I agree with Alan – plain sticky traps should do the trick, as close to the plants as possible. I have had 2 major experiences with live plants in galleries.
The first was plants as art – so it was a temporary exhibition. This was decades ago – so my memory is kind of vague. In that case, we placed sticky traps and monitored closely for the run of the show. Make sure that the plants are healthy to start with. The second was grow-boxes in the galleries (ethnographic – so part of the program). These were permanent displays. We ran into a lot of problems with incidentals such as red spider mites, flies etc. To monitor we trapped with cleverly hidden sticky traps, both at the ground level and in the light boxes that were placed above the planters. One thing we looked for was the health of the plants. Sick plants are more likely to attract more critters. After a serious infestation of the plants, I insisted that all soil being used be baked to kill off micro-organisms and any insects living in the soil. After the soil was sterilized fertilizer (and whatever else was needed to grow healthy plants was added back. This helped to control future infestations. Finally, I have seen mice take up residence in potted plants. Just to add to the concern. Feel free to contact me. Gretchen Anderson Gretchen Anderson Conservator Carnegie Museum of Natural Hisotry anders...@carnegiemnh.org From: pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Alan P Van Dyke Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 10:20 AM To: pestlist@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: [PestList] Live Plants as Art - Growing Plants in the gallery We've never done anything like this, but if it's possible, I would put traps out straight onto the soil when the gallery is closed. That is the most likely place a critter would show up. Another space would be on the floor as near the container as possible. Regular sticky blunder traps should be fine and definitely safe for the plants. There are potted plants in one space in my building. If I catch anything, it's springtails. It's kind of interesting, because I can tell if the plants are being overwatered when there are a lot of springtails or gnats in the traps. Good luck! Your predicament is one of the reasons I'm glad I don't work in a contemporary art museum. Alan Alan Van Dyke Senior Preservation Technician Harry Ransom Center The University of Texas at Austin P.O. Drawer 7219 Austin, Texas 78713-7219 P: 512-232-4614 www.hrc.utexas.edu<http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/> [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1rqiR2nrgyoj0efqQIZR-nz7WGyw16bBn&revid=0B14-z3QUvdNTT0UyTlZJMUl4dHErTWYzVWdnSnVOUE90alBFPQ]<http://hrc.utexas.edu> On Wed, Jun 2, 2021 at 3:15 PM Ariana Webber <amweb...@mit.edu<mailto:amweb...@mit.edu>> wrote: Hello All, I was hoping to get a little advice from anyone who may have encountered a situation like this before. We are working with an artist this fall who will be growing plants in our gallery. We are still narrowing down the species of plant (considering something like common chickweed, dead nettle, rye grass, Virginia creeper, and/or English ivy) and the exact mechanism for growing them. My colleague is doing some tests of grow lights in the gallery this week. There will be plants, soil, an irrigation system possibly built out of water bottles and IV tubes and a system of grow lights in the ceiling. Besides sterilizing the soil, washing the roots of the plants as much as possible, removing any dead leaves, and laying out pest traps when we are closed, what mitigation measures should I be taking? Any advice on where is best to place traps/what kinds of traps I should buy? And what else should I be worried about? Is there anything else I can do before hand to minimize our pest risk? Would love some advice from someone who has dealt with this type of thing before! Thanks so much, Ariana -- Ariana M. 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