Please help! I have gnats in my house. I am using the cider vinegar and dish soap but it isn't doing it. We live in a 100 year old house turned duplex that has flooded in the basement. The landlord doesn't care. He also just cleaned out the upstairs apartment which had a fridge and freezer full of rotten food. Any ideas of help would be appreciated. They are making my husband who is recuperating from major surgery which in turn, makes me crazy dealing with him.
Neem Oil Spray to Control Insects and Disease
Neem oil is highly effective against many types of insects and plant diseases. It is non-toxic to birds, mammals, honeybees and ladybugs. It is toxic, however, to fish, so do not use around ponds, streams or other waterways, and keep from going down storm drains. Neem oil can be purchased at most garden supply stores and on line. Several lines of commercial sprays are now available, also, so read the labels of sprays available in stores.
1 teaspoon neem oil
4 cups water
1 teaspoon dishwashing soap
Combine oil, soap and water in a hand sprayer and mix gently. (11/14/2007)
By Mythi
My daughter recently complained of gnats in her house. She treated the soil of the houseplants as we thought they were the source. However, she told me she found a rotten cucumber buried deep in the crisper drawer of her refrigerator. I think if the apartment upstairs had bad food in the refrig, maybe you were getting gnats from that source. I'd complain to the landlord. He really should get an exterminator since this problem was not your fault. (smile)
By Carol in PA
WOW, I was going CRAZY in my week long war to destroy a colony of gnats that took up residency in my kitchen. I decided to "stop and ask directions" instead of fighting them on my own and found this web page. I tried the Cider Vinegar with dish detergent went to get a shower came back downstairs 40 minutes later and I have already caught 10 of the little pests. It really worked quicker than the 2 fly strips and the nasty stuff I have been spraying in my kitchen. THANKS FOR THE IDEA! (11/27/2007)
By Mike from Glen Rock PA
I wanted to thank the person who suggested the 1/2 cup of white vinegar, the 1/2 cup of sugar and the 1/4 of applesauce. Its killed about 16 gnats so far. So glad I came here. (12/07/2007)
By Nicole
My gnats do not seem to like apple cider vinegar by itself, but I did notice before (by accident) that gnats love fruit punch Gatorade + water for some reason.
So last night I took a nearly empty bottle of Gatorade (the fat-sized bottle...I think 32 oz? Whatever the fat-bottomed ones are), put some water in there, added a little apple cider and some dish soap and waited.
This morning when I checked the bottle there are dozens of the stupid little things in there. THANK GOD, because I was going nuts before I came to this site to look up solutions. I'd tried the cider vinegar alone and all it did was succeed in giving me a headache (my sniffer does NOT like the smell of any kind of vinegar). The gnats aren't all gone yet, but it's only been less than 24 hours. I used the fat bottom bottle because I'm putting them on top of my rat and guinea pig cages and they won't tip over. But so far it's working! :) (12/09/2007)
By John
Here's a great solution. They love Sunny Delight. I put a little jelly glass over the sink and on the table and every morning, I have caught about 10-15. We had a sewer problem and had a little flooding in the crawl space under our home and then suddenly that was fixed and we ended up with gnats everywhere. We went from one problem to another. (01/02/2008)
By SHELLY
Make sure you have Gnats and not Fruit Flies, it's easy to see the difference with a magnifying glass. Gnats have mosquito-like heads and fruit flies look like... well, flies!
(but very very tiny and usually yellow-orange in color, not black like the gnats.)
(01/20/2008)
By Johnny
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