Why are we having trouble with those little nats in the house?

What have you done to control them> Do you have plants in the house?

Put away all fruit in the refrigerator or cover and seal them somehow like in a sealable bag. Then spray your drains, all drains, even in the bathrooms. Do this twice a day and once they are gone, once a week for maintenance. The spray to use is Simple Green. It kills all small bugs, even flies. Simple Green comes in concentrate jugs in the auto/boat section of Walmart or in spray bottles and concentrate in Menards at the soap section. It is all I use to clean because it is non toxic to humans/pets. However, it is a disinfectant and deodorizer too. Little gnats and fruitflies live in your drains. Spray the drains twice a day until they are gone, then weekly for upkeep. IT WORKS! I happened to have a spray bottle in my hand when a fly landed on the sink, I sprayed him, he died! I did not know it would kill something as large as a fly but it did!

They travel on fruit. Here's the solution. Put a small glass filled with wine, cover it with plastic wrap, poke several small holes in it. Next, they come to the holes because of the smell, then they fall in and can't get out. Good Luck!

You can fill a bowl or bowls with apple cider vinegar. Then add a little dish soap and then water. Just enough water for the soap to start bubbling. They will get trapped in the soap. Try to keep fruit and veggies in the fridge. They also can get into bakery items so I keep those in the fridge until they are gone.

Are we talking gnats or fruit fly's? Here's the difference:

Fruit flies are commonly fascinated by ripening fruits, and therefore it is no surprise to see them flying around such fruits. Females lay their eggs on rotting fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, gnats are mostly found in moist and damp places around which you are most likely to see them flying in large flocks or wavering "ghosts." Additionally, gnats are found around large bodies of water, above which they hover to absorb the carbon dioxide that is emitted by the algae.

Life Cycle

Fungus gnats lay their eggs on the soil in houseplants. In a span of four days, these eggs hatch into larvae, which then metamorphose into pupae. The pupal stage lasts for one week, after which they develop into full-grown adults. They have fairly short adult lives, lasting for just a week -- during which the females lay about 150 eggs. Once they emerge from their eggs, fruit fly larvae continuously depend on rotten matters for food. Females of fruit flies lay close to 500 eggs despite their fairly short life cycles.

So if you are having gnats then they are most likely coming from your house plants.

They are bad this year! The pharmacy I go to gets them every year. No fruit or water sitting around. They are just there. They sit caps of apple cider vinegar with Dawn dish soap around. Once there are several gnats in a cap you can trash it and replace it with another one or just clean the cap out and refill. Make sure to take the dead ones outside to the trash. The smell of the vinegar and soap isn't the best but it beats the gnats. It does work. 😃

I have had no luck with using apple cider vinegar. I got a trap on amazon and put a small slice of banana in it. It worked great! I also tried the apple cider vinegar, a piece of apple and a few other things, none of those worked. Guess the ones I had where fond of bananas. You have to keep trying until you find something that will attract the ones you have.

Killing the Adults

1

Fill about the bottom one-half of a deep bowl with apple cider vinegar. Adult gnats will be attracted to the apple cider vinegar's odor.

2

Add five drops of liquid dish soap to the apple cider vinegar. The soap breaks the surface tension of the vinegar and provides enough resistance so that gnats cannot escape the mixture.

3

Place the bowl near your houseplants. The fungus gnats will drown when they investigate the mixture. Empty the bowl and replenish it with a new batch of the mixture periodically.

Killing the Eggs

1

Remove all decaying plant material from the soil of your houseplants. You may need to remove some of the top layer of soil as well to get all of the decaying plant material.

2

Let the plants' soil dry to a depth of about 2 inches.

3

Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar with the water you will use to water your houseplants.

4

Give your plants' soil the water containing liquid dish soap and white vinegar every other time you water the plants. Let the soil dry to a depth of 2 inches before you water the soil again. Eventually, the mixture will kill fungus gnat eggs and larvae.

Things You Will Need

• Deep bowl
• Apple cider vinegar
• Liquid dish soap
• Measuring spoons
• White vinegar
• Container

Watering can and Measuring spoons