“Gnats” describe small flying insects including fruit and Fungus Gnats. It’s important to kill gnats to prevent a gnat infestation near room indoor plants, house trash site, and the kitchen sink.
What Are Fungus Gnats?
They are tiny black or brown insects common in households with houseplants that nurtures eggs and gnat larvae. They feed on rotting fruit and vegetation.
The good news is that these gnats will not spread diseases, bite, or harm you or your pets. The larva likes rotting plant matter like fruit and the roots of your plants.
Nobody wants a swarm of gnats in their house, room, or fridge drain. Gnats hide in the bathroom sinks, toilets and bathtub, too.
How to Attract Gnats in Your House
To get rid of gnats in your house in the first place, the trick is to know what they’re attracted to such as food. Fruit in a cup and or cookies in a bowl are favorites. Individual gnats like rotten fruit such as an overripe banana, organic matter, and moist areas. You can try the same methods pest control use to get rid of pests like fruit flies. Use perforated plastic wrap, a jar or container, and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, one tablespoon of sugar, or a few drops of red wine. They’ll be attracted to the tablespoon of sugar, apple cider vinegar or red wine, fly through the holes at the top, and get stuck in the sealed glass jar or round container. Leave it in an area for some time so they’ll collect as they drink the vinegar, wine and moisture.
To trap the gnats, cover a bowl, jar, or cup with plastic. Poke holes in the plastic. They’re attracted to the moisture and vinegar.
Effective Ways to Kill and Get Rid of Gnats in a House
There are plenty of harsh pest control chemicals that will get rid of gnats. They’re not fruit flies, but they have moth like wings and long legs. An infestation is more likely to occur in moist places like the sink and tub drain, and even outdoors in birdbaths.
Gnats breed frequently, so ways to get rid of the pests means taking action quickly. Drain flies can spread. If you find them in your sink drains, use one half cup diluted bleach. Pour diluted bleach mixture to drown the annoying gnats in the drains after they get stuck.
Additional suggestions include:
- Fungus Gnat Control Bundle by Arbico Organics to Get Rid of Gnats
A commercial-level organic solution to controlling gnats. It is all-natural and solves the problem by wiping out the gnats. The bundle includes:
- Beneficial nematodes prey on larval gnats.
- BTI, kills the gnats in granular form.
- Yellow Sticky Paper to hang or lay to control adults.
- Keep Soil on the Dry Side
Gnats are attracted to and need water to live. You can control the gnat population by watching how much you water plants; don’t overwater.
- Dish Soap Traps to Get Rid of Gnats
It sounds too easy, but drops of dish soap works. Mix water with a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle and spray the adult gnats. But don’t stop there; clean the surface, counters, and trash site with the dish soap mixture, too.
Repeat as necessary. Spray the dish soap solution several times over several days in cracks, on walls, and glass.
- Hydrogen Peroxide Napalm to Prevent Gnat Infestations
Stir 1 part Hydrogen Peroxide with 4 parts water in a spray bottle. Fill a water gallon if necessary and pour. Spray down, pour, or water the soil and soak the whole pot. That way the solution can reach deep for any lurkers that happen to run.
- Major “Fire” Power – A Candle Trap Place to Prevent Gnat Infestations
In a dark room, set your favorite candle or candlestick. Then sit back in the room and watch the warm lights for some time because it’s a lure.
The presence of light is a lure for gnats and flies into the flame and fall. Flash-fried gnats don’t create a burned smell.
Some place water around the candle so that any fliers that ‘winged’ by the flames drown.
A fruit trap at home is an additional option that attracts gnats. Check your refrigerator contents and kitchen, you probably already have the tools needed. Find the reason for the flock. It could be moisture, the glass windows, air from doors, or trash site. Use apple cider vinegar, food, sugar.
A gnat infestation can get out of hand and infest trash cans or worse. Homeowners might need a customized treatment plan from a professional pest control company. Contact pest control because they are ready share knowledge details, address frequently asked questions and share tips. It takes away the home problem hassle if you accept help. You might need a home repair, to implement inside treatment, or to treat a handful of ways. There’s also a follow up on the work to provide top service.
Whatever method homeowners go with in your house, there are many ways to cure a gnat infestation.