Grrrrr... soil gnats in my houseplants!
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free skin care · Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:00 am

I hate those little bugs. For some reason, ALL my houseplants are super-prone to getting sand flies/soil gnats, those little black flies that are like fruit flies but blacker and dumber, and that like to burrow in the soil and live there. And once your plants get them, it's really hard to get rid of them!

I've been to gardening stores to ask for tips, and I've received a couple: 1) Score the soil with a fork to stir it up, 2) Dump a layer of sand over the soil and keep it wet so it seals off their air supply, 3) Buy weird sticks with sticky fly-strips on them and stick 'em in all your plants. None of these has worked consistently so far.

Does anyone on here have any tips? In a big house it's not that noticeable, but in our apartment it really stands out. Especially when we're watching TV on our projector, and there's a fly flitting across the wall on our "screen". Very distracting. Laughing

I think I'm going to move all our plants out on to our (glassed-in) balcony, but it gets really cold out there this time of year and I'm worried they'll start to die because of the temperature. So if anyone has good sand-fly-killing tips, I'd love to hear them! I was thinking of mixing some neem oil in with the plant water, since I used to use neem to kill aphids and other bugs when I had an outdoor garden. But other than that, I'm at a loss -- so if anyone has dealt with this, your tips would be most appreciated!

free skin care · Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:55 pm

sorry ginnie I haven't dealt with those little things on house plants but I can attest that a neem oil solution will repel them from human beings. Check the DIY section for my homemade insect repellant. Neem oil is one of the ingredients. When I sprayed it on and went for a walk in the marshlands, all the little no see'um bugs stayed away from me. Hmmm, I think someone also mentioned clove oil as well. You could dilute that in distilled water and spray it on your plants; it'll certainly smell better then neem oil! Laughing

free skin care · Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:59 pm

Heh, thanks! You're right that clove would be less stinky than neem, I'll have to give that a try. I wonder if cinnamon would work OK too -- I know it gets used as a preservative sometimes for natural formulations.

My boyfriend is being driven crazy by these lil' bastards too, but I bet the neem would be even worse for him! Plus, our poor kitty would go bonkers. I'll see if I can't dig up some good EO concoctions -- I may use neem but add lots of clove to mask it. Delish.

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