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Can you name this plant - and help with infestation.

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Coolgran65 Thu 15-Sept-16 09:31:01
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This plant belongs to my ddil and I've agreed to look after it, probably for the next year. They've just moved and have no room for it at present. The plant belonged to ddil's grandmother so she is very fond of it.

It came to me 10 days ago, 90% covered in brown crispy leaves and bone dry. The brown leaves have been brushed off and it's had a good soaking.

Can anyone tell me what this plant is so I can look up how best to care for it, it has tiny pretty pink flowers and large sharp thorns. Looks like a desert plant.

However, it is infested with tiny midge like flies, they are all through the soil. I've sprayed with Raid and also with Ultimate Bug Killer. This gets rid of what is obvious at the time but they just keep coming. It is in my porch and the window is closed so they are not coming in from outside. I'm pretty sure they came to me with the plant as we didn't have these midge flies beforehand. I try and clear these flies several times each day. It was all cleared last night and this morning there were again 100s all over plant and the window sill.

I can't keep open the door to the porch in case they come into the house.

I may have to change the soil/compost but doubt that this would get rid of them all?

My next step could be the local garden centre.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

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Coolgran65 Tue 27-Sept-16 17:24:42

Update:

At the time of the previous discussion on 'flies' we took the bull by the horns.
Plant and pot taken outside and all old (fly ridden) potting scraped off using a screwdriver around the roots, and dumped into a bin bag. The roots were well washed down using the hose and the plant repotted in fresh potting. The pot was also washed out well.

I kept it outdoors for several days to check for any sign of flies.

The porch was scrubbed out and sprayed several times over several days. A few flies appeared for a couple of days, not many. I kept washing and spraying until there had been no sight of the wee blighters for a few days.

The plant was then returned to the porch and I'm happy to say that plant and porch (checked every morning) remain 'fly free'.

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Yorkshiregel Thu 29-Sept-16 10:51:02

How about washing it, cleaning it thoroughly, dunking in a fungus killer, re-potting it and giving it back to dil? :-) Too much labour involved for me I am afraid. How much does she love the plant? It sounds like 'not that much' if it came to you with dry leaves and fungus flies. I would be inclined to put it in the bin. Sorry if I upset you.

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