How I Got Rid of Fungus Gnats on My Plants (For Good)

It’s the most annoying thing: You bought a beautiful houseplant, found a good spot in your home for it, and seemingly did everything right to keep it nice and healthy. Then suddenly: little flies everywhere!

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.

01.

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.

02.

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.

03.

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.

04.

Place homemade vinegar traps around your plants.

There’s nothing a fungus gnat loves more than the sweet, sweet scent of fermenting organic material. As with fruit flies, a homemade vinegar trap can therefore work wonders to reduce the amount of adult specimens flying around.

05.

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

Spray liberally on the soil and all over the plant. Repeat whenever it’s time to water so you catch the gnats in all their life stages.

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