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The best way to get rid of gnats is to prevent them from coming into your house in the first place, says Gabriella Dyson, Head of Solved at Homes & Gardens. These eggs are too small to see, making them difficult to avoid. The good news is that there are multiple ways to eradicate gnats in and around your home. Once you have prepped your plant, you can sterilize potting soil. From there, we compile the information we’ve gathered and compare each company using our in-depth pest control methodology and review criteria.
Dealing with Gnats in Sinks and Drains
You can mix your own solution or purchase one to pour down the drain in your attempt to rinse out their home. Drain flies are a type of fly typically found in places with stagnant water like drains, sewers, and septic tanks. They stand out from fruit flies and fungus gnats due to their larger wings and furry body, which resembles a moth’s body. Eliminating troublesome gnat infestations starts with identifying gnats vs. fruit flies. Although gnats are difficult to control, a combination of store-bought treatments, DIY solutions and preventative actions can work in both your home and your garden.
What Are the Signs that You Have a Gnat Infestation?
You can invest in a soil moisture monitor to accurately measure the amount of water in your soil, which will help prevent overwatering. "Gnat" can refer to a number of different species of small flies. In North America, gnats are most commonly black flies, midges, fungus gnats or fruit flies. If you’ve tried these solutions with no luck, you’ll need to call in a professional pest control company to help address your gnat infestation.
Coating the soil with sand
Simply place the bowl in the areas where you've noticed a swarm of gnats. Gnats thrive on the fungus of your plants, so it helps to let your plant babies dry out between waterings. Once the soil dries out, you'll notice the death of not only the fungus, but the gnat larvae and eggs too. If the gnats keep appearing, experts at Colonial Pest Control Inc., recommend applying an indoor-friendly pesticide as a soil drench to soak and kill the gnats and fungus.
Apply Hydrogen Peroxide
Mosquito dunks are dissolved in water, and the solution is used for watering the plants. You will probably need more than one application but follow the label instructions. Granules are sprinkled over the soil, introducing some bacteria with each watering.
Let your plants dry out
This process uses a series of factors that are important to our readers, and we score each company depending on how well they perform in each factor. They may attempt to fly into the flame or simply fall into the soapy water and die. There are also other devices that use fans to trap bugs and then dehydrate them, and they work without electrocution. However, they don’t damage homes like other insects, and they’re generally considered nothing more than nuisances. Take preventative steps to help support the effectiveness of your selected treatment methods and to keep swarms of gnats away for good. One of the first steps in dispelling gnats from your home is to make their common hiding places hostile.
“Pop the sticks into problem pots, and you’ll see adult gnats start to get trapped almost immediately,” she says. If this doesn’t work, you can also target the gnats with a spray-bottle filled with water, vinegar and a little bit of dish soap. If your infestation is extra stubborn, you can always hire a pest control company to come take a look.
Frequent shallow watering starves roots of moisture and creates a gnat-friendly environment. Beneficial nematodes are another natural way to kill gnats in houseplants effectively. The nematodes are beneficial microscopic worms that hunt and destroy larvae in the soil. You can also introduce nematodes to the ground if you’re battling other soil-dwelling bugs. Neem oil to eliminate houseplant flies —This oil is a natural insecticide that disrupts the fungus gnats’ hormones.
Make a solution by mixing 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 4 parts water, then pour the mixture into the pot, making sure to completely saturate the soil, says Royer. Fungus gnats are small, black flying insects that make their home in the moist soil of houseplants, as well as in greenhouse or nursery settings. These include food sources, spillages, and organic matter such as fruits and vegetables left uncovered.
How to Get Rid of Gnats in a Bathroom & Prevent Gnats Later - Apartment Therapy
How to Get Rid of Gnats in a Bathroom & Prevent Gnats Later.
Posted: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
She also has a first-class degree in Literature from Lancaster University. Prevention is always better than the cure, so trying to prevent gnats from coming in should be your first line of defence. Both of these companies will implement a customized treatment plan for your home and educate you on ways to prevent a future infestation.
Gnats lay their eggs in the places they love to feed and hide, namely, dirty garbage disposals and drains, compost bins, garbage cans, and anywhere moist and humid. They will also lay eggs into rotting fruit and vegetables, including those in your fruit bowl or pantry. To use peppermint oil to get rid of gnats, spray the essential oil around your garden, windows, and doors to deter pests from approaching your property. This method is best paired with other preventative measures or removal methods to make sure your gnat problem is taken care of in its entirety. If DIY methods fail or if you want to skip right to a guaranteed solution call a professional pest control provider to get rid of gnats. We’ve researched the top pest control companies in the industry and found that Terminix and Orkin provide the best service to homeowners across the country.
For a quicker, albeit more dangerous, method for killing all sorts of gnats, set up a candle trap in the evening. Fill a pan with about ¼-inch of water and a bit of dish soap (about a teaspoon) and sit it on the counter. Place a candle holder in the water, and put a candle in the holder. They can have yellow, tan, black, or brown coloring, and they have long legs compared to their bodies, and wide, flat wings.
Once indoors, gnats often infest trash cans, rotten fruit, and other moist places where decomposing organic matter exists. They can also be found near sinks, drains, and toilets, since they can reproduce in the grime inside pipes. The wet soil of indoor pots can create a breeding ground for gnats.
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