What Are Fungus Gnats? How To Get Rid Of Them Easily

Not only do house plants rejuvenate your space, they also bring a sense of vitality and a splash of color. Nevertheless, the last experience you’d desire is an invasion of undesirable insects around your houseplants.

Fungus gnats mostly appear when you water your plants, and they are particularly harmful to young plants and very annoying to humans, especially indoors.

Fungus gnats are common plant pests that are usually fruit fly-sized and mainly affect indoor house plants. You will mostly notice these insects when the harmless adults fly around the house plants. Although the flying adults are a nuisance, the larvae stage harms plants since they feed in the soil, damaging their tender roots.

Fortunately, you can get rid of fungus gnats naturally.

  • Since the larvae are in the soil, they are inhospitable in their natural habitat by drying out the soil since they need it in moist conditions. Letting the soil dry out completely before watering will help eliminate the larvae and discourage the adults from laying eggs.
  • Alternatively, mix soap and water with a few drops of liquid dish soap. Spraying the top of the soil using this mixture kills the larvae, but you’ll also need or repeat the process after a few days to ensure that you’ve killed all of them.
Picture of a Fungus Gnat resting on a leaf
  • You can also set up traps using yellow note cards covered in a sticky adhesive. Cut them into small squares, attach them to skewers just above the soil, or place them on top to make them more effective. The cards will trap the adult fungus gnats as they crawl or fly onto the card. The yellow sticky cards attract the fungus gnats.

If you enjoy having houseplants but do not fancy having fungus gnats, this guide will significantly help as we expound further on these annoying insects and how best to get rid of them for good.

How to Identify Fungus Gnats?

Initially, I thought my house plants had fungus gnats, only to discover that they were fruit flies.

It is essential to know the pests that have infested your plants to employ the proper extermination methods and prevent them from attacking your plants in the future.

This is how I identify fungus gnats on my houseplants:

Size

The adult fungus gnats are the first sign most people notice in their homes. They are usually tiny, like fruit flies, with sizes ranging from 1/16th to 1/8th inch long. Their larvae have a length of about 1/8 inch.

Appearance

Adult fungus gnats are either black or dark grey with see-through wings. They have long antennae and long legs that are mosquito-like, although they are still smaller than mosquitoes.

On the other hand, the larvae have a pale or white see-through complexion with a thin body. Also, the larvae have small blackheads, usually at the tip of their body.

Activity

Typically, fungus gnats fly in the house but mostly stick around potted plants, which become their new home.

Since they aren’t strong fliers, they tend to walk along with the soil and then fly into short bursts near drainage holes and on the outer edge of the pot.

Also, since they lay their eggs in the houseplant soils, they tend to stay close to these areas, although they are easily distracted by light, just like other insects.

Therefore, you will also notice them flying around your light bulbs, windows, computer monitor, or TV. I noted that their flight is much more erratic and slow, acting like mosquitoes.

These insects are sometimes annoying as they can fly into people’s faces and fall into your sugary and sweet drink. However, they are entirely harmless to humans.

Causes of Fungus Gnat

Although knowing how to get rid of fungus gnats is a good idea, knowing the preventative methods ensures that you never encounter these annoying insects.

You, therefore, need to understand what causes these insects to attack houseplants in the first place.

As earlier stated, you will find fungus eggs on overly moist plant soils. People with extensive outdoor gardens may have noticed these insects in the damp, rotting wood.

If the decaying matter is moist with fungus growing on it, mainly on the topsoil, it will attract these insects fast.

Therefore, the earlier the intervention, the better to try and eliminate fungus gnats.

Therefore, if you notice any adult fungus gnats flying around, no matter the number, act fast by implementing any preventative measures highlighted above.

Note that the life cycle of fungus gnats is high-speed, so you will need to act quickly.

The adult fungus lives for at least one week but can lay up to 300 eggs within this short time. In four to six weeks, the eggs hatch, and the larvae start snacking on the roots of your house plants in the moist, rich topsoil.

The pupa larvae become adults within three to four days so that these insect populations can explode quickly.

Possible Damage Caused by Fungus Gnats

When fungus gnats are in small numbers, mainly indoors, they tend to be annoying but don’t actively harm humans or plants.

However, when you allow them to thrive and become a large enough colony, you have a bigger problem.

Soon, the larvae will start feeding on your plants, and you will begin to notice considerable damage, especially on young plants with few delicate roots.

Still, the fungus gnats can spread plant pathogens that lead to damping off and then cause the death of seedlings.

The damage caused by fungus gnats appears somewhat similar to any other root-related problem like rot.

The plants’ growth will mostly slow down significantly or even stop entirely, and the lower leaves can start turning yellowish and then drop. In worse cases, the plants might start wilting and then die since the roots are heavily damaged.

How to Prevent Fungus Gnats Infestation in Your Plants?

While there are several ways to get rid of these annoying insects, you can also utilize a few tactics to prevent fungus gnats’ infestation from getting to your houseplants.

Besides, you don’t want to start the process of getting rid of the insects once again. Here are ways that you can implement to prevent fungus gnats infestation with nearly zero effort:

The video below will show multiple ways of dealing with many garden pests, including fungus gnats.

Thoroughly Inspect Houseplants Before Purchase

Suppose you notice a fungus gnat flying from the potted plants at the garden store; reject it immediately and the other plants around it.

An essential technique I learned while purchasing house plants is to turn up about an inch or so of the soil in the potted plants to see if you can spot any larvae.

Keep the Extra Potting Soil in an Airtight Bag

People usually keep the excess potting soil in their packaging bags. However, there is a high possibility of fungus gnats getting in these bags and laying eggs.

Therefore, you can opt for airtight containers such as a bucket with tight-fitting lids to keep fungus gnats at bay.

Watch Your Watering

These insects like moist areas, so ensure your containers have good drainage. Also, only water the plants when the top one or two-inch soil gets dry, especially during the winter when plant growth tends to slow down.

Maintaining dry topsoil discourages these insects from laying eggs.

Add perlite to the potting mix to improve drainage for those who over-water their plants. Still, you can water the plants from the bottom so the topsoil remains dry while keeping the plants hydrated and happy.

You must also empty all the excess water on the saucers under the container plants.

Make Sure You Cover the Drainage Holes

While you may pay more attention to the topsoil portions, fungus gnats will seek out the drainage holes because of the moist conditions that encourage them to lay eggs.

Therefore, you will need to cover them too. Look for a synthetic fabric to cover the drainage holes to ensure water still passes through and won’t rot.

You can use rubber bands, tape, or glue to keep the fabric in place. Keeping the bacteria in the soil will stop these annoying insects from going through their everyday life cycle in your houseplants.

As a result, there won’t be any adults flying around or young larvae harming the roots of the small plants.

Minimize Debris

Decaying organic matter is the perfect place for the fungus gnats to lay their eggs. Therefore, keeping plant debris from the soil around the house plants is essential.

This can include flowers, fruit, fallen leaves, and other debris. If these insects are ever-present around your houseplants, you can opt for a potting mix that doesn’t come with ingredients such as bark fines, actual compost, and processed forest products.

Use gravel or sand

Another clever method I learned was replacing the top inch of the soil in your house plants with gravel or sand.

Since fungus gnats will only lay their eggs on the topsoil, gravel or sand takes away the rich nutrients they usually munch on.

The insects won’t lay eggs on your plant’s soil with their food source taken away.

Introduce the Fungus Gnat Predator

Some of the aforementioned preventative methods may not be fully effective for the fungus gnats for those with a large-scale garden.

In this case, you can incorporate a predator into the mix while utilizing other measures.

The Stratiolaelaps scimitar is a good predator as it seeks out these frustrating fungus gnats’ larvae and other insects in your garden.

You can order these mites from several stores in bottles containing up to 25,000.

With the many mites you can receive, trying this method on plants within your home is not advisable.

FAQs on What Are Fungus Gnats? How To Get Rid Of Them Easily

Will coffee grounds get rid of fungus gnats?

Sadly, coffee grounds frequently end up in the trash. For example, they can aid in controlling gnats in houseplants or the garden. A thin layer will prevent female gnats from laying eggs.

Does Epsom salt kill fungus gnats?

Epsom salt can eliminate fungus gnats. Fungus gnats are poisoned by magnesium sulfate, which is found in Epsom salt. When fungus gnats come into contact with Epsom salt, they die.

Will baking soda kill fungus gnats?

Baking soda will not kill or repel gnats. On the other hand, baking soda can clean sinks and drains where gnats breed. Allow the top 1 inch of soil to dry before watering plants, and keep kitchen trashcans clean to keep gnats at bay.

Conclusion on how to get rid of fungus gnats easily

To completely eradicate fungus gnats, stop the eggs from hatching to stop the larvae from developing.

Failure to proactively fight these insects in their early stage means you’ll keep dealing with the adults every time.

Besides, the leading cause of fungus gnats infestation, indoors or outdoors, is primarily due to a lack of people playing their part.

You must attack these insects in at least two early life cycle stages to eliminate replication.

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