A couple weeks ago I notice a lot of what I assume are fungus gnats and fruit flies around the flat so I stuck a few of these sticky pads into the succulent pots and they're already needing replacing. All 4 are about this full on both sides. I honestly have no idea where they're coming from. I can't see them in the pots anymore but if I leave a banana skin out for an hour or so it's already got a few flies on it.
Tried the sink and bin as well but nothing there. We don't regularly leave food out. They seem to be all around the flat in everyone's rooms as well. Vinegar/ dish soap traps aren't very effective.
I feel like the fuckers have evolved to evade me I'm honestly at my wits' end.
by Caughtinjail1
19 comments
I didn’t know these yellow things existed.
I need these now!
No flies big or small, last month had half size flies all over the window
I put a layer of gravel on top of the soil and that stopped the little flies for me.
They’re coming from one or more of the plant pots, you’re probably over watering.
Those look like fungus gnats. They’re probably breeding in your plant pots.
Had them all over my son’s pepper plants we planted earlier in the year.
Not small ones but we’ve been overrun by normal sized ones since about last weekend, it’s driving us crazy
Ti’s the season
I find them more in plants bought from supermarkets for some reason.
I’ve got tons of these in my kitchen as well.
Fungus gnats, only water from the bottom, it helps. You don’t need to water cacti and succulents more than like, once every 2 weeks. In the summer.
Yes, loads everywhere..I hate them
No flies but that’s probably because of the massive fuck off spiders taking over the house and garden. There’s one stripey fella whose web extends from the guttering on the second floor to the end of the patio. I make it 5m diameter.
We like spiders but i literally can’t get to my watering butt because of the over achiever
Not many actually, presumably because they’re all in your house.
If you can see flies on the plants a temporary treatment could be to spray with a mild solution of washing up liquid for a few days same as treating aphids. Generally they are living or attracted to in the overwet soil or standing water in a tray under them.
Got a boat load of (what I assume are) drain flies in the kitchen. Housemate is adamant they’re fruit flies though, which I guess they could be. But I don’t think he knows what drain flies are so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Yeah they’re fungus gnats and I’ve been battling them after over watering earlier this summer.
You want to…
a) stop over watering and consider a water moisture probe to help in future (£10 from Amazon)
b) consider topping your pots with diatomaceous earth (a big bag costs around £20) which dries out and shreds the new borns, else they’ll just stick around. Can also mix it into your compost if repotting.
c) get some anti fungus gnat liquid and mix that into the water you give them – I also spray mist them with it too
d) get rid of the most infested plants if it’s severe, or check for squishy and black roots and trim them.
e) if all that fails and it’s getting worse, try nematodes as they’re the most expensive but also anecdotally most effective option.
Keep the sticky pads going though as a combo of these approaches is the most effective!
If you have recently reported them then I can bet it’s fly eggs in the soil. They are fungus gnats and they live in and eat decaying soil. Take the soil, if you have any left, and leave it outside and keep shaking it.
Get some nematode mix and water your plants with it, works a charm.
Big and small driving me mad. Always paranoid sticky traps are catching stuff, but also attracting more. Same with opening my window – are they going out or coming in?