than the Borneo.They have been challenging. It seems the very tips of the buds rot off. 1 little black/brown spec and poof gone. I do not mist but have good humidity. They may have been accidently hit by water. I am super careful about any water now. But they do produce several florescences and branch like crazy, grow new leaves fast and roots too. Don't cut when it's finished blooming. When I moved them, they stalled out. It seems that they made need highly stable conditions when in bud.

I've been running it dryer than a regular phal... a strong wet dry cycle. I have a couple of Borneos and surprisingly, they have been a bit of a challenge for me too. Very fine line between over watering and underwatering. I am watching them closely to find out where these dabs of bud tip and leaf fungus are coming from. Never had an orchid react like this. Very sensitive little Princess but wait until she blooms. Worth it!

What has your experience been with the Princess so far? Have you repotted? If so what have you used for medium? I did baskets spag and bark but I think that may have not been the best for them. Plastic may be better. I'm glad you called OHG! They really have superior plants at good prices. I can't even begin to tell you what is there now. This posted would be longer than it already is. EVRYTHING is just superior. One plant looked more delicious than the next. Hands down the best orchid nursery!

Clara

so now I have a better idea of the size of your growing space, but not of the number of plants.

Assuming the biting flies come in through the door, any way you can get a massive mosquito netting up?

As for the fungus gnats in mounts and sphag, I dilute Orange Plus concentrate to... umm... something like 10%? Basically enough that the water is slightly orange. I pour this through pots of sphag. The mounts get submerged in a tub of it - you can see dead or squirming larvae on the water surface afterwards.

I have not used Orange Plus as a spray and don't know if it would be effective that way.

Note that OrangeGuard is a different product. I do not recommend spraying it any plant that might be sensitive, as the emulsifiers don't sit well with some of them. It is supposedly effective on roaches, but I don't believe it. Really, it's more of a repellant and might be enough to keep things from crawling in.

Have you considered diatomous earth?

Depending on how much time you/people/pets spend in there, something like a No Pest Strip might be worth considering.

There is also an excellent pyrethrin product they use in japan to keep mosquitos out - it might work for you too. But, I have yet to see it marketed in the US outside of Japanese grocery stores.

Not sure that you want a carnivorous plant for flies - remember the plant has to first attract the flies before it can eat 'em.....

Pings are small - 3" pot is about right. Sandy mix, sit in water or drown in water every now and then - depends a bit on what you've got. I'm growing mine in a glass vase of peat/sand mix under T8 shoplights and dump water in it every 1-2 weeks. I don't feed it, though I probably should (no gnats to speak of these days).

6 inch square "pot":
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