Not only are fungus gnats a nuisance by buzzing around you while watering flowers, they can also harm your houseplants. In the event of an infestation, you should therefore not wait too long, but fight the insects at an early stage. The eggs of the insects are often brought in with the potting soil, a moist potting soil then favors the rapid growth of the fungus gnat population. There are many methods to get rid of fungus gnats, we present the most gentle and promising ones. Of course, there are also chemical agents that help. However, you should avoid these if possible.
If you follow the tips below, fungus gnats should no longer be a problem.
Quartz sand and yellow sticker
In order to combat the fungus gnats, you should no longer water the plant for the time being, provided the plant can tolerate it. Then you should cover the potting soil with quartz sand (view at Amazon) to prevent fungus gnats from laying eggs. Yellow stickers can help: These yellow stickers (also called yellow boards or yellow plugs, view at Amazon) are simply stuck into the ground and, similar to fly traps, have an adhesive side to which the fungus gnats stick. These stickers also help with aphids.
nematodes
There is also a very effective method using nematodes (view at Amazon): These are beneficial insects, more precisely very small nematodes that feed on the eggs, but leave the plant itself unharmed.
Neem Products
If you do not want to use nematodes, you can also use neem products (view at Amazon). As the name suggests, these products contain an extract from the neem tree, which is known to be effective in protecting against pests and diseases. However, these funds should only be used for ornamental plants.
If nothing helps
If the plant is already too badly attacked, then usually only disposal helps. So that the pests do not immediately attack the next plant, it is best to dispose of the soil and clean the flower pot thoroughly.
To avoid further or new infestations, generally make sure that the top layer of soil is not too damp. If you are still unsuccessful, transplanting to hydroponics can help.
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For this comparison, a CHIP specialist editor examined test reports from other publications as well as the most popular offers (“best sellers”) and customer opinions from online retailers. Based on this we made the product selection. When selecting the top devices, we focus on models with more than four stars and a reasonably high number of reviews. We have read a selection of customer reviews and selected devices that, based on our professional assessment, meet the needs of the users. The products have not been tested in the CHIP test center.
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