How do you get rid of little flies from house plants? Nothing works.

Julie
by Julie
  12 answers
  • Vicky Swycinsky Vicky Swycinsky on Dec 16, 2016

    Soapy water in a spray bottle, spray the heck out of it and do it daily until those bugger's are gone.

    • Julie Julie on Dec 16, 2016

      Thank you! I haven't heard that but will definitely try it.

  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Dec 16, 2016

    Spray them down with a little soap and water.With that leave a bowl with apple cider vinegar on the counter.

  • Falconlady Falconlady on Dec 16, 2016

    Apple cider vinegar with a touch of dish soap. Leave on counter. Change out over and over until the buggers are gone.

    • Julie Julie on Dec 16, 2016

      Thanks I've tried that & several other things. They are landing in the cups & dying but still seem to be reproducing. I have nearly 20 little shot cups around the house near all of my plants. I've tried sand on top of the plants, fruit juice with soap, coffee which they seem to love but still seeing a lot of those little buggers.

  • Falconlady Falconlady on Dec 17, 2016

    I had this happen when I brought a plant in for the winter. I repotted it in the garage, shook as much dirt off as I could and gave it new soil. That got rid of them. Other times, I've left fruit (especially bananas) on the counter too long and that seems to attract them. The cider vinegar/soap mixture worked, but it took about six weeks 'cuz they were havin' babies someplace.

    • Julie Julie on Dec 17, 2016

      Yes, I think that is what is happening with mine. I brought in a lot of plants also. Some that I repotted & some clippings that I later planted in small pots. All of a sudden I have these flies everywhere & driving me crazy. I know if I put them outside they would all be froze & take care of the flies sooner but the cost of replacing the plants come spring is expensive. I do this every year & never had a problem with the flies until this year. They all got a nice little soap spray shower today & cider vinegar/dawn in 20 little cups all around the plants. I've been vacuuming them & squishing them. With our cold temps they are pretty dead like in the morning so can vacuum up quite a few. As soon as it starts getting a little brighter they come to life.

  • Shawna Bailey Shawna Bailey on Dec 18, 2016

    This is what I do!

    https://www.hometalk.com/diy/outdoor/pest-repeller/homemade-fly-trap-21959026

  • Diane K Diane K on Dec 18, 2016

    Same problem here I use a spray for house plants and it does a very good job'

  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Dec 19, 2016

    My mother used to pour soapy water over her plants. In fact, she would take her dishpan out to her flowers and empty it over them. So spraying with soapy water will work well for some bugs...maybe even more.

    Take in a few leaves to your local nursery...real nursery, not the big box stores...and they can help you with some sprays.



    • Julie Julie on Dec 19, 2016

      Thank you! The soapy water seems to be working along with the cider vinegar.

  • Bbunny42 Bbunny42 on Dec 19, 2016

    I had the same problem last year when I brought in my aloe vera for the winter. Somewhere on Pinterest I found several suggestions for this problem, but I used the simplest one which was to set a white plate near the plants, add some water and then several drops of lemon dishwashing liquid. (I suspect any dw liquid would work, but I had some lemon so that's what I used. ) Every day I noticed more and more bugs in the solution and about every third day, I poured out the water and made fresh. I did this until there were no more bugs. IT WORKS!

  • Met12934463 Met12934463 on Dec 19, 2016

    I squeeze a garlic clove in some water and water the plants. It eliminates the little flies that live in the soil.

  • Julie Julie on Dec 22, 2016

    Thank you! I will have to try that.

  • Jane Highwater Jane Highwater on Dec 30, 2016

    I hate using chemicals but those bugs lay eggs in the soil and the only way I know how to really get rid of them is to water them with diazanon. Diazanon stinks to high heaven so I would treat my plants in the summer when I could do this outdoors and leave the plant out through several more good drenching with plain water to wash out the chemical.

    Sometimes you can find Diazanon sold in little sticks that you can bury into the soil. Again, be careful with this around children and pets.