Effective Fungus Gnat Prevention Tips

Fungus Gnat Prevention

It's the larvae of fungus gnats that will do the most damage to your plants. The adult gnats live about 1 week, but during that span of time they lay many eggs in moist soil of your plants. They are attracted to moist soil rich in organic materials.

The eggs hatch within 4 to 6 days, and for the following two weeks, the larvae eat root hairs and plant roots in the compost. This will make your plants feel weak, hinder growth and development, and can make their leaves turn yellow and wilt. If the infestation is severe, leaves will drop and new growth will be disfigured. Below are some helpful fungus gnat prevention measures:

1. Allow the soil to dry out completely in between watering. The emergence of fungus gnats is sometimes due to over-watering. Find out if your infested plant is able to tolerate a longer time without receiving water. If the plant can, try not to supply water until it begins to wilt. Letting the soil to dry out will help control the gnats in some situations.

2. Re-pot your affected plant. Take the plant outside, remove the compost, wash the roots well, and place it into new,uninfected soil. This fungus gnat prevention tip unfortunate does not work every single time. The key is washing away all gnat larvae from the root system of the plant and making sure that no adult and larvae gnats go into the new while you're performing this procedure.

3. Place a layer of sand on the surface of the soil. Do so right after re-potting. You can also do this with|perform this with|perform this step with|do this step with} other plants that aren't being transferred. Just lay a layer of sand on top of the soil until the top soil is no longer visible. The sand makes it hard for the gnats to penetrate the soil, serving as a protective layer. The adult gnats will be prevented to get back into the to lay eggs and the newborn gnats won't be able to escape from the potting soil. But if the pot has drains holes at the bottom, these insects could squeeze in and out of the holes.

4. Another effective fungus gnat prevention measure is with the potato trap method. Cut raw potato into 1.5-inch square pieces and put them on the surface of the compost. The larvae will be attracted to the potato chunks and begin consuming them. Leave the potato chunks there for a couple of days and then lift lift them up. You will discover a number of larvae trapped on the potato chunks. Then throw the slices away properly.

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