Gnats are two-winged flying creature that look-alike mosquitoes, which are small in size but enough to irritate you. They can harm you, your kids, pets, plant and kitchen wares. Gnats carry parasites and spread diseases in human. They lay their eggs near the moist area and house plants. It is very unpleasant to see them around your home. Luckily, it is very easy to get rid of them and prevent them from coming back. There are a number of tricks you can follow to get rid of them. Read more, to know various methods to kill gnats.
Methods to Kill Gnats:
1.) Apple Cider Vinegar to Kill Gnats
You can make apple cider vinegar trap, which is very effective to get rid of gnats. The smell of apple cider vinegar is very appealing to them. They can’t resist that smell of vinegar. You can heat apple cider vinegar if you want to enhance the smell.
- Take a mason jar or container. Pour apple cider vinegar, add some liquid dish washing soap and stir it well.
- Cover the mouth of jar or container with plastic wrap and tie a rubber band for more security. Make some holes with the help of a toothpick and fork. Try to make the smaller holes, so that the fly could not escape.
- Place the jar where gnats most swarm. The flies will go into the jar, but could not be able to escape from the jar and will drown in a mixture.
- If in case, flies don’t drown, so you can put the jar in the freezer for 25 to 30 minutes. They definitely get killed. Replace the old content with the new.
2.) Red Wine Soap Trap to Get Rid of Gnats
Drunk flies are strange to hear, they even get intoxicated as we can. As they love the smell of red wine, so you can use it to trap them.
- Take half cup of red wine, which is left out in your bottle and mix it with the half cup of water.
- Pour the solution in a container or a jar. Cover the top of the jar with wrapping plastic.
- Pore few holes with the help of a toothpick, so that the gnats could enter the jar. Place a container where you find most gnats swarm.
- The smell of red wine will allure gnats and they will drown in the mixture when they will come in contact with the wine.
- When the jar fills up with dead flies, remove the content and clean the jar with warm soapy water. You can repeat the process if there are more gnats available.
3.) Kill Gnats with Infested Soil Dry Out
Gnat needs the moist area to reproduce and lay their eggs. Allow the top 2 inches of soil to dry out completely, don’t give water in your garden or your infested pot. Gnats usually lay their eggs in damp, overwatered plant. Their larvae need moist organic material to develop. Larvae and eggs of gnats will dry out if they exposed to a dry condition.
- The infested plant could show the early sign of withering so that you can figure out that this is the infested plant. You cannot avoid these symptoms.
- The soil needs to be at least this dry so that adult gnats couldn’t breed.
- You can leave adult gnat to die off their or you can kill them with traps or another method.
4.) Re-pot your Plant to Prevent Gnats
If letting the soil dry doesn’t work for you, you can use another method. You need to completely remove the plant from its current position and put them into a fresh and clean soil. Try to completely remove the soil using your finger or soft brush. Using fresh soil is important because gnat may have laid eggs in the old soil.
- Gnats are attracted toward fungus and decaying plant. Try to check your plant regularly, if the plant shows the sign of decay, the plant might be beyond saving.
- Remove dead plant as much as possible, and if there is still decaying plant matter left to live, go for re- potting.
- Transfer the plant to a pot filled with fresh oil. Clean out the old pot with soap water. You can use a solution made from one part of bleach and five parts of water.
5.) Stop Food Supply to Kill Gnats
Food is the source of energy without which no one can survive. If food supply will stop, then definitely everyone will die. This same thing you could do to kill gnats. Like other insects, gnats also feed on the food you leave out in the open.
- You can prevent the gnats by properly cleaning your dining room and kitchen regularly, disposing your leftover food scraps and cooking remains. You can prevent your house from an invasion of gnats before they ever become a problem.
- Store your food in an airtight or wrapped container within a refrigerator or sealed cabinet. Keep fruit in the refrigerator to prevent it from getting rotten and attract gnats.
- Don’t leave your dirty dishes in the sink as the food particles left in it, attracts gnats.
- Wash your dirty dishes immediately after your meal and put them in dish rack.
- Cover the dish rack with a clean and dry towel.
6.) Cover your Trash Cans to Prevent the Entry of Gnats
Covering your trash cans will not only help you to get rid of gnats but also from other harmful flies, insects, and bacteria. Open trash cans spread many diseases because they are the home to bacteria and insects. You can prevent gnat invasion by doing so. If the garbage cans outside your home are open, gnats make their home and feast there. Similarly, they will follow their noses and enter into your home. By covering up garbage, you will destroy the root cause of them to enter your house.
- Try to avoid keeping a bag of trash in the house overnight. Dump all the garbage every night and be sure the outdoor trash cans are covered.
- Make sure to clean out your indoor garbage container regularly and wipe down the surface and lid with bleach. If gnats will come in contact with bleach, it will immediately kill them.
7.) Kills Gnats through Sticky Trap
The sticky card trap is also very effective to kill gnats. According to the theory, yellow color attracts more gnats. And, honey attracts more gnats because it smells sweet, but other substances will also work. You can also use another sticky substance such as paste or petroleum jelly instead of honey.
- Cover one side of the yellow index card with a thin layer of honey or petroleum jelly.
- Attach some stick to the card, but do not attach the stick to the honey side covered area. Place a card in the soil of an infested plant and keep the honey coated side of the card faces out. The gnats will stick to the sticky area and die.
- Replace the card, once it fills up with the dead gnats.
8.) Lemon-Scented Liquid Dish Soap
It is a very good option to kill gnats and keep your indoor plants free from gnats. The gnats will get attract toward the lemon scent and soap solution will kill them.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of lemon-scented liquid dish soap with 4 liters of water in a spray bottle.
- Spray this soapy solution on the leaves and stem of infested plant to kill the gnats.
- Clean the leaves and stem of the infested plant with clean water after killing gnats to remove the soapy solution.
- You could also just add a few drops of dish soap to the water you use to water your plants.
- If you do not have lemon-scented liquid dish soap, you can also try other things which you have.
9.) Ammonia to Kill Gnats
Gnats could also lay their eggs in your drain. Ammonia is the best thing you could use to kill them. It will not only kill the gnats in fact, stop their breeding also. However, mind the quantity of the ammonia.
- Simply pour a small dose of ammonia into the drink to kill gnats along with their larvae and eggs living inside your drain. Be sure to leave the ammonia to get dilute for several hours before using sink again because ammonia is also toxic for the human.
- Alternative for foul-smelling ammonia is; you can put two tablespoons of baking soda into the drain with a cup of white vinegar. This mixture will fizz slightly, leave for a couple of hours to sit before running water.
10.) Remove Food and Water to Get Rid of Gnats
Scan your kitchen for the left out food. Place all the fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator that are sitting out to get rid of gnats. They love to eat rotten fruit, so the refrigerator is the best place for your food. Place your dry fruits and goods in a sealed container.
- Gnats breeds and lay eggs in the moist area. Try to remove all the standing water, including pet water, plant water and don’t water stay for long.
- Move your pet’s water into a room that doesn’t have any food available there.
- Tell your family not to leave any water out while you are working on a gnat problem.
