There are insects in my plants! Help!?

I have many houseplants on my window cill, and recently I started having a very serious insect problem.

There 3 different insects that are making my life miserable and this needs to stop.

1)There are these little tiny tiny black "flies". They seem to live in the soil - not on the plants themselves. They fly all over the apartment, and they are quite vicious. They sometimes bite and drink blood leaving tiny ichy bites. They also constantly try to fly into my nose and eyes. The funny thing is that they dont seem to harm the plants at all.

2)There are these strange little insects living on the leaves. They look like little "turtle shells" but they are soft - not hard. They have a white coloring with tiny black stripes. They seem to be making the leaves weak and frail.

3)Sometimes the leaves get attacked by little "mites" they make something that looks like a spider web and look like tiny white dots. They destroy the plant with astounding speed, and don't stop until the plant is killed

There are insects in my plants! Help!?
This first is a type of gnat. While it may not seem that they are doing any harm now, eventually it will show. They are laying eggs beneath the soil and the new babes will soon be feeding on the roots of your plants. Kill them with a mixture of lemon dish soap and water.



The second is a type of infestation called scale. If it is not too bad you can blast them off by running the plant under water or scraping them off. If it is really bad, you will have to use insecticide.



The third is called a spider mite and can usually be controled by blasting with water as well.



Any of these pests can be introduced to other plants so keep them apart if possible. A new plant should always be checked before bringing it home and you might also want to check the seal around your kitchen window as well.



Good luck to you!
Reply:for # 3 the little things that make sort of spider web its nothin to worry well yes b/c it will eat up your plant its a plag of like worms that they will soon dry up and die but you got to take them of with ur hand so put on gloves and take them off about the other ones sry.........
Reply:Both answers above are good ones. But you need to make sure that you get ALL of the leaves and stems wiped down. Nicotine is a very powerful pest repellant (and poison). Dawn will merely suffocate them.
Reply:Try getting some cigarettes and letting them soak in water, use this water to spray on the plants.
Reply:try 1 part dawn 1 part water works gr8 on tent caterpillars
Reply:You have a nice assortment of pests. Use plain rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip and dab a bit of the alco on the crawly bugs. It should get them straight away. You may have to repeat the procedure several times as the little cooties will hide in tiny crevices in the plant. For the flying ones--rinse, rinse, rinse the plant! Then, put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes--it's long enough to kill any fliers, but not long enough to harm the plant.