Nothing beats the feeling of placing new flowers in the home, and they can really help to tie a room together. But over time, you may start to notice small little flying black dots lingering around the plants.
These are fungus gnats - pesky little black flies that appear typically after overwatering as they thrive in warm, moist conditions - especially for when they lay eggs. Once they appear, they are unlikely to go away on their own, so it’s important to take action as soon as you spot them to avoid a larger infestation.
To help Swedes with this common problem, the team at Euroflorist has detailed 5 different tips to protect plants from fungus gnats and flies - and most importantly your home - that are both eco-friendly and chemical-free.
Sticky traps are an effective and chemical free solution to removing fungus gnats, and you can purchase these from many shops.
Simply place these on top of the soil, or attach them to a cocktail stick to raise them higher.
The gnats are attracted to the bright colour of the sticky traps, and they’ll help to catch the breeding population of the fungus gnats.
After a few days, you should start to see the flies stuck to the yellow surface. Feelfree to remove and replace them if you feel you need to. Sometimes swapping them out for new ones will give you an indication of how many flies are left.
You can also remove fungus gnats by simply repotting your plants, and changing the soil, as this will remove the damp soil and rooting roots - the key attractors for the fungus gnats.
To do this, clean all of the soil off the roots of the plant, and wash them with clean, fresh water.
Then, grab a new pot to replant it. You can also use the same pot you used previously, but be sure to give it a thorough clean with soapy water first.
Finally, fill the new pot with fresh soil, or use dedicated sterile potting soil.
Be sure to use houseplant specific soil when potting indoor plants, as fungus gnats tend to prefer more moist soils that we generally use for outdoor plants.
A rather unusual way to remove fungus gnats, or in this case, the larvae, is to use potato slices.
Potato slices work as the fungus gnats will be attracted to the moisture and nutrients to feed on, so this way, you can draw them out of the soil and remove them easily. So to do this, simply slice a few small pieces of potato and place them on top of the soil, then leave it for a couple of days.
After this time, you should find some larvae lingering around, so remove the potato and dispose of it. Repeat this process if you need to.
Diatomaceous earth is strong fungus gnat repellant, so this is a great option as the substance is full of oils that will kill the fungus gnats once absorbed.
Simply apply a layer of this to the top surface of the soil if your plant is already in a pot, or mix it in the soil during repotting.
Within around 1 week, the fungus gnats and larvae population should start to minimise, and after another week, the entire population living on your houseplant should cease to exist.
As mentioned earlier, fungus gnats typically appear due to overwatering, and live at the top of your plant’s soil.
To try and minimise moisture levels, you can bottom water your plants which will prevent the surface of the soil becoming too moist, and lessen the risk of fungus gnats, allowing the roots to soak up the water directly instead.
To do this, fill a pot to the halfway mark with some water and simply place your plant inside the pot for around half an hour or so. The drainage holes should take in the water from the bottom, giving the plant the perfect amount of hydration, without giving the fungus gnats any moist soil at the top to live in.