

In the event you’ve stored indoor crops for any size of time, chances are high you’ve encountered fungus gnats. These widespread houseplants pests don’t trigger as a lot injury as spider mites and scale, and most plant lovers think about fungus gnats largely a nuisance.
Nevertheless, if fungus gnat populations soar, fungus gnat larvae can injury plant roots, and grownup gnats may transmit damping off to younger crops.
Whereas fungus gnats are actually troublesome, the excellent news is that these pests could be simply managed by adjusting your plant care routine. Beneath, you’ll uncover the perfect methods to sort out a fungus gnat infestation to maintain your home crops gnat-free and pristine for a few years to come back!
What Are Fungus Gnats?
Fungus gnats are small, flying bugs that look very similar to fruit flies. Nevertheless, not like different small flies, fungus gnats have lengthy legs and skinny our bodies, and their flight sample is kind of erratic.
Grownup fungus gnats are about the identical measurement as fruit flies, they usually have grayish-black our bodies and grey or clear wings, whereas fungus gnats within the larval stage appear like small, clear worms with shiny black heads.
Feeding on natural matter, outdated plant materials, and fungi in plant soil, small numbers of fungus gnats are comparatively innocent, they usually don’t sting, chew, or immediately injury crops.
Nevertheless, massive numbers of fungus gnats can destroy plant roots and trigger different points. Worse nonetheless, fungus gnats have the irritating behavior of flying up in your face (or into your drink!) when watering your crops!
What Causes Gnats?
Fungus gnats might hitch a trip on new crops bought from backyard facilities or can fly into your private home by means of an open window. However what actually attracts fungus gnats is overwatering.
Fungus gnats love moist soil, and if a fungus gnat downside crops up in your houseplant assortment, chances are high you will have to regulate your watering routine.
Not solely do overwatered crops present the proper habitat for fungus gnats, however soggy soil can be a breeding floor for fungus and root rot.
Figuring out Gnats On Houseplants and Indoor Crops
Fungus gnats don’t fly very effectively, so that they spend most of their time hovering close to the highest layer of soil in potted crops. You may additionally see fungus gnats congregating within the damp potting combine across the drainage holes of plant pots.
In the event you’re nonetheless uncertain you’re coping with fungus gnats, give your houseplants a mild shake. If small bugs fly out of your crops, there’s a superb likelihood you’re coping with soil gnats.
Another choice is to put potato slices on the highest of the soil of your houseplants and test the slices within the morning for indicators of fungus gnat larvae.
How To Forestall Fungus Gnats
The easiest way to maintain fungus gnats at bay is to keep away from overwatering houseplants. Fungus gnats thrive in damp soil, they usually feed on fungus that grows in overly moist situations.
Nevertheless, if the soil floor is allowed to dry out a bit between plant waterings, fungus gnat adults received’t be as eager to put their eggs, and their populations received’t develop as quickly.
Since totally different crops have totally different watering wants, it may be difficult to know precisely when and the way a lot to water houseplants. Nevertheless, a superb rule of thumb is that tropical houseplants needs to be watered when the highest one to 2 inches of soil feels dry to the contact, and succulents and cacti should be watered a lot lower than that. And, in fact, hold crops in pots with loads of drainage holes!
Except for adjusting the way you water crops, you may forestall fungus gnats by checking new crops over effectively and quarantining new additions for a few days earlier than you add them to your houseplant assortment. If unsure, you can too spray new houseplants with a light cleaning soap spray made with water and some drops of dish cleaning soap to ensure you’re not bringing fungus gnats or different pests into your private home.
You may discover this information to watering indoor crops useful, particularly in case you are a newbie.
Injury Prompted By Fungus Gnats
Small populations of fungus gnats received’t do a lot hurt to crops. But when fungus gnats reproduce quickly, massive numbers of larvae will start to feed on plant roots, which might trigger vital hurt, particularly to younger crops and seedlings. Injury from fungus gnat larvae seems to be much like the signs of root rot, and contaminated crops might wilt, and their leaves might droop, yellow, and drop away.
Except for root points, fungus gnats may transmit damping off, a very devastating illness in seedling develop rooms. When damping off strikes, it could possibly trigger whole flats of seedlings to wilt and die rapidly, and you could discover that seedling stems wither and switch brown.
How To Management and Get Rid of Fungus Gnats?
The primary and most vital step in direction of eradicating fungus gnats is to regulate your watering schedule and supply your crops with much less water when you have overly moist potting soil. However past that, there are a number of different steps that you would be able to take to manage fungus gnats:
- Since grownup gnats usually tend to lay eggs in dry soil, cut back watering and check out putting a layer of sand excessive of your potting combine. Sand drains extra rapidly than soil, so it’s much less prone to harbor fungus gnat eggs. It’s additionally a good suggestion to scrub up any fallen leaves or different outdated plant matter in your plant pots so fungus gnats can have much less natural matter to feed on.
- Another choice is to sprinkle diatomaceous earth over your soil line. This natural product is created from the fossilized skeletons of tiny aquatic creatures often known as diatoms, that are so sharp that they reduce by means of fungus gnat exoskeletons and trigger desiccation. Simply be sure you put on a masks when making use of this product, as it could possibly trigger respiratory irritation.
- In the event you’d want a spray-on product, you should use neem oil spray or make your personal fungus gnat-busting spray by mixing one half hydrogen peroxide with 4 components water. Utilizing a twig bottle, apply the hydrogen peroxide resolution to your plant and plant soil each 7 to 10 days to kill fungus gnats and the fungus they feed on. And as a bonus, this spray additionally combats damping off!
- To manage grownup gnats, attempt putting yellow sticky traps across the soil line of your houseplants. Fungus gnats are interested in the colour yellow, however once they land on sticky fly traps, they received’t have the ability to escape. When used for a number of weeks, sticky traps can take away grownup gnats and hold them from reproducing.
- For much more choices, you may experiment with sprinkling cinnamon powder excessive of your soil line or watering your crops with diluted chamomile tea. Each of those merchandise operate as a pure fungicide and cut back fungus gnat meals sources.
- Lastly, you may make your personal DIY gnat entice by including apple cider vinegar and some drops of liquid dish cleaning soap to a jar or small saucer. When positioned close to houseplants, this DIY entice will lure in fungus gnats with the candy scent of fermentation, however as soon as gnats land within the liquid, they received’t have the ability to fly away. As a result of gnat traps solely work towards the grownup inhabitants of gnats, this tactic works greatest when used for a number of weeks or along side among the different pure strategies on this listing.
The best way to Get Rid of Gnats in Soil?
If all else fails and you continue to have fungus gnats after treating your crops with the above steps, you could wish to substitute your houseplant soil. Fungus gnats lay their eggs in soil, and they are often onerous to eradicate, however you may nip the issue within the bud by repotting your crops with contemporary soil.
Remember to toss the contaminated soil outside or seal it in a plastic bag earlier than you pop it in your trash can to verify no fungus gnats escape again into your private home.

We’ve got guides on controlling different plant pests: mealybugs, aphids, and spider mites.
The best way to Get Rid of Gnats in Soil FAQ’s
Soil that has an excessive amount of moisture is a breeding floor for fungus gnats. So, the primary factor it’s best to do to eliminate these tiny bugs is to regulate your watering routine.
A hydrogen peroxide combination made with 1 half hydrogen peroxide and 4 components water will kill off fungus gnats and the fungus they feed on. You may also use natural cleaning soap or neem oil sprays to deal with these pesky critters.
The quickest strategy to eliminate gnats is to exchange your houseplant soil. After that, any remaining fungus gnats in your house could be captured both with yellow sticky traps or an apple cider vinegar entice.
Conclusion: Fungus gnats are a standard houseplant downside, however the excellent news is that they aren’t notably tough to deal with. Utilizing all-natural remedy strategies, like neem oil and cinnamon, can do tons to scale back fungus gnat populations. However one of the simplest ways to be sure that fungus gnats by no means happen is to not overwater your crops within the first place.
In the event you’re somebody who usually overwaters their crops, think about investing in a soil moisture meter and at all times contact soil earlier than you water to verify it isn’t already moist. With an adjusted watering schedule and the ideas and instruments we’ve coated at the moment, you shouldn’t have any hassle stopping fungus gnats from invading your houseplant assortment!
Completely satisfied Gardening,
-Lauren
This publish might include affiliate hyperlinks. You possibly can learn our insurance policies right here. Your price for the merchandise might be no greater however Pleasure Us backyard receives a small fee. Thanks for serving to us unfold the phrase & make the world a extra lovely place!