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Have gnats flying around your trash cans, sinks and houseplants? Luckily, there’s a clever hack for how to get rid of gnats, and it only requires a few household staples. 'Removing my house plants from their pots actually highlighted which ones needed repotting anyhow and so changing the soil at that time to remove any gnats too was a no-brainer'. These tiny flying insects can actually bite, too, which is even more – literally and figuratively – irritating.
Use fly paper.
You should act to get rid of gnats as soon as you spot one or two lingering around your home to avoid them multiplying rapidly. Check for entry points and trap and kill any offenders in your home before it becomes an infestation. Drawn in by moisture, fruit bowls, garden flowers, or garbage cans, gnats are on of the most frustrating pests to have in your home.
Clean up Sources of Organic Material
Pros can assess your individual situation and provide necessary assistance for removal. Katie looks after everything homes-related, from kitchen appliances to gardening tools. She also covers smart home products too, so is the best point of contact for any household advice! She has tested and reviewed appliances for over 6 years, so she knows what to look for when finding the best. Her favorite thing to test has to be air purifiers, as the information provided and the difference between performances is extensive. Once you have prepped your plant, you can sterilize potting soil.
Signs of Fungus Gnats
How to Get Rid of Gnats on Houseplants—and Prevent Them From Coming Back - Martha Stewart
How to Get Rid of Gnats on Houseplants—and Prevent Them From Coming Back.
Posted: Thu, 05 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Keep your kitchen counter free of food and wash any dishes in the sink as soon as possible. If indoor plants seem to be attracting gnats, it may be time to repot them. You can purchase highly effective, non-toxic gnat traps at an affordable price online. These traps eliminate fungus gnats—the most common indoor gnats—that breed in houseplants. According to the manufacturer, these traps control even the worst infestations without toxic pesticides. Similar to fruit flies, gnats are tiny flying insects that include fungus gnats, fruit flies, and drain flies.
Make a homemade solution
Pepper Moran is a pest control expert with over five years experience in educating homeowners on affordable and earth-friendly ways to protect their homes from pests. Regardless of how minor the leak is, if you see one, don’t put off fixing it, says Fredricks. Being proactive about repairing leaky windows and roofs can prevent gnats from entering your home in the first place. A trained professional can come to the rescue if a few flying gnats turn into a full-blown infestation.
Top your potted plant soil with natural ingredients.
On top of being very annoying, fruit flies are not hygienic to have buzzing around either. They can contaminate any open food with bacteria and pathogens and will often lay their eggs inside rotten fruit. For this reason alone, you need to control the problem before it becomes an infestation. Mulching—A layer of mulch on plant pot soil can help to prevent females from laying eggs.
Design expertise in your inbox – from inspiring decorating ideas and beautiful celebrity homes to practical gardening advice and shopping round-ups. Every pest is different, and knowing what you're dealing with is essential before formulating a treatment plan. Here's how to tell the difference to identify and address your pest problem properly. Relocating an outdoor compost bin farther from your house can also help keep the flies outside where they won’t be a nuisance.
USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "Do cicadas bite?" to "When does pollen season end?" to "How old is Barbie?", we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer for you. As the Homes Content Editor, Cynthia Lawrence covers all things homes, interior decorating, and garden-related. She has a wealth of editorial experience testing the latest, ‘must-have’ home appliances, writing buying guides and the handy ‘how to’ features. If you're bedeviled by other pests, we've also get tips on how to get rid of mosquitoes, how to get rid of moths as well as how to get rid of ants and how to get rid of fleas.
Why are the gnats so bad right now? How to get rid of those annoying pests in Phoenix
But because gnats aren't known to be harmful, we recommend trying a less-aggressive approach first. Paired with cleaning your house, trash cans, and drains, you can likely get rid of them on your own. This will cut down on the moisture-rich breeding grounds that gnats love.
Fungus gnats are the most common type of gnat found around house plants. While fungus gnats do not bite people, fungus gnats can damage your plants. Read on to learn how to get rid of these pesky critters, with tips from the experts on how to banish and prevent gnat infestations. Eliminating troublesome gnat infestations starts with identifying gnats vs. fruit flies.
The hyper-moist environment is incredibly attractive to the insects. Along with vinegar, fruit flies like the smell of fruity beer and wine. Leave out an almost-empty open bottle of stale beer or old wine — the skinny neck will keep the flies trapped.
Gnats can prove particularly annoying once they get inside your house—especially since it can be difficult to notice them until an infestation is underway. 'Gnats are attracted to moist and dirty areas, so keeping your home cleanand dry is important,' reminds Rick Sun, pest control expert at Green Leaf Air. Pouring one cup of baking soda down your drain, followed by one cup of white vinegar, can help clean a kitchen sink drain and flush out the gnats along with it. What's more, it deodorizes your sink, so gnats are less likely to be drawn to your pipework. Be sure to cover the plug with a damp cloth so the vinegar-soda reaction works its way downwards through your pipes and doesn't flow over into the sink.
The worst bit is that gnats always descend upon your home and/or garden in large numbers, adding the insult of extra annoyance to the injury of being bitten. Catching gnats in your house can be done by building a trap with dish soap, apple cider vinegar and sugar. Combine equal parts vinegar and soap and then add a few tablespoons of sugar – once you mix it all together you can place the bowl wherever the gnats have been gathering. They will be attracted to the sugar and vinegar and drown in the mixture. From hanging ribbons and cards to sticky stands specifically designed for potted plants, sticky traps are an easy way to catch a cluster of gnats. You'll just have to keep an eye on it and replace the trap once it's full.
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