9 Ways to Get Rid of Gnats in Your Home
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Keep an eye out for these pests flitting around light fixtures and windows. Place a bowl containing this solution in an area where you’ve seen gnats. They will be lured in by the fruity-sugary mixture, and the sticky dish soap will trap them. Overripe fruits, veggies, decaying food matter and moisture in drains are all culprits. Another method for drain flies is to pour a cup of bleach down the drain. Like the drain cleaner, pour slowly to ensure the bleach has time to kill all the gnats and larvae.
Getting Rid of Gnats in Plants
From fruit flies and drain flies to fungus gnats and buffalo gnats, these tiny pests have been known to infiltrate homes and become nuisances. Gnats are attracted to sweet scents, moisture, garbage, houseplants, and other warm, moist environments like your bathroom or kitchen. Gnats also live and reproduce in sink drains and garbage disposals due to the food residue, water, and shelter that drains provide. For fruit flies, the easiest DIY option is a vinegar trap, which is simple and cost-effective to create. Simply place a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, a few drops of dish soap, and a tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and stir. If you don’t have vinegar on hand, you can substitute red wine.
How to get rid of gnats inside your home
One way to get rid of pesky gnats is by storing all fruits and vegetables into the refrigerator. Moreover, clean up spillage and crumbs quickly, so as to avoid attracting insects. A messy house, improperly stored food items and improper garbage disposal results in gnat infestation. To get rid of drain flies or drain gnats, simply pour drain cleaner down the drain.
Buy a Natural Trap
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You may also hear them called biting midges or blackflies, among other names. If the flies won’t leave you alone, this clever trick using a bar of soap can put a stop to them. To be sure your outdoor spaces are free of pesky pests, check out clever products that keep bugs away.
Phorid flies live for approximately eight to 14 days, with some completing their entire life cycle in just eight days. When you hear the word "gnat," images of tiny bugs may buzz around your brain. While you might have a certain flying foe in mind, "gnat" refers to more than one species. If you notice that gnats are hanging around your sink, drain, or plumbing fixtures, pour some diluted bleach into them. Many will combat a gnat problem with harsh pesticides that fill the air with toxic chemicals.
‘They are attracted to the smells of ripening fruit and vegetables. They are also drawn to the decaying fruit and vegetables that may need to be appropriately covered in your garbage bin. A moist environment is an ideal place for female gnats to lay their eggs. After the eggs hatch into larvae, they feed, become pupae, then grow into full-grown adults.
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Vinegar Bottle Trap
Price recommends placing a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a few drops of dish soap, and a tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and then stirring the contents. "Set your bowl in an area where gnats are prevalent, like your kitchen or bathroom," he says. The gnats will be attracted to the sugar and vinegar, but the dish soap will coat their wings making them unable to fly away. If you've noticed a swarm of gnats lingering around your sink drains, you may have drain flies. Carefully dilute one-half cup of bleach with about one gallon of water and pour it down the affected drain.
If they fall into food, they may cause an asthmatic reaction, adversely affecting swallowing and breathing. If you have a drain fly issue, address it quickly before it becomes unmanageable or hazardous. Fungus gnats have a very distinct odor when crushed between your fingers. Amanda Rose Newton is a pest specialist and horticulture expert, reviewing pest control and gardening content for The Spruce's Cleaning and Gardening Review Board. Her passion for pest control and sustainable gardening allows her to review plant and pest content for best practices and accuracy. She is a board-certified entomologist and volunteers for USAIDs Farmer to Farmer program.
The first step to combating gnats is to know what kind of gnat you have buzzing around your space. It’s easier to prevent gnats from invading your house rather than grappling with different measures to get rid of them. Firstly, keep your house clean; not just on the weekends, but throughout the week.
They do transit a condition called blue tongue virus to livestock in North America. Keep in mind that these are all short-term solutions, and the concoctions will need to be replaced/refreshed every week or two. H2O Plumbing was established in 2003 by Richard M Mullins Jr. They're equipped to handle many types of repairs and installations, and are skilled at working with up-to-date plumbing technology. If you have an open wine bottle (red works best) that’s gone rancid but you haven’t had the heart to toss it yet, you can swap it for vinegar and follow the rest of the steps.
Fortunately, minor to moderate gnat infestations can often be exterminated with simple DIY methods and thorough cleaning. However, if you have a severe gnat infestation, it may take more than one of these methods to eradicate the pests. This is one of biggest the hotspots for gnats, so pay extra attention to your kitchen sink and drain. Clean it (along with a garbage disposal if you have one) on a consistent basis, keep the area as dry as possible, and use a drain stopper overnight. Although they’re tiny, gnats can cause a great deal of annoyance inside your home.
Ensure you air out the space, and have sufficient ventilation. You may have noticed that there are a lot of gnats around your indoor plants. This is often because plant soil is moist, which can be a breeding ground for gnats. Fruit flies are another pest commonly confused with interior or fungus gnats. Also called vinegar flies, they are tiny, around 1/16 inch (2 mm), with distinct red eyes and a mix of tan, black, and gray on their head and body. If you have interior house plants and think you have fungus gnats but aren't sure, yellow sticky traps can be placed in your plant pots near the base of the plant.
Another option that can work for all types of gnats is sticky paper or cards. These cards are yellow—a color that gnats are attracted to— and have adhesive on their faces. As soon as the gnats land on them, they get stuck and dehydrate. There are small cards that can be placed in plant pots, hanging ribbons and other versions available. As these cards fill up, simply throw them out and replace them. For a quicker, albeit more dangerous, method for killing all sorts of gnats, set up a candle trap in the evening.
Although this method works best at night, never leave a burning candle unattended, especially while you sleep. The wet soil of indoor pots can create a breeding ground for gnats. So, take it easy on watering them or look into low-maintenance plants that require small amounts of water to thrive. The term gnats refers to small flying insects that may or may not bite. You can rest easy knowing that most indoor gnats are not the biting kind nor are they prone to spreading disease. But still, these unwelcome guests are a nuisance and it’s important to deal with them before an infestation gets worse.
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