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To get rid of flies, try fly traps made with vinegar and dish soap, clean the drain with bleach, or call a professional pest control. When we’re talking ‘gnats’, we’re using the everyday name for some different small winged insects. The gnats that you’ll find inside your home are likely to actually be fruit flies, or fungus gnats, or drain flies (aka phorid flies).
How to Get Rid of Fungus Gnats: 4 Remedies That Work
Fungus gnats have black elongated bodies and resemble mosquitoes, while fruit flies are brown and have rounder bodies. Drain flies, on the other hand, are fuzzy creatures with large, moth-like wings, often found around sink drains. So now that you know what gnats look like, the first step to getting rid of your gnat problem is to figure out the cause. As mentioned earlier, moist soil and overwatered plants are a prime breeding ground for gnats. Plus, fungus gnats are attracted to compost and even dead foliage. 'They normally feed on decaying organic material, but when found in our homes, they are a real nuisance.
Let your plants dry out
When you have an infestation, you’ll see gnats flying around in large numbers near rotten fruit, trash, compost, and wet areas. Look for spaces in your home where you may have water damage, like a leaky roof or crawlspace. The fastest way to see a gnat is to leave fruit on the kitchen counter or a table in your bedroom until it starts to rot. Eventually, there will be hundreds of gnats hovering around the fruit. There’s a high chance you already encountered them once or twice in your life. Fruit flies won’t go far from your house; they love fruits and veggies, and they mostly stay around them.
Put out a Beer or Wine Trap.
Don't worry, you don't have to sacrifice your favorite bottle. Mix some vino with a couple drops of dish soap in a small bowl, and wait for the gnats to accumulate. Chiana has been at Homes & Gardens for two years, having started her journey in interior journalism as part of the graduate program. She also has a first-class degree in Literature from Lancaster University.
How long do gnats live?
Harvesting produce regularly and clearing away overripe produce and organic waste can help keep the natural gnat population low. This promotes the growth of fungus that serves as the primary food source of certain gnat species. Pouring one cup of baking soda down your drain, followed by one cup of white vinegar, can help clean a kitchen sink drain and flush out the gnats along with it. What's more, it deodorizes your sink, so gnats are less likely to be drawn to your pipework. Be sure to cover the plug with a damp cloth so the vinegar-soda reaction works its way downwards through your pipes and doesn't flow over into the sink.
How to Get Rid of Gnats in Your Home
Check out these steps to learn how to get rid of gnats in a few easy, streamlined ways. Some gnat eggs are laid in unripe fruits, so when the fruit begins to ripen, the larvae grow into adults and eventually pop out of their hiding place and multiply. You may be surprised now, seeing as most sources of gnats are regular guests in your house. They are easy to get rid of, and preventing them is also doable.
Fruit Flies Thrive In Your Trash Can
This mixture will help kill living gnats as well as any eggs they may have laid in the soil. Let the plants dry and reapply if you continue to see gnats. Gnats lay their eggs in the places they love to feed and hide, namely, dirty garbage disposals and drains, compost bins, garbage cans, and anywhere moist and humid. They will also lay eggs into rotting fruit and vegetables, including those in your fruit bowl or pantry. Most gnats are not harmful to humans, though some can give you bites a little, like mosquito bites. Fungus gnats are those that love your houseplants; in large numbers, they can damage plants' roots and growth.
That’s a Wrap!
Check them after a few days to see if you have gnats or larvae. To check for fungus gnat larvae in your yard and plants, slide a few potato wedges into the soil and leave them there for a few days. Then, pull them out to check for larvae — if you see them, then you have contaminated soil.
Step 4: Check moist soil outside for larvae
A gnat bite typically appears as a small, red, itchy bump on the skin, similar to a mosquito bite. Also, avoid wearing strong fragrances or scented lotions and use insect repellents, particularly during peak gnat activity periods. Finally, environmental changes such as landscaping or nearby construction can disrupt gnat habitats, causing them to seek refuge indoors. If you have an open wine bottle (red works best) that’s gone rancid but you haven’t had the heart to toss it yet, you can swap it for vinegar and follow the rest of the steps. To make a paper funnel, simply twist a piece of paper to the shape of a funnel, and add some tape to hold it.
How to get rid of fungus gnats - The Province
How to get rid of fungus gnats.
Posted: Tue, 23 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Adult gnats won’t harm your plant growth, but the larvae will. Larvae do not survive in dry conditions, so ensuring you only water when necessary will help rid your house of a gnat infestation. Some types of moisture-seeking gnats tend to congregate around sink or tub drains. To combat these drain flies, mix ½ cup bleach into a gallon of water and slowly pour the mixture into the drain.
They typically have slender, brown or black bodies and thrive where there’s moisture. They also prefer sand or sandy soil, meaning states like California and Florida can be particularly prone to gnats. Gnats are inevitably present in nature, but as with keeping flies out of the house, a little know-how can rid your home of them.
While gnats are a nuisance, there are ways to treat and prevent the problem. For example, following the necessary steps can help rid your house of the pesky fly in no time. While a gnat isn’t going to bite you, they still aren’t a fun problem to deal with.
To help these solutions work better, aerate your lawn with a manual aerator. If gnats are gathering in your bedroom, you may have invited them there, albeit unknowingly. Here are some likely reasons why you have gnats in your bedroom. The scent is also the reason gnats mostly live around flower beds.
After a tiring workday, the last thing you want is to come back to an infestation in your house. Besides, no one likes to deal with tiny flying insects anyway. If you're experiencing an abundance of gnats in your house, several factors could be contributing to the problem. Gnats are attracted to warm, moist environments and breed in damp areas, so reduce or eliminate areas where water collects in your yard and house. If your plant soil is infested with gnat larvae and you’re having trouble getting rid of them, repot your plants.
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