Staff Answer
Nov 03, 2022 - 07:52 AM
These are likely fungus gnats and they can be a real nuisance, but there are a few ways you can go about dealing with them. Please note, the best strategies for exterminating them deal with both the flying adults and the larval worms that live in the soil, so be sure to employ multiple treatments to ensure success.
1) Sticky traps. Grab a yellow index card and smear some honey or thick corn syrup over both surfaces. Suspend this card an inch above the soil your plant is in. The yellow color and sugary smell will attract the flying adults which will get stuck to the card (growing a carnivorous plant, like a sundew, near the infested plant will work as well).
2) 1.5% hydrogen peroxide. Buy hydrogen peroxide from any store where first aid supplies are sold. Usually, it's sold as 3% hydrogen peroxide. Then mix it in a 1:1 ratio with water, giving you 1.5% hydrogen peroxide. Water with this mixture instead of plain water. This will kill the soil dwelling larva. Be warned, hydrogen peroxide will turn into water and oxygen rapidly, in the presence of sunlight. Please keep this mixture out of sunlight until you pour it over the roots.
3) Reduce your watering. Fungus gnats need moist soil to reproduce. Allowing the soil to dry for longer periods of time will severely discourage their life cycle.
4) Isopropyl alcohol. Buy 70% isopropyl alcohol from any store where first aid supplies are sold. Misting adult gnats with the alcohol will kill them on contact and pouring it over the roots will kill the larva as well.
1) Sticky traps. Grab a yellow index card and smear some honey or thick corn syrup over both surfaces. Suspend this card an inch above the soil your plant is in. The yellow color and sugary smell will attract the flying adults which will get stuck to the card (growing a carnivorous plant, like a sundew, near the infested plant will work as well).
2) 1.5% hydrogen peroxide. Buy hydrogen peroxide from any store where first aid supplies are sold. Usually, it's sold as 3% hydrogen peroxide. Then mix it in a 1:1 ratio with water, giving you 1.5% hydrogen peroxide. Water with this mixture instead of plain water. This will kill the soil dwelling larva. Be warned, hydrogen peroxide will turn into water and oxygen rapidly, in the presence of sunlight. Please keep this mixture out of sunlight until you pour it over the roots.
3) Reduce your watering. Fungus gnats need moist soil to reproduce. Allowing the soil to dry for longer periods of time will severely discourage their life cycle.
4) Isopropyl alcohol. Buy 70% isopropyl alcohol from any store where first aid supplies are sold. Misting adult gnats with the alcohol will kill them on contact and pouring it over the roots will kill the larva as well.
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