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11 Ways to Combat Houseplant Gnats (and Keep Them from Coming Back)

Got pesky little flies around your planters? Chances are, you have fungus gnats in the soil and if left unchecked, they’ll continue to multiply and swarm all your other plants too.

Here’s what I did to get rid of fungus gnats in my houseplants—try one of my 11 tested-and-true remedies to eliminate them for good.

Adjust the amount of water you use.

The first few inches of soil should be allowed to dry out regularly, your planters should have a drainage hole, and the soil should be well-draining.

Cover any bare soil.

One simple trick to help prevent fungus gnats from laying their eggs is to block their access to the soil. You can do this by putting a shallow layer of pebbles, marbles, shells, aquarium gravel, or other decorative stones on top of the soil.

Use sticky fly traps around infested plants.

Sticky traps really do work—not to resolve the underlying issue that allows fungus gnat larvae to thrive in your plants’ soil, of course, but at least to reduce the amount of fungus gnats buzzing around your plants.

As with fruit flies, a homemade vinegar trap can therefore work wonders to reduce the amount of adult specimens flying around.

Place homemade vinegar traps around your plants.

If you’re having trouble getting rid of fungus gnats but don’t want to jump to using heavy pesticides, insecticidal soap may be a helpful solution.

Buy (or make) insecticidal soap to use as a natural pest spray.

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