How do I get rid of gnats from my plants?
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I made the mistake of bringing home a beautiful plant from my niece who has lovely plants & had started this one from cuttings of a larger one she has. The plant is healthy but I have been infested with gnats throughout my livingroom where my plants are. I have sprayed multiple times with EndAll (which has worked so well for me in the past) & am constantly replacing the yellow stickies as they are covered with dead & dying gnats :( Anything I have read is from repotting everything or not watering for awhile. I only water once a week & am afraid I will kill most of my plants if I water less. These little pests have cost me 3 plants already. As for repotting, I live in Edmonton & it is January right now. I do not want to be trying to do this in my kitchen & outside is snowy so that will have to wait until spring. Any other suggestionsÉ
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We use these little traps and they are the ONLY thing that works for us with this problem!
There is a systemic insect killer that you can buy at the plant store or hardware store, that you sprinkle on the soil of your plant and lightly water it in. This stuff gets in the root system of your plant and any insect that sits on or eats the plant doesn't do it again!!! I have saved several plants by using this. One thing to remember is that if you have one plant with gnats, keep it away from other plants as it is easy to transfer to the new plant. Spray works one time, but you need to get something into the plant so that the insects eat the plant and die. I use this systemic stuff when I bring my outside plants into the house in the winter. Repotting with new soil won't help until you get rid of the gnats.
I like yellow sticky traps. These are special papers on a stick. The paper is yellow and coated with a sticky substance. You put the stick into soil and the gnats are attracted to the yellow paper. They stick to it and then you just throw away the whole thing after a few days. It works great on house plants.
I can't be sure without seeing them but it sounds like you have fungus gnats. While unsightly, fungus gnats don't usually harm healthy potted plants. The problem is that these gnats really thrive in plants where there is lots of moisture and some sort of decay and fungus growth. Gnat support can come from many things---most common sources are root rot and soil contaminated with something that's decaying. I'm not sure it's possible to fully get rid of them without finding and treating the reason the gnats are thriving. I'd try the insecticide suggestions first but if that doesn't work I'd repot in fresh soil (on a drop cloth on the floor indoors to make it easier.) Cut off any rotting roots you find.