Madi from Oceanside, CA
Adults live about 7 to 10 days and deposit eggs on or in moist soil. The females lay from 100 to 300 eggs in batches of 2 to 30 each in soil containing decaying organic matter. The eggs hatch in 4 to 6 days and the larvae feed for 12 to 14 days. The pupal stage is about 5 to 6 days before adults emerge. Repeat.
The adult gnats are an annoyance, but they won't hurt your plants. The larvae, however, can damage the feeder roots and root hair causing a general loss of vigor to some plants.
The best way to prevent fungus gnats is to use a sterile potting soil mix when re-potting (one that is free of bark chips) and to make sure your pots have good drainage. These guys need a moist environment to feed and continue breeding. So if possible, it's a good idea to let the surface of the soil dry out as much as you can (without injuring the plants) between watering. This works well to kill the larvae.
Here are some other things to try:
Ellen
By tonya
By Joyce
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I would like to know how to get rid of small flies in house plants?
Hardiness Zone: 8b
By ingrid from Plano, TX
When I bring my plants indoors in late fall, I group them under lights, in a cool room in the basement. I than fill 3 or 4 empty margarine containers with water and space them around the plants on the table. I water the plants very sparingly all winter.
These pesky creatures love water. These margarine containers become their source of water, where they congregate and drown. Keep the containers filled with water to the very top at all times.
My mom told me to mix water, dish soap and lemon juice into a spray bottle and spray my plant's leaves, top and bottom, and also water them with this mixture to get rid of gnats and/or fruit spiders. I love my plants and many of them are too large or have very long vines to re-pot them to help solve the problem since both my husband and I both have seriously bad back problems.
Do you think it will hurt my plants? I love my plants, each one has either been a present from my husband on a special occasion or gifts from our daughter on mother's day or birthdays so to lose one would feel almost unbearable. Please tell me if this will work, I am hoping it will as we are also Retired Air Force and money is tight. Thanks for helping and God Bless.
By MoonLitBelle from Las Vegas, NV
Make sure that your dish soap is one of the very mildest-in other words, don't use anything marked 'concentrated grease relief', or as containing bleach or OxyClean type stuff.
Ivory dishwashing soap was the best thing, we Master Gardeners (university extension service training, repaid by doing volunteer work in the community) used it for years as a safe pesticide (mixed with water) but then the company changed it's formula, and now I'm not sure if it's still safe.
If your soap is VERY mild, go ahead and try the homemade pesticide on a weed, lol, and see what happens. If it's still alive in four or five days you are probably safe to try the home mix on your more precious plants.
I have gnats on my indoor ivy and have been spraying it with insecticidal soap, but I found one on the top of my coffeemaker. Is there any homemade ways to get rid of the darn things?
By Holly from Lancaster, Wi
Are you absolutely sure the gnats are from the plant? Sometimes what looks like fungus gnats come in through the drains, not the plants.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
How do I get rid of little bugs that look like fruit flies in my houseplants?
Set out some apple cider vinegar in a bowl, with 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil, and a piece of apple or a banana peel and let it set out.
I have problems with gnats (I think that is what they are). I've noticed them throughout the house and they are coming from my plants.
How can I get rid of gnats! I have a lot of indoor plants and all of a sudden I am plagued by gnats. Have tried a mixture of cornmeal and water but can't get rid of them completely.
