Fungus gnats are taking over my collection...
Recently, I've been dealing with fungus gnats. There are so many that my mom began to notice as well. Seriously, when I was watering Iridescence, I literally saw fungus gnats rising from the soil to try to escape.
Do these pose a threat? Where do they come from? Why are they here? How do you deal with them? For a while, I tried to ignore them, but now it is harder to avoid.
#happyplants #plantsmakepeoplehappy #plantaddict #planttherapy #plantcorner #plantlove #iloveplants #newgrowth #planttlc #greggang #adhdplantlovers
Do these pose a threat? Where do they come from? Why are they here? How do you deal with them? For a while, I tried to ignore them, but now it is harder to avoid.
#happyplants #plantsmakepeoplehappy #plantaddict #planttherapy #plantcorner #plantlove #iloveplants #newgrowth #planttlc #greggang #adhdplantlovers
8ft to light, indirect
9โ pot with drainage
Last watered 2 weeks ago
15
@Catplantaddict They are indeed a nuisance and as they mature they get bigger start flying around to other plants. Iโm not sure where they come from exactly but I know itโs from soggy soil. The nursery and box stores, etc soak the plants and never let the soil dry which causes bacteria to build up in the soil and that is a breeding ground for the gnats. I had an issue in the summer. I bought the sticky traps from Amazon which helped and I also invested in a few indoor greenhouses that werenโt too expensive to isolate infected plants until I killed them all. I literally suffocated them with grow lights in a closed off environment. Then I repotted the affected ones in pot and new soil. I also put little cups filled with dish soap and apple cider vinegar to catch them. See the link for more information https://www.bhg.com/gardening/houseplants/care/gnats-in-houseplants/
Theyโre super annoying โ
The adults donโt do any damage but the larvae can damage roots and plant health. I swear by predatory insects like rove beetles and sf nematodes, the simpler and still very effective method that people here turned me onto is mosquito bits. You can find them anywhere online and a little goes a long way.
@Catplantaddict the egged and larvae are dormant in soil ( at least that is what I read). I use the yellow sticky traps cinnamon and also neem oil. I still got a few I see but not as much as I was seeing.
Hello, I am new to Greg, but I had the same issue with one of my snake plants and discovered that they were actually in the dirt that I had purchased. However, I went to YouTube and there were so many different recommendations to alleviate the gnats and I chose the one with the sand. I covered the dirt with sand Which basically kept the gnats from rising to the top by smothering them and it allowed the dirt to just completely dry out. Hope this helps.
You can make homemade traps that will kill all the adults in a week by putting apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap in a small bowl, covering it with plastic wrap, and poking small holes with a toothpick or fork. To kill the larvae, you can use a product called mosquito bits (on Amazon) or just repot everything in fresh new soil. Prevent fungus gnats from ever moving in by bottom watering when you can, then there is no damp top layer of soil for them to lay their eggs in. The sand is a great idea, too!
@JackHenrysMom you are absolutely right as a matter fact, some of the leaves did die. The larva didnโt kill the entire plant, but some of my leaves did die, but I forgot to mention that in addition to doing the sand, I stopped watering the plant and allowed the dirt to dry out completely which killed off the larva. This is what my baby looks like 6 years later. He lives in Maryland (lighting not great) and I have his offspring here in Oklahoma with me .๐
I've been told all sorts of things about fungus gnats. Unfortunately, the costs of my aggressive control measures resulted in the loss of my plants lol...
So, it's best not to get overboard with control measures. Wiping them out completely is extremely difficult, but you can try using mosquito bits (BTI) which destroys the larvae via bacterium. Continue watering your plants with the BTI solution for a period of 3 weeks, you will see a decline in their numbers.
So, it's best not to get overboard with control measures. Wiping them out completely is extremely difficult, but you can try using mosquito bits (BTI) which destroys the larvae via bacterium. Continue watering your plants with the BTI solution for a period of 3 weeks, you will see a decline in their numbers.
@PlantJedi hello Miguel, I am all into natural ways of taking care of my plants so my question to you is what is the ratio of tea tree and peppermint oil for your water mixture? ๏ฟผ
@PlantJedi Thank you!