Question
hello:
i have an indoor money tree, small a 1 ft. recently i noticed there are small flying bug coming out from the soil, so i changed the potting soil.  the problem seems to get better but i still see small flying bugs sometime. what can i do?
thank you
min

Answer
Min:
These may be tiny insects called "fungus gnats". They are black, maybe 1 mm length, and very delicate. They fog up if the plant or soil is disturbed.  The immature is a small white worm with a black head. This worm is about 1-2 mm long.  I am not aware of any chemicals to use. Changing the potting soil is recommended plus keeping the media drier. These gnats seem to like moist soils. Using your computer, you can "Google" some images and find out more.  They seem to be more of a nuisance more than anything else.  I even have them in a potted plant in my office now! I have noticed that the potting soil with peat as a component tends to be a bit worse than media containing bark, because bark doesn't hold moisture as much as the peat moss.
Regards
Steve