Ever wondered what those tiny, annoying black flies are that flit around your indoor plants (and face)?
Most likely they are the pesky Fungus Gnat and you might be noticing them more at the moment as they loooove the warm weather. They are a bit of an inevitable visitor when you have indoor plants, I say inevitable because they are brought in via potting mix and new plants.
So are these pests actually bad for the plant? Unfortunately, yes. The larvae eat off the roots of the plants. While in small numbers their effect if pretty minimal but it doesn’t take long for them to quickly breed up and explode in numbers.
But here are some tips to treat this pest and stop them from coming back:
- Ease up on the watering. Moist soil is their fave. They lay their eggs in moist soil and their tiny white larvae live there until the hatch. So by letting your plant’s soil dry out in between watering, you will be able to break the cycle of eggs hatching and larvae growing.
- Hit em with Neem. Neem Oil is a completely natural plant seed oil that a lot of plant pests hate, especially the Fungus Gnat. Simply dilute some in water and pour over your soil to get rid of the larvae and eggs. We just got a big delivery of Neem Oil, ready for battle.
- Stick em with traps. Sticky insect traps are great for capturing the adults and are really satisfying when you start to see them accumulating on the traps. You can grab one now.
- Create a barrier. Fungus Gnats can be prevented from laying their eggs in the soil by putting a barriers such as a layer of small stones or Coco Coir. Get some Coco Coir here.
If you follow these 4 steps you’ll see fewer and fewer Fungus Gnats in your home and can start passing on this knowledge to your friends and family.
