Nats?
Ima start with, I have no rotten food or anything of the sort in my house. Nothing else has the nats. Only my basil plant. Why could this be happening and how do I stop it?? #HappyPlants #PlantAddict #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #NewPlantMom #PestControl
Last watered 3 weeks ago
6
Best Answer
If they’re just in that one plant, they’ll likely be in your others before long. It can take around a month to get rid of gnats because even if you can’t see them flying around, their little eggs are incubating in your nice moist pot and larvae are crawling around eating your plant’s roots… and depending on the moisture and temperature, it can take weeks for you to see any flying gnats.
I use something called Mighty Mint Plant Protection that has a good mix of ingredients for killing a variety of pests but is not harsh enough to damage my plants. If I accidentally bring something in that has gnats, I neglect ALL my plants… I let them go fully dry for 1-3 days before watering (depending on the plant’s hardiness and level of infestation), I water a little less than normal so it dries out faster, and after I water I shake my bottle of mighty mint and spray the top of the medium 2-3 times. The gnats live and lay eggs in the upper part of the soil, so spraying the mighty mint after watering just helps to kill things that are there in that moment or in the near future and it ensures that it stays protecting the surface (if I watered after spraying, it would just wash a lot of it further down into the pot).
If I have sticky gnat traps, I will also use those and try to slant them horizontally above the medium so newly mature gnats are more likely to get trapped when first emerging from the soil or older gnats are likely to land on it on their way to try to lay eggs.
Fungus gnat eggs and larvae NEED moisture to survive, so even just letting your plants all go fully dry for 3 days and watering sparingly can help reduce the population… but the combo of drying out plus treating the surface with mighty mint (always shake before using) lets me stop seeing gnats within a week and generally has them totally gone within 3 weeks. You should continue drying out and treating the pots for about 3 weeks after you see your last gnat to ensure you’re killing any new generations of gnats that survive.
For whatever plant is ground zero for the gnats, I will usually depot it, rinse its roots very well, give it a single mist with mighty mint, then pot it in new soil and chuck the old soil… I just do this as a fast way of making a big dent in the gnat population. Plant soil also can come with gnat eggs in it (years and years ago I would get it from Home Depot and it ALWAYS came with gnats), so if they are in your potting soil, before using it you should dump the soil you need on a lined baking sheet, pour boiling water over it until it’s moist, then bake it for 30-60 mins until dry. Then let it cool and use it for potting: the heat and subsequent drying out for so long should be enough to kill eggs and larvae in the soil. You should monitor it every ten mins while it’s in the oven, if you forget about it there is a theoretical possibility something like wood chips would start smoking or possibly combust.
I use something called Mighty Mint Plant Protection that has a good mix of ingredients for killing a variety of pests but is not harsh enough to damage my plants. If I accidentally bring something in that has gnats, I neglect ALL my plants… I let them go fully dry for 1-3 days before watering (depending on the plant’s hardiness and level of infestation), I water a little less than normal so it dries out faster, and after I water I shake my bottle of mighty mint and spray the top of the medium 2-3 times. The gnats live and lay eggs in the upper part of the soil, so spraying the mighty mint after watering just helps to kill things that are there in that moment or in the near future and it ensures that it stays protecting the surface (if I watered after spraying, it would just wash a lot of it further down into the pot).
If I have sticky gnat traps, I will also use those and try to slant them horizontally above the medium so newly mature gnats are more likely to get trapped when first emerging from the soil or older gnats are likely to land on it on their way to try to lay eggs.
Fungus gnat eggs and larvae NEED moisture to survive, so even just letting your plants all go fully dry for 3 days and watering sparingly can help reduce the population… but the combo of drying out plus treating the surface with mighty mint (always shake before using) lets me stop seeing gnats within a week and generally has them totally gone within 3 weeks. You should continue drying out and treating the pots for about 3 weeks after you see your last gnat to ensure you’re killing any new generations of gnats that survive.
For whatever plant is ground zero for the gnats, I will usually depot it, rinse its roots very well, give it a single mist with mighty mint, then pot it in new soil and chuck the old soil… I just do this as a fast way of making a big dent in the gnat population. Plant soil also can come with gnat eggs in it (years and years ago I would get it from Home Depot and it ALWAYS came with gnats), so if they are in your potting soil, before using it you should dump the soil you need on a lined baking sheet, pour boiling water over it until it’s moist, then bake it for 30-60 mins until dry. Then let it cool and use it for potting: the heat and subsequent drying out for so long should be enough to kill eggs and larvae in the soil. You should monitor it every ten mins while it’s in the oven, if you forget about it there is a theoretical possibility something like wood chips would start smoking or possibly combust.
If there is no drainage in your pot as the card indicates, that is an issue. The soil inside the plant is staying too soggy and can cause root rot. The gnats could have already been in the soil when you purchased the plant because both the box stores and nurseries are notorious for overwatering plants and wet soil breeds gnats. I always repot my plants in fresh soil a week or so after I buy them. I clean the roots with the peroxide solution, and then spray them down with houseplant pest spray. I use the one in the photo.
Seconding what Michelle said about drainage!
You have a few options if your fungus gnats won’t go away, here’s what i usually do:
1) check if there’s drainage, if not repot
1.5) buy sticky traps and put them up on all my suspicious plants
2) once it’s in a pot with drainage holes at the bottom, you can drench it with 3 or 4 parts water to 1 part peroxide. This is a good one time treatment if it’s not too bad!
3) if it’s still bad, look into BTI drops. They’re beneficial bacteria you add to water that kill the fungus gnat larvae. Keep the sticky traps going though to catch the adults. You’re gonna want to do this for a few weeks for all the adults and larvae to die off.
4) if you still have a problem and want to keep your plants inside, look into s. feltiae nematodes. These are microscopic worms that’ll actively hunt down the fungus gnat larvae.
Best of luck! I find that letting the top inch of soil dry works the best. You can also stick a chopstick in to check how damp it is, or transfer it to a clear pot to easily check moisture levels and root health :)
You have a few options if your fungus gnats won’t go away, here’s what i usually do:
1) check if there’s drainage, if not repot
1.5) buy sticky traps and put them up on all my suspicious plants
2) once it’s in a pot with drainage holes at the bottom, you can drench it with 3 or 4 parts water to 1 part peroxide. This is a good one time treatment if it’s not too bad!
3) if it’s still bad, look into BTI drops. They’re beneficial bacteria you add to water that kill the fungus gnat larvae. Keep the sticky traps going though to catch the adults. You’re gonna want to do this for a few weeks for all the adults and larvae to die off.
4) if you still have a problem and want to keep your plants inside, look into s. feltiae nematodes. These are microscopic worms that’ll actively hunt down the fungus gnat larvae.
Best of luck! I find that letting the top inch of soil dry works the best. You can also stick a chopstick in to check how damp it is, or transfer it to a clear pot to easily check moisture levels and root health :)