Why do house plants attract gnats

While it may be tempting, never reuse potting soil from other plants. Similarly, be sure to keep excess potting soil in a sealed, air-tight container to prevent any contamination and moisture-related problems. Previous Post. Tweet Share Pin.

Back to Urban Jungle Journal. We're always restocking! Keep in mind that one plant container can house generations of bugs, so multiple applications of your preferred method will likely be necessary. Avoid overwatering. Allow the top few inches of soil to dry out before watering your houseplants. Not only will this prevent fungus gnats from choosing your plant as their ideal new home, but it will also disrupt their reproductive cycle and help to lessen populations that have already moved in.

Use sticky traps. Sticky traps are simple solutions to a lot of pest problems. Remove them from the trap or dispose of and replace the trap often every days to intercept their egg-laying. Yellow traps are especially efficient at attracting these insects. Make cider and vinegar traps.

Similar to how you might trap fruit flies, mix equal parts of cider and vinegar in a shallow dish or can. Place the trap near the affected plant or even on the soil surface inside the container. The pests will be attracted to the mixture but will drown after they land in it. When plant parents give their plants the same care 12 months of the year, problems can occur.

Think about it, our homes are usually brighter and more humid in the summer than during the winter. By cutting back on watering, you can prevent fungus gnats from camping out in your plant pots. Gnats lay their eggs in the top layer of soil, and for their eggs to survive, the soil needs to stay moist. If your pot allows, soaking your houseplants from below is an ideal watering method. The soil surface stays dry while the soil soaks up water near the root ball. To do this, place the pot in a dish of water and let the water soak up through the drainage holes.

Here are a few easy ways to control gnats in your houseplants:. Their flight is erratic and they are much slower than fruit flies, acting more like mosquitoes while flying. In small numbers, fungus gnats are more of an annoyance than anything.

If their population gets out of hand, however, the larvae may start feeding on plant roots, causing notable damage. This is especially bad for young plants, such as seedlings, which have only a few delicate roots. Fungus gnats are also capable of spreading the plant pathogen that causes damping off and the eventual death of seedlings. Fungus gnat damage will appear similar to that of any other root-related issue, such as root rot.

In particularly bad cases, wilting of the entire plant could occur, followed by the death of the plant if roots are extremely damaged. Getting rid of fungus gnats is all about consistency.

Catching the adults in gnat traps is fairly easy, but because the adult population comes in cycles, you need to make sure that your traps are refreshed regularly. For the best results, use a combination of the traps listed here as well as the additional preventative methods listed in the subsequent section.

Sticky cards traps: These traps consist of a yellow note card covered in a sticky adhesive. They are most effective when cut into small squares and placed directly on top of the soil or attached to skewers just above the soil. Adult gnats will fly or crawl onto the card and become trapped in the glue.

Fungus gnats are attracted to the color yellow, so use the yellow sticky cards rather than the blue ones. Both can be bought at most hardware or garden stores, as well as online. Cider-vinegar traps: Simple and effective, cider-vinegar traps consist of a shallow container with a small amount of apple cider vinegar, water, and liquid dish soap.

Flypaper: Flypaper ribbons, such as those hung in horse barns to catch outdoor flies, can also be used to catch fungus gnats. Keep soil dry: Fungus gnats seek out moist soil, so allowing your houseplants to dry out a bit between waterings can slow down or stop an infestation. Let the top inch or two of soil dry out before watering again, and try to go as long as possible between waterings.

Gnats may be deterred from laying their eggs if the soil is dry on the surface. Mosquito dunks with beneficial bacteria : Mosquito dunks are used to keep mosquito larvae from populating fountains, animal troughs, fish ponds, and other small bodies of water. The product consists of a dry pellet containing a type of bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies isrealensis.

This beneficial bacteria infects and kills the larvae of flying insects, including mosquitoes, fruit flies, and fungus gnats. Cover drainage holes: Though gnats typically remain near the tops of pots, they may find their way to the drainage holes on the underside of a pot and start laying eggs there, too. If this happens, cover the drainage holes with a piece of synthetic fabric to prevent the gnats from getting in or out of the hole, but to also let water pass through freely.

Attach with tape or rubber bands. This can be an effective deterrent if used in conjunction with other prevention methods listed above, especially covering drainage holes.

Do you have any tips for preventing or stopping fungus gnat infestations? Tell us in the comments below! I have covered the entire pot with masking tape, all soil covered. In the hope they will stick to the tape and are unable to escape I'm leaving foe three weeks quite normal in the hope it will kill off adults and new hatchers.

I used it again on the soil when my plants got fungus gnats. It works. The movie was right- it works for everything!! This is a terrible article. Sticky paper? Apple cider vinegar? I was hoping for something a lot more insightful coming from Farmers Almanac, but you gave me sticky paper. How about this… For fungus gnat prevention, cover your topsoil with sand, or small pebbles.

This prevents the adults from being able to burrow into the organic soil to lay their stupid eggs. Problem solved! Now… my problem is that the gnats have infested the soil I blended for my succulents. I thought it would be safe due to the high ratio of sand that went into it. Unfortunately, it was not.