Gnats are so difficult to get rid of once you have them and soap and apple cider vinegar rarely works. With a few tricks you can help you successfully get rid of gnats on indoor plants and prevent them from returning.
Places Gnats Can Hide Out
Gnats are typically know to create a home in the top 2 inches of moist soil, but there are a few other sneak areas they can hide out.
You can often find them resting in between plant leaves, especially in between snake plants like this image shown.
They can often be found beneath a plant liner, drainage tray, and even in sink drains. You can often find them flying around bright lighting when they are aren’t in their plant home.
Make sure to clean your sink drains every so often, especially if you notice gnats or fruit flies lingering. Rinse and dry drainage trays and check under plant liners for possible gnats then rinse out.
Put the Plant with Gnats in Timeout
If you notice one of your plants has gnats flying around it, stop watering the plant immediately. Move the plant away from any other indoor plants until you get the gnats under control.
I typically move the plant to a seperate space near an outlet, so I can plug in a bug trap. The gnats are attracted to light so this will help decrease the amount of gnats laying eggs in the soil.
If you can’t place a plant near an outlet with a bug trap plugin, you could try a yellow sticky trap. Gnats are attracted to the color yellow, so you can place a yellow trap inside of the plant soil.
Placing the plant near a sunny area in your home will help dry out the soil faster.
Depending on how wet the soil is, it may take up to a week to catch all of the gnats.
The baby gnats will start to hatch within a week of an adult gnats laying eggs in moist soil.
So, don’t water the plant for at least 2 weeks even if it looks dry on the top. I’ve made this mistake thinking it was okay to water the plant and all the sudden a bunch of new gnats flew out of the plant.
How to Keep Gnats Away from Indoor Plants
Step 1: Always check plant health and soil before bringing it into your home. Change the soil if you notice gnats or let the soil completely dry out.
Step 2: Slowly integrate a new plant into your home being careful not to bring in any pests around your other indoor plants.
Step 3: If you are in the middle of a full blown gnat infestation, stop watering all of your plants immediately. Gnats thrive in dark and damp areas, so they can continue to survive deep into your soil.
Step 4: Every couple of days, use a plastic spoon or small shovel to rotate the soil. Bringing the top soil to the top of the surface to help dry it out faster.
Step 5: Purchase a few Zevo flying insect traps throughout your home. I place one in my entryway area to stop gnats from getting further into my home.
Then I place one in the kitchen to help with gnats and fruit flies. Lastly, I place one in the basement because tiny little bugs and gnats always find a way to make it in that area.
Step 6: Your Zevo traps will quickly catch a ton of gnats which helps prevent them from laying more eggs in your plants or eating your plant leaves.
Still avoid watering your plants for a few more days to make sure the traps catch the gnats.
I’ve tried the dish soap and apple cider vinegar thing, but it catches like 2 gnats total. You can try it but it never works for me.
Step 7: If you haven’t noticed any gnats flying around after a few days and your plants feel completely dry, you can try watering 1 plant. Only water 1 plant to see if gnats reappear within a couple of days.
If you don’t notice any gnats flying around, the coast is clear to water your other plants normally.
Step 8: Continue to water plants sparingly to make sure you don’t have another gnat infections and do not remove the Zevo traps.
DIY Gnat Spray
In a small spray bottle mix together 4 parts water with 1 part hydrogen peroxide. This spray is safe around most plants, but avoid spray plant leaves if possible.
Spraying the top layer of soil is okay, but do not overly saturate the soil. The DIY Gnat spray is great to spray gnats that land on the pot, near lighting, or others surfaces.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Soap
I’ve tried this so many times for gnats and fruit flies, but it never works. I think the gnats just laugh at me when I tried to offer them a soapy apple cider vinegar shot next to their plant party.
If you want to try it pour apple cider vinegar in a small bowl or shot glass with 2 drops of dish soap. You can also add plastic wrap on top with small holes poked in it to trap gnats and fruit flies.
Place near the gnat hangout and replace every few days. I hope this works for you, but I rarely have luck with this one.
Painters Tape Trap
I was desperate to get rid of gnats, so I thought I would outsmart them by placing painters tape in a criss cross pattern to catch them. I attached the tap over the pot, avoiding the plant leaves to set a trap.
I caught a few gnats, but this didn’t really help me eliminate them long term.
Watering Tips to Prevent Gnats
Watering less is the best way to prevent gnats, but sometimes they can still find a way into your home and create a home in your plants.
I typically water my plants once per week in the summer or when the top 2 inches of soil feels dry.
If you currently have gnats or are paranoid about getting them, you can water plants from the bottom.
Gnats thrive in the top 2 inches of soil, so try bottom watering by removing the plant liner from the pot.
Fill the pot with a 2-3 inches of water depending on the pot size then gently place the plant liner back into the pot. The plan liner should have holes in the bottom of it, so it can soak up the water from the bottom.
Pour water out of the pot as needed, if it starts to overflow or the plant becomes too saturated.
Repotting the Infested Plants
If you have several plants that are infested with gnats and you feel like you can’t get a grip on the situation, you may need to repot some plants.
Take the plant outside and dump the soil in a trash bag or onto the grass or in your outdoor garden.
Remove as much soil from the plant roots as possible by gently shaking and rinsing off the plant.
Wash the pot with soapy water and rinse very well to and dry the pot. Adding new potting soil and and the plant into the soil buying the roots well.
Avoid watering the plant for a couple days to make sure the soil is dried out. We don’t want any gnats that are lingering in your home to start the cycle again.
Water the plant when you don’t notice any gnats flying around your home or near other plants.
Prepare Ahead of Time for Gnat Season
Gnats are most active in the warmer months, so prepare ahead of time with your bug traps.
I unplug my traps in the cooler months then I plug them back in mid to late spring. Once it starts to feel warmer and you notice bugs outside, plug those traps in right away.
Even if you don’t have a gnat infestation, they can easily fly in your front door and land on a recently watered plant.
Making it their new home to lay eggs in and start a gnat party in all of your other indoor plants.
Following this strategy prevents gnats from making it deep into your home because they are attracted to the bright lights in the trap near your entryway.
Conclusion
When it comes to caring for your indoor plants, it’s important to daily check-ins on your plants. You need to make sure the plants are receiving the proper lighting and water, while keep an eye out for any gnats or other pests.