How to Get Rid of Houseplant Gnats

Fungus gnats on houseplant in Bristol TN home - Leo's Pest Control

Whether you’ve recently bought your first indoor plant or you’re a houseplant aficionado, fungus gnats can be any plant parent’s worst nightmare. Gnats can appear overnight in hoards, making it difficult to know where they came from in the first place. Like many pests, gnats—especially fungus gnats—are drawn to excess moisture. This is why they commonly infest houseplants in Tennessee homes. To avoid the frustration of these tiny pests, it’s important to know how to eliminate the conditions that attract them in the first place.

The pest control experts at Leo’s Pest Control know how frustrating houseplant gnats can be. We’ve gathered our top tips and tricks to get rid of gnats in your home for good—read on to learn more.

Why Do I Have a Gnat Problem?

There are a few reasons why you may have a gnat problem in your home. If you have a tendency to overwater your houseplants, fungus gnats will lay their eggs on the moist potting soil. The larvae will develop within the soil and quickly hatch. Once they’ve established themselves, fungus gnats can quickly attack other nearby plants. If you are noticing gnats outdoors, it may be due to an overwatered lawn, a flat roof that lacks proper drainage, or dirty garbage cans that have grown fungus. Once you’ve identified where the fungus gnats are coming from, you can learn how to prevent them in the first place.

How to get rid of fungus gnats in houseplants - Infographic by Leo's Pest Control

5 Steps to Get Rid of Houseplant Gnats

Keeping gnats away requires knowing how to make your home less attractive to them in the first place. The easiest thing to do is make sure you keep gnats from laying their eggs in the soil of your houseplants. Here’s how:

  1. Never overwater your plants to the point where the soil stays wet for days at a time. You can rake the soil to help it dry quicker.
  2. Avoid letting any water sit in the drainage tray beneath plant pots. Always make sure your houseplants have the best drainage possible by incorporating gravel, sand, and more into your potting soil mix.
  3. Considering “quarantining” the houseplant with the gnats to keep them from spreading. Consider taking it outdoors and removing the top layer of wet soil entirely.
  4. Place sticky traps in the plant soil to target and trap any adult gnats that are already flying around.
  5. To get rid of gnats in your yard, make sure to not overwater your lawn, keep your garbage sealed properly, and make sure you have proper drainage on your roof and elsewhere.

How to Keep Gnats Away For Good

Gnats may be tiny and mostly a nuisance, but they can also spread germs that cause diseases like salmonella or E. coli. For that reason, it’s crucial to keep them away. If you’re having trouble controlling the gnats in your home, the experts at Leo’s Pest Control can help. We can help identify the conditions that are attracting them, and provide you with a plan to keep them away for good. Contact us today!

No-see-ums vs Gnats vs Mosquito Bites—How Are They Different?

A small swarm of gnats in Bristol TN - Leo's Pest Control

No matter the time of day or time of year, bugs in Bristol TN are out and biting. You could be awake or sleeping, outside or inside, and still be a target.

When it comes to staying safe from bug bites, flying pests can be the hardest to defend yourself from. There are multiple kinds of airborne insects in our region that can dish out painful, irritating, or even dangerous bites. In particular, we hear a lot of people complain about no-see-ums, gnats, and mosquitoes. If you think you’ve been bitten by one of these pests but are having trouble identifying your bites, read on for Leo’s Pest Control’s expert insight!

Gnats vs No-see-ums vs Mosquitoes

These three pests are widely felt to be Bristol’s most annoying insects. We’ve all ran into these pests at some point or another, but here’s how to be sure which one you’re seeing:

  1. Mosquitoes: Much larger than our other two friends, mosquitoes can be identified easily. They have long wings and a proboscis that looks like a needle protruding from their mouth. Their bodies form a hunch-backed position and grow to about 3/8”.
  2. Gnats: These tiny flies come out in spring and summer by the thousands. Gnats are very small with gray or black bodies, and they move together in large swarms, or clouds, of individuals.
  3. No-see-ums: No-see-ums are actually a specific type of gnat. They are even smaller than their counterparts, at only around 1/16” in length. This allows them to squeeze through the screens on our windows and doors.

Differences Between Bug Bites

One way to tell apart the kinds of pests around your home in Bristol TN is to be able to identify them by bite symptoms. These are the main differences between mosquito, gnat, and no-see-um bites:

  • Mosquito bites: Mosquito bites start as a raised white welt and recede into a pinkish-red bump. They are likely to take place on your arms, legs, or other easily accessible areas of exposed skin.
  • Gnat bites: Gnat bites look similar to mosquito bites, but can be distinguished by being darker, smaller, and more rough-looking. They also take longer to heal than mosquito bites.
  • No-see-um bites: Given that no-see-ums are actually gnats, their bites are very similar to most other gnats. However, no-see-ums are more likely to bite very close together and on less common areas, like your face.

In short, you can differentiate between these kinds of bites by how close together they are, how dark they are, and how long they last.

Preventing Bug Bites in Bristol TN

Using an insect repellent that is made of up to 20% DEET is one of the most effective methods of preventing bug bites during the summer in Bristol. However, if it isn’t enough to stop the pests around your property, you can rely on professional pest control to help you control your outbreak. At Leo’s Pest Control, we have plenty of experience eliminating all kinds of pest infestations and will conduct comprehensive inspections and repellent efforts to keep your yard pest-free*. For a free quote on pest control for mosquitoes, gnats, or no-see-ums, contact us today!