I have gnats living in my houseplants, and they are driving me crazy! They actually appear to be living in the dirt. This started between moves, when I left my plants outside for a couple days. I have sprayed pesticides, changed out the potting soil, but these suckers are persistant. Would fly strips work? Any ideas would be most appreciated!
Thanks for all the responses! I have tried letting the soil dry out (much to the detriment of the plants) a couple times - like I said, these gnats are persistant! Will definately try the Vaseline trick, and check out the local garden store for the special gnat spray. I have a LOT of houseplants, so a lot of gnats!
Thanks again, Mamas!
Gnats often come in the potting soil you buy. Throw out any potting soil you have because it is probably infested with gnat eggs. The best way to get rid of them is to repot them in fresh potting soil. If you don't, every year you will have a new crop of eggs hatching and a new infestation of gnats.
In addition to what has been said (and I am very intrigued by the petroleum jelly solution) I would add that you you can act to rid the buggers now with a Schultz product that I have found very useful in the past. It is usually available at most nurseries and hardware stores. Read the label for the spray that is intended for indoor plants and kills gnats. You spray onto the soil after watering. Works well.
Gnats are generally drawn to plants that have been over watered. You should let the plant's soil dry out completely. Then put a small amount of Ivory dish soap or insecticidal soap (follow manufacturer's directions) in with your next watering. The soap won't hurt your plants but it will smother the gnats. Put a small amount of the soap in with the water every 3rd or 4th time you water to keep the gnats from coming back. Good luck!
I re-planted a houseplant and the same things happened. When I checked the bag of soil, I discovered it was infested with gnats. I let it "air out" outside in the shade for about 3 days and that did the trick.
Get some manilla paper or yellow construction paper cut to fit a space in the pot and slather, I mean slather petroleum jelly on them (this is in order to attract and trap the little buggers) Once you have a few on the trap simply make another one. These gnats LOVE wet. so be frugal with your watering for a while, also they will spread so you might want to quarantine your infested plants. Good luck sister!
too much watering. Put the plants outside to dry out (not too much sun because they can burn)...
We had to let our plants completely dry out for a little over a month and then the gnats went away.
You need to let the soil dry out completely in between watering. The gnats are breading in your soil and it has to stay moist for the populations to continue.
In addition to drying and changing out the soil, also wipe down the branches and leaves near the soil. Fly eggs can be deposited on those too.
I've read somewhere to put sand on top of the soil. Let the plant dry out, probably too much water, then put the sand. Never tried it, though.
I had the same problem a few years ago. I found what worked for my gnats was that they were insatiably curious. I got a venus flytrap (carnivorous plant), and put it next to my pot that was breeding gnats. I think it caught every last one of them. Leaving the pot outside for a little while during the day also helped a little, assuming the weather is still warm enough. Good luck!
