If a house plants has causes bugs to fly around wouldnt they be on the plant too?

Question

Bought a houseplant for a friends office. Since then there have been little bugs flying in the office. It is a Peace Lily or closet plant. There are not bugs on the plant, but the two seem to be related! If it is because of the plant, what can I do? Especially since I do not see bugs on the plant.

Answer 1

They are gnats and they came in as eggs in the soil around the plant.  They live off small molds in the soil as well as any other rotten vegetation they can find - so they fly around a lot but will not be on the plant unless it is damaged or dying.  You can use yellow sticky traps to collect them, but I just use a layer of gravel on the top of the dirt in my pots - when they have less access to the top of the soil in the pot, then they begin to go away or die off without reproducing.

There will be maybe two or three cycles of them hatching each year, otherwise -so they do eventually "go away" but they will re-hatch now and then unless the soil is covered.

Answer 2

The little bugs you're seeing flying around are almost undoubtedly soil gnats.  They do no harm but sometimes end up in your wine glass or coffee mug which is unappetizing.  Letting the soil dry out to a depth of an inch or two before a deep watering will help keep them under control.  For immediate results, spray the top of the soil with an organic insecticide.