Fungus Gnats: 7 WAYS TO GET RID OF THEM (that actually work)
Buy all the supplies you need to eradicate them from my Amazon list . Learn how to use them below!
Fungus gnats are usually harmless to your plant. However, they pose a risk to your mental health.
At first you think to yourself, nbd, it’s a fly. I’ll just search “fungus gnat” on Amazon and Prime whatever shit comes up first. But five sheets of yellow sticky paper filled with gnats later and you don’t even recognize yourself anymore. You’re no longer the sweet, gnat-friendly person you used to be. You find yourself launching a full on gnat attack with a triple-whammy of neem oil/sticky paper/diatomaceous earth and deep down a YouTube rabbit hole of fly videos.
Why?
Because this battle isn’t even about your plant. This is PERSONAL. These gnats don’t even want your plant! They want to multiply and drive you to the point of madness and crush your soul. Your SOUL! We cannot let that happen, so here is what I have used personally and I hope this helps you to save yourself:
1. Sticky Paper:
Booby trap for adult flies. This is step one and a must to use IN ADDITION to whatever method you use for the larvae in the soil.
Yellow sticky traps for the adults. Can’t do the deed and make more babies if you’re stuck to glue.
2. Mosquito Bit Tea:
Active Ingredient: BTI (short for Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis), it’s an organic bacterium deadly to fungus gnat larvae but harmless other living things. They sell this in a liquid form, but this is what “mosquito dunks” and “mosquito bits” are made of. It’s incredibly affective and my #1 choice combined with sticky traps for getting rid of fungus gnats. You can make a “tea” using paper tea bags and mosquito bits in a plastic pitcher and water your plants with it:
Mosquito bits. You can also buy mosquito dunks (they look like tiny brown donuts) or liquid BTI if you can find that for sale.
On watering day, first soak 4 tablespoons of moquito bits (or a crushed up mosquito “dunk”) in a disposable paper tea bag in a gallon of warm water. Ideally you use a pitcher that you dedicate for this use only. Again all of the exact supplies I use are in the link at the top of this article.
Let the tea bag with mosquito bits soak for 30min- 1 hour in the warm water.
Remove the tea bag and then use the water to water your plants.
Repeat this for 2-3 waterings. This is my favorite method for killing larvae! Remember to use the yellow sticky traps as well.
3. Horticultural neem oil:
Neem oil will help, but it wont work as well as BTI. It just won’t. Also, some people hate the smell and it will burn your plant leaves if sprayed in the daylight or under grow lights. It’s safer to use than other pesticides though. If you purchase the neem oil concentrate, mix it with water first (ratio on your bottle). Drench the soil to smother gnats and kill larvae, and drench the plant too for good luck. Bonus: helps with all plant pests! Spray at night so you don’t sunburn your plant. It’s safe for your plant as long as you don’t use it more than once every 4-7 days or so (otherwise you run the risk of clogging the stomata; the plant’s pores).
4. Diatomaceous Earth:
All natural! Powdery rock/ crushed fossils. Kills the larvae in the potting mix on contact (fungus gnats lay larvae in top layer of potting mix) Poof a ton of it onto the top layer of your mix and mix in, with the handy dandy poofer. Wear a mask and eyewear and do this outside ideally as the dust can irritate your lungs and eyes.
5. Repot your plant:
This is the going nuclear option- but it works because you’re getting rid of the larvae-infested potting medium and replacing it with (hopefully) non-infested medium!
6. Bonide Systemic (imadacloprid):
This is perhaps the fastest and most effective option but most toxic. You'll never see a fungus gnat again after using this correctly. You’ll also wipe away any beneficial mites that you have in your soil and it’s toxic to kids and pets if they were to ingest your soil, so it’s not the most ideal.
Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) Fungus Gnat Predator
7. Beneficial mites:
Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoapasis Miles) are incredible beneficial mites that will crawl down into your soil and eat fungus gnat larvae (and thrip larvae and root mealy bugs). Use them preventatively. The shipping is expensive (you must get overnight shipping or they die) so order with a friend to save money. I LOVE THESE BUGS and order them a few times a year myself to prevent fungus gnats from happening in the first place. I haven’t had a fungus gnat outbreak in two years since using these voracious bad boys. SF Nematodes are also amazing and can be used in conjunction with these mites.
If none of this works or you need extra help, call your therapist for mental and spiritual support. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
