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This time every year, I
get a zillion calls and emails concerning the appearance of small gnats in
houseplants. You go to water, and thousands of these gnats start flying,
even up your nose! Fortunately I don’t have any, but here are a few tips on
getting rid of them, just in case you do!
Fungus gnat larvae live
in consistently moist soils, usually in the top inch or so of the soil in
your pots, and feed on decaying matter and sometimes, plant roots. They
live there for 10-14 days, pupate as an adult (which are the flying gnats
you see), they lay eggs in the soil, and the cycle starts all over again.
So, the key to fungus gnat control…reduce your watering!
When you discover fungus
gnats, isolate the plant from the others…then reduce your watering. Letting
the top 2 inches of soil dry out and stay dry for 2 weeks or more, will
break their reproductive cycle.
To help control the
adult fungus gnats, hang yellow sticky traps close to the soil surface.
Adult gnats are attracted to the yellow color, and stick to the traps. This
works well for whiteflies, too.
If you still have
problems with fungus gnats, remove the top inch or soil of soil and replace
it with new soil, so you’ll be removing the larvae.
And one last trick to
controlling fungus gnats…the potato trap. Take 1-2 inch thick slices of
potatoes and nestle them on the surface of the dry soil. Fungus gnat larvae
are attracted to the slices and moisture, burrow into the slices, and after
2-3 days, you remove the slices, and the fungus gnat larvae as well.
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