Gnats on Plants

This tip is for all of us that have indoor plants with those pesky little black flying gnats, or whatever they are.

I recently repotted an indoor plant, put it back in my bathroom, and holy mackerel, hundreds of those little black bugs hatched over three weeks. I bug bombed the bathroom and it worked great. They are still hatching, even after 3 more weeks, but they die instantly

I hear that baking the soil for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees F or more works well. I'll be doing that for my next repot.

By Dewey from Grass Valley

Feedback

Read feedback for this post below. Click here to post feedback.

By 10/01/2012

Re-pot your plant-immediately! Use a new bag of potting soil.

By 05/14/2010

We have those irritating bugs in our house, too. Could you be specific about what you used to kill them--what type of bug bomb?

Thanks for any help.

By 05/13/2010

Kinda scary that the bugs "die instantly" after bombing the room. What does that mean for you and your family...ick! I wash my plants down really good before bringing them into the house. If the soil is infected, I would discard and repot immediately. Good luck.

Questions

Here are questions related to Gnats on Plants.

Getting Rid of Gnats in Fresh Produce

Every spring/summer when we start bringing in produce from the garden and bananas from the store, we start getting gnats all over. They are worse in the kitchen. I've tried the banana in the container and covered tightly with plastic wrap. It works! Also (tip from my son-in-law) pour apple cider vinegar (enough to cover bottom, plus) into a container add a few drops of dish soap (Dawn, Palmolive, etc.) in vinegar and swirl container a little bit. You can use Styrofoam cup, small plastic bowl, etc. It does work. You can change the vinegar/soap when needed. I usually change mine on 3rd day. I think this one works the best. Does anyone have any other hints?

By dottie46 from USA

SharePrintFollowPost Feedback

Gnats on Plants

Are there any products around the house that I can use directly in or on the soil of the plant to get rid if the gnats that won't harm my dog or the plant? I already have lighted gnat traps and don't want to leave jars w with vinegar, wine or juice laying around the house. Those cut down the numbers, but aren't getting rid of them entirely. HELP.

Susanne from Durango, CO

RE: Gnats on Plants

Diatomaceous Earth. You can get it at a nursery, we also had a pool filter that used this. It looks like flour and has no chemicals. It kills bugs with skeletons on the outside. Just sprinkle it on the dirt. Good on fleas, you can even put it on the pets and it won't hurt them. Very safe to use around pets and children. I sprinkled it on the carpets when we had a bad invasion of fleas and it got rid of the fleas but is very hard on a vacuum. Now I set small bowls of it around the house when I see a flea. We use DE all around the house for fire ants and for fleas as we live in the country and have all kinds of critters coming through our yard. (04/12/2007)

By vickya

RE: Gnats on Plants

I too, had the problem of small gnats flying around my lovely plants and seedlings. A neighbor told me about placing about 1/2 inch of fine sand into each pot I have. The gnats like to lay their eggs in the soil because it stays warm and moist. The eggs can't 'breathe' or hatch with the sand over the soil. Works great! (04/13/2007)

By Ragteller

Gnats on Plants

I have had house plants that I bring inside in the winter for years, but this year I seem to have an infestation of gnats that are in the soil. From what I have read from others in ThriftyFun I think they are fungus gnats. I have tried the insecticidal soap and the sticky strips but nothing seems to work. They seem to be in all of my plants. Any suggestions of anything else to try?

Debbie from Potomac Falls, VA

RE: Gnats on Plants

You have fungus in your dirt. You need to change the soil and make sure that you rinse the roots of your plants off as well and if you are going to use the same pot clean it really well and rinse it (02/09/2009)

By vcphillips

RE: Gnats on Plants

I have tried a lot of remedies and the only one that has worked for me is placing a garlic clove in the dirt. Leave a little bit of it sticking out of the dirt. This really works. (03/09/2010)

By ~Janette~