Question
I have 3 different kinds of house plants: basil, cilantro, and a plant that I took out of a flower arrangement that has oval leaves that are white in the middle, which branch off alternately from the stem. The cilantro and basil plants recently had what I think is scale. I washed the leaves off and removed all the spots. While I was doing this I noticed that in the soil of all three of my plants, little bugs float up when you water them. I have spent several hours trying to determine what kind of bug they are so that I can figure out how to get rid of them. I do not think they are gnats because there are no flying bugs. Also, they are dark, not light in color. The bugs are really tiny. They are between 1/32 and 1/16 of an inch, and are narrow bodied. They crawl. Nothing I have tried so far (insecticide soap and a peroxide solution) has killed any of the bugs I see crawling on the sides of the pots. I have read that you suggest an alcohol watering for many types of bugs in the soil. Do you have any idea what kind of bugs these are and if so, do you think I should use the alcohol watering technique? Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you.

Answer
Grace,

They may be the juvenile fungus gnat. It really doesn't matter. They are probably in the soil eating roots that are rotting doe to overwatering. Cut ack on the water and keep the plants dryer and yes, the quickest way to kill any bugs in or on a plant is to water or spray them with alcohol. Alcohol kills insects on contact. Peroxide is a type of bleach that caan injur plant tissues. It is good for washing used pots but not for using on plants.  Use the alcohol and it should kill the bugs then keep the plant dryer and never leave the plant sitting with a draain tray full of water, it will rot the roots and attract more bugs. Good luck.

Darlene