I’m new to the planting world and two qiestions: 1. Has anyone found a good way to get rid of gnats/fruit flies? I have a Zevo right next to my plant station but they are so bad! 2. Has anyone had any luck in planting in pots without drainage holes? If so, any tricks?
1. Predatory mites; I love them. My only complaint is that I can't seem to keep them alive more than a few months after the fungus gnats disappear, which means I do have to buy more mites when gnats are inevitably brought back inside. Still the easiest method I've used 2. If it doesn't have drainage, use it as a cache pot. Put your plant in a smaller pot with drainage and then into the pot without.
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Second the cache pot. I do it all the time, even for pots with drainage holes. Which leads me to your first question.....bottom water. They only lay eggs near the surface of the soil. Another reason to keep all your house plants in plastic pots and just use the decorative ones as cache pots. You can take the plant out and use a bowl to bottom water them.
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I’ve had good luck keeping a half of a mosquito dunk soaking in my one gallon watering can. As long as it’s soaked for at least 8 hours it’s a strong enough “tea” to use to water the plants and kill the fungus gnat eggs. I start using the mosquito dunks as soon as I start seeing gnats. Usually all through the summer. Traps work well for the adults if the infestation is bad.
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I just started using the mosquito bits tea and the gnats are no more. Even my husband noticed they were gone. I do bottom water whenever i have the time but also I have quite a few large heavy plants that are not easily moved so those definitely get the tea.
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Yes definitely use cache pots! Absolutely never let your plant just sit in a pot with no drainage, guaranteed death right there!
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Multi prong attack for fungus gnats. 1. Mosquito Bits tea 2. yellow sticky traps 3. Zevo lights close to the worst offenders (my succulents and cacti dry out completely and don’t seem to attract the gnats) 4. Fan/air circulation helps
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