Bringing plants into the home should be about adding a spot of green, filtering the air, and impressing your friends with your green thumb. Not chasing after tiny black fungus gnats.
The minuscule black bugs look an awful lot like fruit flies and they’re just as harmless, but no less of a nuisance. When I started to notice the tiny flies buzzing around the top of my rabbit foot fern last week, I decided it was time to take action.
As usual, I was after something that would work effectively, but wouldn’t cost a lot of money or bring noxious chemicals into my home.
(Have any of you had any luck with these remedies?
Allow the soil to dry out completely between waterings. Fungus gnats breed in the rich, dark soil of houseplants, and they’re especially happy if that soil has been zealously over-watered.
Be ruthless–and repot infected plants. Give the roots a quick rinse and repot in a clean pot with fresh, uninfected potting soil.
Bury a garlic clove in the infected soil. According to the new edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, burying a clove of garlic in the soil of an infected houseplant will eradicate pests.
Cover a yellow (or other brightly colored) card with a thin layer of honey. After the card begins to host tiny black insects, dispose of it and start fresh.
Make an apple cider vinegar trap. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and poke a series of small holes in the top of the plastic wrap.