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8h โ€ข Pests & Plant Drama
๐Ÿชฐโ„๏ธ Winter Invaders: Stopping Fungus Gnats Before They Take Over Your Indoor Pots
If tiny flies are hovering around your plants like they own the placeโ€ฆ congratulations, youโ€™ve met fungus gnats, the most annoying winter houseplant pest.
They show up quietly, multiply quickly, and make gardeners question their sanity by late December.
The good news?
Fungus gnats are easy to control once you understand why they show up and winter is actually the best time to stop them for good.
๐ŸŒฑ ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐…๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐†๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ฌ ๐‹๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐‡๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ
Fungus gnats thrive in:
* constantly moist soil
* low airflow
* warm indoor temps
* organic potting mixes
* homes with heaters running
They donโ€™t mean your plant is unhealthy. They mean the soil conditions are perfect for them.
๐Ÿ” ๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Š๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ˆ๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐…๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐†๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ฌ (๐๐จ๐ญ ๐…๐ซ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐…๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ)
โœ” Small black flies near soil
โœ” They jump or fly when you water
โœ” Larvae live in the soil
โœ” Adults hover near pots
Fruit flies go after food.
Fungus gnats go after soil.
๐Ÿšซ ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐Ž๐“ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ƒ๐จ
Avoid:
* โŒ spraying random chemicals
* โŒ overwatering โ€œto flush them outโ€
* โŒ repotting everything immediately
* โŒ ignoring them (they multiply FAST)
โœ…๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ“-๐’๐ญ๐ž๐ฉ ๐–๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐†๐ง๐š๐ญ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง
๐Ÿ. ๐‹๐ž๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ญ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ 
Top 1โ€“2 inches should dry fully.
๐Ÿ. ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐จ๐ฆ-๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ง ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž
Keeps the soil surface dry (where gnats lay eggs).
๐Ÿ‘. ๐”๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฒ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ค๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ
Catches adults and confirms progress.
๐Ÿ’. ๐ˆ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐š๐ข๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ
A small fan on low helps soil dry faster.
๐Ÿ“. ๐€๐๐ ๐š ๐ฌ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐›๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ซ
Sand, gravel, or mosquito bits discourage egg laying.
๐ŸŒฟ ๐‹๐จ๐ง๐ -๐“๐ž๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
* Use pots with drainage
* Avoid soggy winter soil
* Quarantine new plants
* Clean fallen leaves
* Donโ€™t over-love your plants with water
Anyone battling fungus gnats right now?
Tell us where they showed up- herbs, houseplants, seedlings and weโ€™ll help you knock them out! ๐Ÿชฐ๐ŸŒฟ
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Donna Scarborough
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๐Ÿชฐโ„๏ธ Winter Invaders: Stopping Fungus Gnats Before They Take Over Your Indoor Pots
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