8 Tips to Get Rid of Gnats on Houseplants

Is your indoor plant soil infested with sciarid larvae? Midges keep circling around your green plants, causing damage to the leaves and attacking the roots? Here are 8 tips and several tips for getting rid of gnats on houseplants.

We find it hard to do without green plants at home and, moreover, they do us well by creating a soothing atmosphere while helping to purify the ambient air. So, when certain undesirables capable of causing significant damage to our plants appear, it is better to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Because midges can quickly colonize the soil of our houseplants to lay their eggs. A vicious cycle then begins. Rest assured, there are several effective ways to naturally eliminate midges from green plants.

Soil gnats cause significant damage to plant roots

Soil midges are small insects, measuring between 1 and 2 millimeters, also called sciaridestheir lifespan is about a week, a period of time which may seem short but which nevertheless allows them to wreak havoc on plants, while laying eggs just a few hours after their transformation into an insect. It is therefore important to act quickly to eliminate these insects which like to feed on plants and can damage the roots of your indoor plants.

A female can lay between 200 and 300 eggs at a time, which means that many larvae develop in the soil. Plants may stop growing or even die back because wounds caused by larvae also promote the appearance of diseases and the invasion of bacteria and fungi.

Pour avoid an invasion of midgesit is therefore essential to limit their proliferation and if possible, eliminate them completely to maintain vigorous plants, but also a healthy home. There are several ways to deter sciarids from taking up residence in your plants’ soil.

Also read – Houseplants: these 7 mistakes that we all make and which are nevertheless fatal

How to get rid of midges on houseplants?

1 – Black soap

Black soap, useful at home in many ways, can be used to get rid of sciarid larvae.

After watering your plants, use a sprayer to spray a mixture of 30 grams of black soap diluted in a liter of water, directly on the leaves and soil of your plants.

2 – Black tea

Another way to remove midges from soil : let black tea infuse in boiling water, which you will let cool before watering your plants. The roots of your plants will benefit from the benefits of black tea, which will repel sciariasis.

3 – Lemongrass essential oil

Lemongrass essential oil also helpspermanently keep midges away from the soil. Simply bury one or more cotton pads soaked in a few drops of essential oil in the ground. The odor diffused will scare away insects.

4 – Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a smell hated by midgeswho will prefer to lay their larvae elsewhere. To get rid of sciarids, you can make a homemade infusion with which to water your houseplants. To do this, pour 2 tablespoons of cinnamon powder into a liter of boiling water and let the mixture cool before using it.

5 – Lemon and cloves

Another tip for get rid of sciarid larvae : insert cloves into ½ lemon to place in the pot of your plant.

Also read – Lemon, tips for every day

6 – Honey

Honey can also act as trap to keep midges away of your indoor plants by attracting them. All you need to do is dilute several spoonfuls in a cup filled with water. The sciarids will then be attracted and drown. A tip to use in addition to another means of directly treating the proliferation of larvae in the soil, such as planted matchsticks.

7 – Matches

Soil gnats hating the smell of sulfuryou can plant several matches directly in the soil of the plants, red heads inserted. An operation to be repeated until the sciarids completely disappear.

8 – Coffee grounds

Finally, coffee grounds also bother midges. Get into the habit of placing it on the surface of the potting soil, which will nourish your plants while keeping sciariasis away.

Also read – Protect all your plants with this one simple ingredient we all have in the kitchen

Other tips to get rid of sciarids naturally

Water green plants sparingly

Pour avoid the development of sciarid larvae in the soil of your indoor plants, water them without excess, because humidity favors their appearance. Also prefer soil that is sufficiently drained, using clay balls placed at the bottom of the pot for example. Another tip: arrange corks cut into slices in the potting soil, in order to absorb humidity. Water must not stagnate in the cups of your plants after watering and if necessary, space out the watering so that the soil dries completely between two waterings.

Also read – The practical tip for knowing when to water houseplants

If necessary, repot the plants

If the soil for your green plants is too infested, then the only way to effectively get rid of sciarid larvae remains to change it. Take the opportunity to repot your plants in a slightly larger container, with potting soil mixed with a little sand so that the soil is sufficiently draining.

Also read – Container gardening: how to repot a plant?

Place sand on the surface of the potting soil

For you permanently rid of midgesthe best thing is to dissuade them from laying their larvae in the soil of your plants. To do this, you can place potting soil on the surface a layer of sand or thick mulchwhich will prevent insects from penetrating while regulating the humidity of the earth.