“Not again,” I groaned. Perhaps I should have said, “Gnat again?”
It seemed every time I opened a new bag of potting soil, my house became infested with these fruit fly-like critters. I know fungus gnats are not harmful, but they multiply fast. It had only been a week since I opened a new bag of soil, and already my pots were hopping with gnats. The windowsill was black with a thick layer of dead and semi-dead gnats with enough on the floor to shovel like snow. Ugh! I had to do something.
I didn’t like the idea of tossing gnat-infested, potting soils in my garden, but sometimes that was the most efficient way of eliminating the problem. And once I opened another new bag of potting soil, I could be faced with another dilemma — would it be infested? It was time to take action to preserve my soil and plants, and (yes) my sanity. Fungus gnats beware, I’m on a rampage! A chemical-free rampage, of course.
What Is a Fungus Gnat?
What are these little menaces? And are they harmful? Perhaps not harmful in small numbers, but certainly invasive and annoying. I once thought they were fruit flies. They certainly look like them and they multiply as quickly, flittering about with reckless abandon. I have a friend who works in a garden center, and she set me straight. Fungus gnats feed off the biodegradable material found in potting soil. In a sealed bag, they hibernate; once the bag is opened and the is soil distributed in pots, it’s a free-for-all for these gnats. The eggs, buried just beneath the soil, hatch at an alarming pace, and the fruit fly look-alikes are everywhere.
任何有有机分解来源的地方,盆栽土壤和其他容器混合物都会滋生真菌。基本上,这些恼人的虫卵孵化出来的幼虫以土壤中的真菌和有机物为食。虽然真菌蚊蚋对人类无害,但对植物却是毁灭性的。为什么?因为,一旦它们繁殖并失去控制,它们就会开始咀嚼植物的根部,创造出它们自己可以食用的腐烂食物,慢慢地杀死植物。这不是一件好事。
Related Post:Natural Insect Repellent
Gnat Removal Solutions
Whatever you’ve used for fruit flies will also work for fungus gnats — to a certain extent, at least. There are fruit fly traps and specially formulated sticky tapes that attract both fruit flies and fungus gnats. But, whilst they may do really well with fruit flies, these solutions are merely a band-aid, fixer-upper to a problem that’s far worse.
果蝇疗法的一个问题是,吸引果蝇的粘性药剂是甜的,而不是真菌。正如我们刚刚了解到的,真菌蚊蚋会被真菌(腐烂的植被)吸引。
Scotch Tape
I’ve had marginal success by wrapping scotch tape, sticky side up, around my infected (and soon-to-be-infected) pots. The problem is, fungus gnats have to land on the sticky surface to be caught. With nothing rotting on the tape to attract them, it’s merely a coincidence if they land and get stuck. I may have caught half a dozen fungus gnats using either the sticky fruit fly trapping tape or regular scotch tape. Not much of a solution for a problem far greater than half a dozen fungus gnats.
Apple Cider Vinegar
I’ve also put out jars of apple cider vinegar, loosely wrapped with plastic that has holes punctured in the top. This method is marginally effective in attracting fungus gnats. The goal is to trap them in the jar and hopefully drown them in the sticky sweet syrup. Once again, this is more of a fruit fly remedy, as the sweetness attracts fruit flies, not fungus gnats.
我用真空软管把它们全部吸走,甚至把它们从土壤表面吸走,结果发现在一天结束前,更多的真菌蚊蚋又复活了。
The best solution when suddenly infested? Get rid of the soil — plants, pots, and all. Not my favorite.
Alternate Solutions
There’s always the option of spraying plants with insecticidal soap, or (as my grandmother used to do) rescuing the left-over dishwater (from handwashing dishes — which many people don’t do anymore) and spraying it over the plants. Both methods have marginal effectiveness, but it’s always good to have something nontoxic handy should the fungus gnats find a way to multiply again despite all your good efforts.
Another alternative is to cover the top layer of soil with sand or decorative moss soil covers. This keeps the fungus gnats in the soil, deterring them from laying eggs.
Be Proactive Before Gnats Hatch
What I really needed to do was get rid of the fungus gnats before they hatched. That meant I needed a way to sterilize the soil as soon as I opened the bag. I did my research. Some sites suggested baking the soil in the oven. Others suggested microwaving it. Somehow the baking idea didn’t attract me as baking anything dries it out and I didn’t want to totally obliviate the soil of its good nutrients. I decided to give microwaving a try.
听起来乱吗?嗯,是的,它可以是。但有一些方法可以避免过多的混乱。
1. First, I placed an old towel on the bottom of the microwave. I chose my pots (plastic with no metal adornments as I was, after all, planning to put the soil-filled pots in the microwave), cleaned them thoroughly, and sterilized them with boiling water before filling them with soil. Those fungus gnats can hibernate forever and if there’s any remnant of soil or rotting substances in the pot, you can be assured there are eggs waiting to hatch.
2. Once the sterilized pots cooled, I cut a suitably sized (depending on the shape and size of your pot) piece of landscaping fabric. If you don’t have any, an old T-shirt does the trick. Just don’t use one with lots of dye in it, especially if you plan on growing edibles. I placed the fabric at the bottom of the pots, and then filled them with soil from the newly opened bag. I placed four pots (this will vary depending on the size of your pots and microwave) on the toweled surface and covered the pots with another old towel.
3. I microwaved the four pots on high for two minutes, then carefully removed the now very hot pots from the microwave, setting them aside while I prepared four more pots. Once I had all my pots ready, I placed them on equally cleaned and sterilized trays, and set them in my garden window to allow the sun to dry the soil. I left the pots there, with no seeds or seedlings planted, and no watering for a week, before proceeding with my next step.
4. Then, it was back to the microwave which was smelling intensely like a garden nursery. I removed the towels and cleaned the inside of the microwave thoroughly with soapy water. Then I took a glass measuring cup, filled it half full of water, added some dish detergent, and placed the glass cup in the microwave. I microwaved it on high for one minute, then removed the cup and dumped the contents. The microwave smelled fresh again, but I left it open for a few hours to finish airing out.
More Preventative Measures
I store unused potting soil in a sealed plastic container. Leaving the soil in open potting soil bags encourages more fungus gnat breeding. The sealed plastic container is devoid of oxygen, which is necessary for the survival of fungus gnats and their eggs.
Also, never reuse potting soil. It’s an invitation for fungus gnat trouble. Instead, I dump my used potting soil outside in the garden, where the fungus gnats can enjoy the seasons, hopefully freezing to death in the winter months.
Let’s See if It Worked
我在花园的窗户里坐了一个星期,没有发现真菌虫卵喷发的迹象,于是我决定加点水。我曾在某个地方读到,最好从底部浇水,因为真菌蚊蚋通常在土壤的顶层。最好保持顶层干燥,以阻止卵孵化和随后的侵扰。这是有道理的,因为植物的根部很好地扎根在土壤中,比植物的顶部更能从水中获益。我在每个罐子下面的托盘里都放了一半的水,让它们多放几天。
Satisfied my plan had worked, I breathed a sigh of relief and planted my seeds and seedlings, continuing to water from the bottom and not too much at a time. It’s also important not to allow the pots to sit in water for too long. After about an hour, I drained the remaining water to allow the pots time to dry out again before re-watering.
So if you’re tired of those annoying fungus gnats, you know the ones that flutter around like fruit flies and multiply exponentially, you now have a few tips to keep the problem under control. No more “Gnat again” scenarios in this household, that’s for sure.
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