Fighting fungus gnats: this is how to get rid of the little flies

The little flies like to colonize the earth in the flower pots of our plants. We reveal how to fight sciarid gnats and their larvae naturally and get rid of them permanently.

Many plant lovers know and fear them: the little flies that suddenly rise out of the potting soil and multiply at breakneck speed. The fungus gnats occur again and again in potted plants with cachepots in living rooms. We will show you how an infestation occurs and how you can fight sciarid gnats and prevent further infestation.

Sciarid gnats: fact sheet

The sciarid gnats (Sciaridae) family, also known as sciarflies, occur naturally in humid habitats such as forests, moors and wet meadows. The adult black flies are up to seven millimeters in size and lay their eggs in moist soil. This happens outdoors in May to June, but in houses or greenhouses all year round. A female can lay up to 200 transparent eggs. The sciarid fly larvae, which hatch about a week after laying eggs, live in the ground and decompose organic material such as leaves, fungal threads or roots. It is precisely those larvae that become problematic in the soil of indoor plants. In the absence of sufficient dead plant material and fungal mycelium, the hungry larvae attack living plant roots and thereby damage our beloved green roommates. In addition, the black mosquitoes in the potting soil are perceived as annoying and disgusting - especially when they appear in abundance.

Note: All hobby mushroom growers should be told that the larvae of the sciarid gnats especially love the mycelium of mushrooms as a source of food. It is not for nothing that the mosquito is called “fungus gnat” in English.

How to recognize fungus gnats (larvae)

The small black flies in the potting soil are easy to see with the naked eye. They usually stay close to the ground, walk around on the ground and the pot, and stumble around slightly when you water the infested plant or move the pot.

In order to detect an infestation by sciarid gnats before a mass multiplication takes place, we recommend Yellow panels like those from our Plantura shop, which are conveniently delivered to your home. Yellow boards are coated with a glue so that the adult flies stick to the boards. In order to catch and discover fungus gnats as effectively as possible, the yellow boards are best placed directly above the surface of the potting soil, for example with small wooden skewers. If you spot the first sciarid gnats, you should start fighting them quickly.

The larvae of the sciarid gnats only stay in the ground after hatching and can only be seen when they are repotted. The sciarid fly larvae are worm-like in shape, colored white and up to five millimeters long.
Especially with young plants, an infestation can quickly lead to wilting phenomena or to the death of the plant, even though there is a good water supply. This also indicates an infestation by sciarid gnats.

tip: Sciarid gnats are often with Fruit flies mistaken. However, fruit flies need fruits or vegetables as a source of food and therefore do not stay in or near indoor plants, which makes it easy to differentiate.

Fighting sciarid gnats: how to get rid of them

Have you noticed a sciarid gnat infestation and are now wondering whether and how you can fight it? First of all, it has to be decided whether it makes sense to combat it. In the garden and on the balcony, the small black flies practically never multiply into large populations, which is why they usually do not need to be controlled. If sciarid gnats have taken root in the soil of your indoor plants, it looks different: in and out of the warm house Wonderful water-retaining potting soil is guaranteed to make the problem grow without your intervention, instead of growing on its own complete.

What to do if you notice mild to moderate infestation:

As long as you can observe the "fungal flies" especially on the pot and in the immediate vicinity of the plant, the infestation is not very strong. In order to prevent a strong infestation, you should nevertheless take action against the "fungus flies" as soon as possible with biological pesticides. Fighting fungus gnats with home remedies is also still possible with a light to medium infestation. Our Plantura Organic Sciarid Mosquito Free Neem can serve very well with a light to medium infestation and protects your plants and their roots with natural active ingredients of the neem tree. We will describe the application in more detail below.

What to do if you notice a severe infestation:

When does it even become a severe infestation? If you encounter the tumbling black flies in abundance in other areas of the apartment, then their breeding ground is already "closed." small ”for the existing population and many individuals are looking for a new home - a clear sign of a strong one Infestation. Provide another clear indication Yellow panelsthat you can use to monitor infestation in your home and greenhouse. If the adhesive boards are overflowing with the small black flies after just 2 to 3 days, there is a strong infestation. In addition to the use of biological pesticides, severe infestation also requires a number of other measures, since the preparations alone can hardly achieve complete control.

In the event of severe infestation, proceed as follows:

1. Repot infested plants, remove soil from roots as much as possible, if necessary under lukewarm running water; As a precaution, freshly potted plants once with a Remedies against fungus gnats treat.
2. Either repot plants in the immediate vicinity of the heavily infested plants or treat them with pesticides against sciarid gnats.
3. Without exception, the surface of the potting soil is at least 0.5 cm thick with every plant in the apartment Cover with a dry material, for example with expanded clay fragments, expanded clay balls, lava chippings or Ornamental gravel.
4. Every pot in the apartment with one Yellow board equip; the yellow plate should be positioned close to the surface of the earth in order to catch flies hatching out of the earth directly.
5. If you find fungus gnats on the yellow boards, use a pesticide again.

Combat fungus gnats, of course

Have Home remedies for fungus gnats and prevention fails, or if you want to be on the safe side, you should resort to real pesticides. However, we recommend using synthetic pesticides, especially in living rooms or the house garden waive any disproportionate risk to you as a user, children playing or pets suspend. Instead, we recommend using biological remedies against sciarid gnats.

A highly effective and natural method of combating sciarid gnats is the use of neem supplements. The seed oil of the neem tree contains the active ingredient azadirachtin, which acts on the sciarid fly larvae in the soil. Our Plantura organic sciarid mosquito-free neem is based on this neem oil and offers you a reliable and organically certified method to get rid of sciarid gnats. You can use organic sciarid gnat-free neem both indoors and outdoors.

Our Organic sciarid gnats free is not dangerous to bees and ensures that the plant-damaging larvae of the fungus gnat stop feeding quickly. The ease of use allows you to dose it precisely, for an optimal effect. For ornamental plants in your home, 15 milliliters mixed with three liters of water are sufficient to cover around 1 m² Treat area. Simply pour the emulsion onto the soil of the infested plant. When using our organic pest-free neem, please pay attention to the recommendations for use in the package insert.

Fighting fungus gnats with nematodes

An effective, safe and simple method of control is the use of insect-damaging nematodes. They really do not pose any danger to other plants, insects or even pets.
An example of this are ours Plantura SF nematodes against fungus gnats, codling moths and ants. The predatory nematodes of the species Steinernema feltiae After application, the larvae of the sciarid gnats attack and multiply in them, which leads to the death of the larvae. The first larvae die after about 3 days and since the nematodes continue to multiply in the larvae, the success of the treatment increases until the nematodes can no longer find any larvae. Incidentally, the tiny roundworms are very easy to distribute with the irrigation water. They cannot harm humans or animals - they specialize solely in the larvae of some pests and have been used successfully in organic farming for many years.

tip: When using SF nematodes, make sure that the substrate is at least 12 ° C and that it is direct Sun exposure should be avoided during application, as the nematodes are very sensitive to it UV radiation are.

Prevent flies in the potting soil

Sciarid gnats only become a problem when the flies are permanently exposed to wet soil. The best prevention is therefore a suitable watering behavior: Always allow the surface of the earth to dry out slightly before watering again. Firstly, the sciarid fly larvae need moist soil to live and, secondly, the eggs are laid directly on the surface of the earth. If the substrate is too dry, the larvae will die immediately after hatching.

As a preventive measure, you can also apply a 0.5 centimeter high layer of sand, lava chippings or broken expanded clay to the earth. This means that the surface is always dry and therefore unattractive for sciarid gnats. In order to use this method effectively, indoor plants should only be watered from below over the saucer or the planter.

You can also bring in fungus gnat eggs through potting soil. If the conditions for propagation are favorable, the fungus gnats can penetrate the soil sacks through small ventilation holes and lay their eggs while the sacks are still in storage. This often happens with the unprotected soil in hardware stores. Unfortunately, high-quality soils such as our Plantura can also be used during transport and storage at your home Potting soil, an infestation with fungus gnats cannot be ruled out.
If you buy new potted plants, we recommend that you repot them directly into uninfected soil, which also ensures that your new plant will grow more vigorously.

Tip:If your potting soil is infested by sciarid gnats, you can use the moistened soil for smaller quantities in the microwave (highest setting for seven minutes) or in the oven (200 ° C for 20 minutes) sterilize.

Summary: preventing fungus gnats

• Always allow the soil to dry off before the next watering
• Spread a layer of sand, lava chippings or broken expanded clay on the potting soil
• Pour the plants over the planter and saucer
• Check and, if necessary, sterilize in microwave or oven
• Always repot potted plants after purchase

Helpful tips on how to get popular Repot indoor plants properly, can be found in our special article.