Protecting Indoor Plants From Gnats
So your house plants have been infested with gnats and you dont know what to do? The good news is, gnats are much less damaging than other pests and easier to get rid of than you might think.
Youll notice if your plants have gnats because their population grows quickly and they will be confined to the area immediately surrounding the plant. You will also notice them if you look through the soil of your plant, as there will likely be more gnats going through every stage of their life cycle.
Opposite to when outdoor gnats appear, its more common to see indoor gnat infestations during the winter months theyve come in to stay warm. The easiest way for an indoor infestation to occur is when youve brought in any plants from outside that already had gnats in the soil.
More good news: you can get rid of indoor gnats naturally, with the same steps as you would an outdoor infestation.
Ways To Get Rid Of Gnats
You can rid your house of gnats using commercial products and natural home remedies. These are non-toxic and safe for home use.
Some effective ways to get rid of gnats include:
Are Gnats And Fruit Flies The Same Thing
No, they are not the same thing. While fruit flies may sometimes be mistaken for gnats they are from different parts of the fly family.
If you need to know how to kill fruit flies, here is a way to kill fruit flies quickly.
- Remove any ripe fruit from the house, which has attracted fruit flies indoors.
- Use a drinking glass or jar, and pour 2-3 of Apple Cider Vinegar into the glass, which will attract fruit flies. Then, add 2-3 drops of dish soap to the vinegar. The dish soap acts as a fly trap or glue to hold the fruit flies in the vinegar where they eventually drown.
- Wrap the top of the glass with clear plastic wrap, and place a rubber band around it,
- poke several small holes in the plastic wrap with a toothpick, to allow fruit flies to access the vinegar solution.
- The dish soap acts as a fly trap or glue to hold the fruit flies in the vinegar where they eventually drown.
- When the fruit fly problem is gone, simply dispose of the contents of the jar.
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Keep An Infested Plant In Isolation
If you notice a gnat infection, its important to act quickly. As a result, isolate the infected plant, putting it in a separate room.
If you do this fast, you will stop the gnat infection from spreading. From there, youll be able to focus on getting rid of the pests. Its a lot easier to treat one plant than it is to fight multiple infections.
Woman Shares Super Cheap Hack To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies And Gnats
Eating fruit is so beneficial to our health, especially when we consume fresh fruit. Not only does eating fresh fruit provide us with so many beneficial vitamins and minerals, but it also can help prevent the development of some diseases and cancers and so much more.
Eating fruit is essential to our health, which is why it should be a staple food group to keep in abundance in every household, however the unfortunate fact about keeping fresh fruit around is that it attracts fruit flies and gnats, especially during the hot summer months.
So, if youre looking for an effective treatment to get rid of those pesky insects this summer, TikTok content creator recently shared a cost-effective hack that will take care of that annoying fruit flies and gnats problem!
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You Can Use Dish Soap
Another option that you can use is dish soap. It will also work with dishwashing liquid. Youll need to dilute some of this into your water to form a spray. You might need to use a solution of one part of dish soap to three parts water. Youll need to spray this onto the plants.
Gnats are attracted to moist soil, so bottom watering can definitely help prevent gnats. Bottom watering is an effective way to keep yourself from overwatering your plants, and overwatering is what causes the top layer of soil to remain moist for extended periods of time and thus attracts gnats. Jeremy Yamaguchi, CEO, Lawn Love
How To Kill Fungus Gnats
Fungus gnats are slow, erratic flyers, so killing them is not hard. Here are some of the most effective ways to get rid of adults:
1. Sticky TrapsFlypaper or more modern decorative sticky traps are popular options to catch any fungus gnats buzzing around houseplants and windows. Small yellow sticky traps can be cut and placed on wooden stakes and inserted into pots close to the soil, where adults tend to crawl and fly.
2. Apple Cider VinegarFill a shallow container with 1/4 inch of apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap, and cover with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the top of the plastic wrap, making them large enough to allow fungus gnats to crawl through. The gnats are attracted to the vinegar, and soap breaks the surface tension of the water, which causes flies to fall into the solution and drown.
3. Flying Insect SprayIf you dont want to wait for a trap to kill the fungus gnats, take them out quickly with a spray formulated with essential oils, like Ortho® Home Defense® Flying Bug Killer with Essential Oils. It kills quickly and is safe to use around kids and pets when used as directed.
4. Fly BaitKill fungus gnats with Ortho® Home Defense® Fly Bait Decal For Windows. Fungus gnats and other flying insects are attracted to the bait, eat a tiny dose, and then die minutes later.
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How To Get Rid Of Gnats Outside
This page is an expert guide on getting rid of outdoor gnats using the products and methods suggested by our experienced pest control specialists. Follow this guide and use the recommended products and we guarantee you will eliminate gnats outside of your home.
Gnats are annoying pests that can commonly invade a household. However, their peskiness is not limited to indoor potted plants — as a matter of fact, they even like to attack plants outdoors and are often found infesting our backyards.
Adult Gnats can be problematic but it is their larvae that can be the biggest threat to your plants and grass. As frustrating as it can be to encounter an infestation of gnats outside, they are not invincible. With the help of superior products and expert tips from Solutions Pest & Lawn, you can send these gnats on a run from your backyard.
Can Bottom Watering Prevent Gnats
Bottom watering is the process of putting the plants into a bowl of water. This allows the roots to absorb the water. There are a few benefits to this approach, these include:
- Helping the plants develop strong roots
- Keeping the soil moist
But to understand how it affects gnats, we need to first know what makes a plant attractive to these pests. Some elements that they will look for include:
- Organic matter. This is why gnats can pose a problem for plants. They have been known to feast on the organic matter in the soil. Sometimes, they have been known to eat seedlings. In more established plants, they might eat the root systems. This is why plants that have a gnat infestation will wilt.
- Moisture. This is something that gardeners will be able to control. Gnats will be attracted to moist soil, laying their eggs inside it.
- Light. Sometimes, bright lights around your plants can be enough to attract gnats. They like to flock to these sources at night. The condition of your garden will determine whether they stick around.
Since moisture is one of the most important elements attracting gnats to your soil, the way you water the plants is important. This is why bottom can be a good choice. It is an easy way to prevent overwatering while making sure that the plants are getting enough water.
I asked fellow gardeners if they thought bottom watering would prevent gnats in potted plants. It was surprising to see that many of them did not thing so as seen in the poll below.
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Homemade Sticky Trap For Gnats
Another one of the natural gnat repellents that you can easily make yourself is a homemade sticky trap. A homemade sticky gnat trap is a natural home remedy for gnats.
To make your sticky gnat trap, use a yellow or other brightly colored index card or piece of plastic and attach it to a stick. Smear the card with honey to attract the gnats. Place the trap in a strategic location around your kitchen and home to trap and kill the gnats.
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Remove Infested Potting Soil
Finally, sometimes, the infection might be too advanced for you to control. Here, you might need to remove the soil. As you are doing this, you will need to remove the plant, wash the roots.
You then have two options. You can cook the soil. If you put it in the oven for around three hours at a temperature of over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This will kill the gnats and any other insects that are present in the soil. Or you can replace the soil entirely, opting to start from scratch.
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How To Get Rid Of Gnats In The Backyard In 7 Effective Ways
Last summer was the worst of my life I am an outdoor fanatic, and I couldnt enjoy the sun because of the nasty gnats. Nothing, not even my hand shoving them away, could keep these nasty creatures from hovering around.
They swarmed around, causing discomfort. For a long time, I couldnt figure out where the agony was coming from. Then I discovered some of my garden fruits had overripened, drawing these pesky flies all the time.
I spent the next three days trying to figure out the most effective and risk-free method of how to get rid of gnats in the backyard.
Contents
How To Use Mosquito Barrier To Rid Your Lawn Of Gnats:
Grass gnats, common gnats and lawn gnats the kind of gnat that gather in swarms usually around sundown. They dont bite, but are a tremendous nuisance. They dont eat. During their short life they breed, lay hundreds of eggs and die in a matter of a few weeks.
Gnats can be any number of small flying insects. They are hatched in water, depressions in the lawn, cans, puddles, sewer drains. Often gnats are caused by over watering the lawn. Dry areas rarely ever have any gnats at all.
Spraying insecticides will generally kill all those that are struck by the chemical, but soon more are hatched out and they immediately appear again.
What must be done is to: Kill those that are flying , Kill the larvae before more hatch.
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What Are Fungus Gnats
Fungus Gnats make up 6 of the 7 families in the superfamily Sciaroidea. They can be helpful because they aid in the decomposition of organic matter, like in compost. Theyre typically just annoying, but there are predator types in the Arachnocampa genus in the Keroplatidae family.
The are also pollinators and even can aid in the spreading of mushroom spores.
The main problem associated with them is they carry diseases that are particularly deadly to plants, such as pythium, which causes a condition called damping-off, as mentioned below.
Unlike other pests, you can find these year-round due to their bodily make-up including antifreeze proteins that makes them exceptionally tolerant of cold weather.
The Most Common Flying Bugs In Your Lawn
Here, I will talk about flying bugs you can spot in your lawn. The most often, you will have problems with tiny, mosquito-like Lawn gnats that hover over grass in huge swarms.
These annoying 0.125 inches long pests prefer hot and rainy weather, and you can expect them to develop in the damp soil rich in decaying plant material or around your composter.
Even though you will probably hate these flying menaces, they are actually entirely harmless. You should pay attention to their larvae which will destroy the fine hairs of your plants roots. As a result, you can see yellow and withered leaves while the plant itself loses vigor.
Except for Lawn gnats, there are other insects which can invade and consequently destroy your lawn over time. Most of them, including Frit Fly, feed near the grass roots. And, you can already guess their larvae bore through the stems of grass and cause patchy areas on leaves.
The list of insects on/in your lawn
| The name of insects |
| Ants |
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Make Your Yard Uninhabitable By Removing Dead Leaves Grass Clippings Old Mulch And Dead Plants
One of the easiest ways to prevent and reduce the number of gnats inhabiting your yard is to make sure that the environment is unsuitable for their survival. To do this, you should do your best to make sure the dead and decaying matter in your yard is picked up.
Rake the dead leaves, bag grass clippings, remove dead plants, etc. After this is done, start spreading out the time between watering your yard and plants. Let the area dry more thoroughly between watering.
A couple of other things you can do is avoid using peat moss beds they are a favorite of fungus gnats, and hang flypaper strips in areas most commonly swarmed by gnats. If you hang flypaper strips, make sure you change them often. Along with flypaper strips, other home-remedy mixes will lure the gnats before trapping them.
Though these steps may seem trivial and too easy, changing the conditions in which gnats thrive can make a big difference in the numbers surrounding your yard.
Can Fungus Gnats Cause Damage
Adult fungus gnats dont bite or feed, so they arent a threat to people or plants. However, they can become an annoyance if they arent controlled and are left to reproduce in large numbers. The larvae of fungus gnats pose a small threat to young plants. Larvae feed on organic matter in the soil and will sometimes feed on the roots of indoor plants. Seedlings and other less-established houseplants are most at risk for damage since their roots are delicate.
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How Do I Know If My Lawn Has A Fungus
Pink snow mold: A law fungus that occurs under snow cover.
From highly obvious mushroom rings to odd-looking slimy areas on the turf, lawn fungus can manifest itself in many ways. Depending on the fungal disease, symptoms and signs will vary. However, you can examine your grass for the presence of white hair, squishy roots, and slimy dampness to see if you are at risk.
Other than that, here is a list of some of the most common signs and systems that might indicate a potential fungus problem in your yard and might need attention:
- Discoloration or distortion of grass blades
- Powdery or thread-like growths on and around the grass
- A wet, damp, greasy, or slimy-looking turf
- Presence of yellow, brown, red, or black spots on grass blades and stems
- Patches of brown or frayed grass without any apparent cause
- Presence of mushrooms or mushroom rings
Top 7 Ways To Repel Gnats: Take Back Your Yard
Finally! Warm weather is upon us and its time to head out and enjoy the good temperatures, fresh floral scents, and the great outdoors. That is until those annoying little pests start swarming around your head. Theres nothing worse than being surrounded by gnats.
They may be small, but they can easily ruin your outdoor space by flying in your eyes, ears, and mouth. Plus, it seems they get worse and worse every year.
Dont worry you can take back your yard following a few simple steps. Here are the top seven ways to repel gnats so you can start enjoying your backyard again.
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