Please help my houseplant

[apoppy]

This is more of an indoor gardening question, but I hope someone out there can help me.

I recently repotted one of my favorite plants, and things have since gone horribly wrong. About a week after repotting, a light white fuzzy mold began to grow on the top of the soil. I scrapped the mold off, and then let the soil dry out completely before watering it again (I thought the humidity may be a factor). The mold came back along the edges of the pot, but more troubling, the soil became infested with these gnat-like bugs. Ick. So, I put the plant outside in the full sun yesterday in order to dry the soil out again, and kill the bugs (I hope).

Can anyone tell me what is going on here? Will I have to repot again?

[elladee]

I don't really know about the white mold. The gnats are most likely fungal gnats. I've had luck getting rid of them by doing exactly what you are doing - letting the soil dry out to the point where the plant is about to start dying. Do you know what type of plant it is? Some are more tolerant to drying out than others. I don't think repotting will help because you'll still have some of the old contaminated soil in the root ball.

[jimmysgirl424]

By any chance, is the soil that you used to repot the plant old? I had the exact same problem that you did with the white mold growing on top of my plants, and the soil I used I had been keeping for about a year or so. I scraped the mold off and it hasn't come back since.

Okay, to get rid of your bugs, I would try mixing a small amount of mild dishsoap with water in a spray bottle. Shake it up till it gets foamy, then spray the plant leaves, stem, and the surface of the soil with it. Don't worry, the soap will not hurt your plant, but it should kill the bugs.

[apoppy]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try all of those things and cross my fingers. :)