Hi and welcome to the board.

I used to have issues with these gnats but since I began using Malathon granules in my soiless mix about a year ago, I haven't had any problems with them.

I had previously used one of those sticky tape fly trap type things but they were nasty to look at once they started working, LOL.

I don't think they will "hurt" anything but they sure are a nuisance aren't they?

Dora

Thanks, Dora! Yes, they are a pain in the butt! lol!

Do you mean Marathon or Malathion? I have ordered some Marathon from Cape Cod Violetry, so hopefully that will help.

Tari

Hi,
If I remember correctly gnats are attracted to yellow. Try putting a dish of water using a yellow plate on your stand and they will dive in and commit hari kari. OTHer than that i use sticky strips. I even have used those old fashioned fly paper coils of sticky paper and they work.
Fred in NJ

Yes...that was a type. Thanks for catching that :)

I get mine from Cape Cod as well. They are a great source of supplies.

Dora

I've learned to open my new order of plants outside. Last fall I made the mistake of opening a box in the house and out few a bunch of gnats. I was battling them for months. I did two things. One - was I bought yellow cups & filled them with water and like Fred said ...they flew in the water ..worked really good. The second thing I did was buy those little bottles of travel size hairspray. I poured out the hairspray, rinsed them out, then I sprayed the house and garden spray in them and added some water and a bit of dish soap. I placed them around the room on different plant shelves for easy access. Everytime I seen one of the little gnats flying, walking, crawling or sitting... I would grab my closest little bottle - shake it and spray. I have a bad habbit of getting stuck to fly strips, yuck!.. so once was enough for me, but I think they would work really great.

Stick with it, as once they get a foot hold, it feels like they'll never go away again.

tish

I've tried many ways to deal with severe infestations. Finally, i tried the simplest one and it worked like a charm! Get some yellow sticky traps. It will eliminate them over a couple of months as generation after generation gets trapped until there are no more left.

If the gnats are fungus gnats, there are several old posts who talked about using cinnamon to take care of them. No chemicals, and no little cups of water for my cats to spill. You mix a little in the soil, and it kills the larvae. Haven't had any problems with them since last summer.

Another remedy is 1 tablespoon bleach to one gallon water. Different bleaches are different in strength so it might be necessary to do this several times.

Nancy

Nancy, do I water the plants with the bleach water?

Tari

I have 2 suggestions -

1. when you repot - put pure vermiculite as the last 1" of your soil. Fungus gnat larvae live in a top 1' - and there is nothing to eat in vermiculite. I didn't use this trick but I read about it.

2. They sell Bayer's Rose or Tree and Lawn insecticide with Imidaclopride for under $20 in HD and Lowes. Get the concentrate - there is an option with fertilizer and without - if it is with fertilizer - you need to dilute it taking in account the fertilizer as well- so your fertilizer is not way too strong - if it is without fertilizer - they have a ratio how to dilute it. Make a solution and thoroughly water the soil until the water runs through. Work in gloves, dispose of the runoff solution properly - send it under the rose for example.
Imidacloprid is not that dangerous of a chemical in low concentration - but it is a synthetic tobacco poison - and we all know that a drop of nicotine kills a horse.

I am going to try this myself.

Good Luck

Irina

Water one plant to see how the plant reacts. Bleaches are very different in quality but I have never had bad results using Canadian brands.

Also, you might consider buying insect-absorbing plants. I have several Pinguicula Sundew and other plants. Insects are attracted to the odour we can not smell and get stuck onto the plant. Usually the bugs are absorbed quickly so there are few bugs sicking on them such as on the sticky yellow cards (which are also excellent.)
Nancy

i have a few fungus gnats in my seedling room. A friend said that he heard that a mixture of vinegar and water attracts and drowns the gnats. Anyone hear the same? If so, what is the percentage of each? The sticky yellow tape somehow gets stuck all over me and young seedlings.
thanks,nancy

Put one quarter of a "Mosquito Dunk" in your watering can. This kills the larvae in the soil. It contains "BT", a safe insecticide. Available at good garden centers. Sticky traps and manually killing them for the adults.

Nancy -

there is a difference between fungus gnats annd fruit flies. Fruit flies are after rotting fruit - so they will get themselves drowned - probably in straight apple vinegar or half and haf with water.

Fungus gnats are not that much attracted to rotten fruit - so it's probablly not a good solution. Plus - they probably mate and live eggs to feed on your seedlings roots before committing suicide anyway.

The real damage comes from their larvae, not from gnats - and larvae lives and feeds in a top inch of soil. If you have so many of them that you can expect significant damage - you need to get a pesticide and drench your soil. Imidalclopride probably less damaging than Malathion - but I would try on one plantlet first. The stuff they sell for lawn pests - probably lower concentration in half. It is a synthetic tobacco poison, so nothing seriously awful.

If you have just a bit of them - just ignore them amd trap them with a sticky yellow stuff just to reduce the numbers. Hang it higher so you wouldn't get caught again,

Good Luck

Irina

Irina,Thanks for the help! nancy

Im pretty much like others on here I usually put up sticky cards near the plants and works pretty well.

But I have had a knat problem for years in my house thruout the winter every year. Having company for the holidays is emabarrassing. So I started reading and reading on how to get rid of them and have tried everything about putting out vinegar or a bit of wine in a glass, none of these worked. But then I find that they really like to breed in your kitchen drain and you could put harsh chemicals down there but not what i did.

I poured a sausepan of boiling water down down my kitchen drain at least twice a day untill they were gone and manual killing any left over knats and now this winter for this first time no knats - hooray! And proud to say with company in nobody was swatting at knats flying in front of their face.

Im not growing avs any longer but am growing cuttings from other plants but no knats, period. I did this while it was still warm weather too and still have no problems.

Steve - No Violets? Sad... We need to talk to get back in a fold and grow at least several.

Gnats? my house is full of spiders - it is an old house - and they march on the floor, pop out of the drains etc. I am resigned to have them as neighbors - but when my stepdaughter comes for a visit - I think it takes her all self control not to scream all the time. I am not even starting the story about the granddaughter and a friendly neighborhood bullsnake... My eardrums will never be the same...

Squeamish guests beware!

Irina

Irina

Spiders yes they tend to be house guests here too . I spray the baseboards and under cabinets etc every 3 months and I have even set off bombs a couple of times. But spiders can hide almost anywhere doesnt take much of a space for those guys. I hardly see any at present but every once in while at night with only the tv on I will see a large one scurry across the floor and I jump into action just cant stand em!

Steve -

I am perfectly OK with them. I was catching Black Widows and releasing them into the wild - until my hubby pointed that they can kill the cat. Since then - these are the guys I whack. The rest of them - they can catch gnats' aren't they? I do not want them in my bed and in my pants - otherwise - they are free to go. I need to work on my pantry - I have moths there - inherited them from the previous owners. I try to keep everything in airtight containers - but so far they fly. Nothing in comparison when my condo had roaches - these are disgusting - and since they infest the whole building... resistance is futile. The efforts we spent fighting them... I sold the condo - didn't charge extra for roaches. I take spiders any day.

I.