Fungus Gnat Problem?

Question

I have two indoor plants, both snake plants, which seem to be infested with fungus gnats. I tried purchasing a insect killer (on label said killed fungus gnats) but this actually seemed to make the buggers multiply even more. Someone then suggested that I change the soil and thoroughly wash the pots and roots of the plants. I did this but the gnats seem to be back. I only see one or two black gnats that actually fly out of the pot but the bulk of them look almost clear or white and stay in the soil. Is there anything else I can do without actually throwing out the plants? I love them. Maybe some home remedies or more potent sprays? Thanks.

Answer 1

this plant makes bowstrings and cleans the air <<very cool.

What has worked for me is scratching up the soil. You mentioned how you see them in the soil? and that is where they breed. and if you scratch the soil then you disrupt that cycle.

I try to sneak in there and spray the soil to catch as many on the ground as I can. and sometimes you can spray them out of mid-air but really it's not worth it sometimes due to you do not want to make a mess and they are pretty fast anyway.

i use an oil spray. like regular cooking oil is okay in water; maybe quite a bit although regular foliage recipes call for 3 tablespoons per quart/litre of water.

or

hairspray works VERY good on flying insects and some folks use a vacum; watch to not get near the plant leaf or it can get sucked to shreds.

or

no spray really. the spray is only if u are really on the war path. the scratching alone might be effective enough. you have to do it every other day at least. and keep it up for maybe 10 days.

probably if you scratch at it every time before you water you will NEVER have them come back? what they are eating is the organic parts of the soil. so you might keep them away with sand/rock mulch too.

here is a cool page for organic controls:

http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html

and garden forums, to talk about plant stuff:

http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Gardening/Forum...

if you do ur own search u can find ones in your area. i already checked out a few of the ones on that list; davesgarden you got to pay for some stuff, gardenstew appears to be run by bots. a few of the others are slightly commercial or hard to use but some aren't and some are specialized to areas you might like.

a very active australian forum (where the snake plant grows like a weed):

http://www.mygarden.net.au/gardening-for...

a very inactive one in the US but at least u could trade genetics which u cannot do across country lines too easy sometimes:

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/bbs/inde...

most garden boards have swap forums.