One of the most common methods for killing fungus gnats is a gnat trap. Gnat traps come in many different shapes and sizes, from bug zappers to fly paper. If you want to rid your garden of fungus gnats congregating, then read our reviews of the best fungus gnat traps in 2022.
Fungus gnats are one of the most annoying flying insects in your garden. If you’ve ever been gardening and had some of them caught in your mouth or nose, you know exactly what we’re talking about.
They also cause trouble for your house plants and plant soil. Their larva can damage roots and prevent your house plants from growing. Unfortunately, they’re tinier than flies and mosquitos, making them even harder to rid of them than other garden pests.
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What are Fungus Gnats?
Fungus gnats are black, winged insects that are often mistaken for fruit flies. They measure just 2-3 mm in length and have long legs in proportion to their small bodies. Fungus gnats are attracted to moisture and are commonly found near houseplants.
They love the warm environment as well as any food and bacteria buildup in the houseplants.
Although they do not bite or sting, fungus gnats can cause extensive damage to plants, particularly when they infest young seedlings. The adults lay their eggs in the soil, and the larvae feed on roots.
This can interfere with a plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients, leading to wilting and yellowing leaves. Fungus gnats are more of a nuisance than a health hazard, but infestations can be difficult to control.
Are Fungus Gnats the Same as Fruit Flies?
Fruit flies and fungus gnats are both small, flying insects that can be a nuisance in the home. However, there are some key differences between these two pests. Fruit flies are attracted to fruit, while fungus gnats are typically found near potted plants with moist soil.
In addition, fruit flies feed on fruit, while fungus gnats primarily feed on plant roots. As a result, fruit flies are more likely to cause damage to fruit crops, while fungus gnats can damage plant roots and lead to stunted growth of your houseplants.
While both insects can be a nuisance, understanding the key differences between these two pests can help you better manage them.
Why it’s Better to Use Fungus Gnat Traps than Poison Them
There are no commercial poisons for fungus gnats. Instead, most farmers will trap them with a sticky trap or a chemical solution. In some extreme cases, you can dampen the soil with hydrogen peroxide to kill off their larvae as well.
However, Fungus Gnats in small numbers are relatively harmless to your plants and garden. They do not eat potted plants, and they don’t bite people. Using a strong chemical or poison will only be putting your house plants and plant soil at unnecessary risk. Instead, try a trap or a natural remedy.
How to Prevent Fungus Gnats
Gnat infestations can be such a nuisance. Fortunately, most gnats (as well as white fly, drain flies, and other bugs) can be killed or rid of by a simple insect trap.
Before we get into the best traps to solve your fungus gnat problem, let’s look at some of the best methods to prevent fungus gnats from ever showing up.
Dry Out the Soil
Fungus gnats are attracted to damp and humid conditions. It’s essential to give your plants enough water every day, but keeping your houseplants’ soil too damp will attract annoying fungus gnats and other flying insects into your house.
If you notice that fungus gnats appear more frequently, slow down on watering your plants for a couple of days. Once the top two inches of the plants’ soil are dry, you can begin watering again. This will allow the soil to dry out properly and won’t damage your plant’s water cycle.
Mosquito Dunk
Mosquitoes, fruit flies like to lay larvae in shallow pools of still water. A mosquito dunk is a trap consisting of still water and a special bacteria to eat any larva that a flying insect lays inside.
To make a mosquito dunk, fill a large jug or can with water and add the special bacteria pellets. Make sure to break the pellets into smaller pieces before adding them to the water, and let them soak overnight.
Since fungus gnats lay their larvae in the soil instead of water, you can use the mosquito dunk water to water plants infested with fungus gnats. If you repeat this process for a few months, the gnats should eventually leave before spreading to the rest of the garden.
Watch Your Drainage Holes
Drainage holes are the tiny holes on the bottom of a flower pot. They allow water to seep out from the bottom so the soil doesn’t get too moist. Typically, fungus gnats lay their eggs at the top of the pot. However, some fungus gnats like to lay eggs in these holes as well.
Cover the hole with a piece of synthetic fabric so the flies can’t eat through it.
Best Types of Fungus Gnat Traps
Now we’ll be laying out our tips when it comes to the best fungus gnat trap types to help dissipate your infestation.
Sticky Traps
- Pest Control: Dual sided sticky bug cards for mosquito, leafminer, aphid, and other flying pest problems. Protect your best inside plant from fungus...
- Easy To Use: Peel off a trap from the stack and place in a houseplant, a home kitchen, or a garden. Highly rated zapper catchers to finally protect...
- Organic Gardening: Safe way to remove small pests with non toxic and no harsh ingredients. Fruit Flies, Gnats and other small flying insects are...
These yellow cards are probably the easiest fungus gnat traps to use. All you have to do is remove them from the packaging and place it near the plant to catch gnats. After a few hours, you should already see plenty of gnats stuck in the card.
Most sticky trap cards are yellow because the color attracts fungus gnats. They usually come in large sheets with glue in them. You can cut it into smaller squares and place them around your garden.
Fly Paper
- Safe and no-oder: This fruit fly tape for indoors is made of super thick glue and waterproof paper. No chemicals or poisons, no smoke, no chemical...
- Sticky fly ribbon: Spread out the size: 5*71cm, 20 pack sticky fly traps for indoors hanging for kitchen, large and cheap, long lasting. Gnat strips...
- The fly paper strips: Hang the fungus trap indoor where there are many flies, the sticky fly strips indoor will stick them and keep the flies from...
Flypaper works in the same way as sticky cards. It comes in a small cylinder which you unravel to reveal a long glue string of paper. You can hang this paper around your garden, and its sweet-smelling aroma will attract nearby gnats.
This works indoors and outdoors. You can even hang them from a tree. You can also stick these papers in the soil of your houseplants. The glue will trap them and prevent them from escaping.
Apple Cider Vinegar Lure
- BRAGG APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: The Bragg ACV Vinegar is made from organically grown apples, and offers various health benefits. To easily incorporate ACV...
- ORGANIC INGREDIENTS: The Bragg ACV is raw, unfiltered, and crafted from organically grown apples. It is USDA certified organic, Non-GMO Verified, and...
- MOTHER OF VINEGAR: The ‘Mother’ consists of strands of proteins, enzymes, and friendly bacteria that give the product its murky appearance. The...
This homemade solution is another popular gnat trap on the market. You can make it by combining warm water (half cup), apple cider vinegar (two tablespoons), sugar (one tablespoon), and a few drops of liquid dish soap (6 drops).
Add water and all the other ingredients into a bottle. The liquid dish soap helps break the mixture’s surface, so it can catch the bugs even more effectively.
Apple cider vinegar is more effective than just plain vinegar when it comes to attracting fungus gnats and other fly species.
Place this concoction near your infested plants, and the adult gnats should fly right in and die. This is a great way to protect your plant against this type of fly.
Red Wine Fly Trap
To make a red wine fly trap, all you need is a shallow dish and some red wine. Simply pour the red wine into the dish and wait for the flies to come. The flies will be lured to the red wine, and they’ll fall into the trap, stick in it, and eventually drown.
Once they’re dead, you can simply dispose of them. This trick is both effective and environmentally friendly! Just simply place your trap near the affected plant.
Best 2022 Traps for Fungus Gnat Larvae
Now that we have an idea of the best gnat trap types, let’s look at some of the best traps for adult gnats available on the market today.
Nema Globe Fungus Gnat Nematodes
- Exclusive non refrigerated nematode formulation
- Pot poppers - can be used on all indoor house plants, tropical plants, gardens, and any time you add or change potting soil. Easy to apply just place...
- slow release formulation for a lasting effect
If you’re looking for a natural way to rid yourself of fungus gnats, then nematodes could be your best option. Like the bacteria we mentioned in the mosquito dunk, these nematodes will seek out fungus gnat larvae and kill them.
You can add them to your watering pot, and they will begin working immediately. We liked this product because it requires no refrigeration (like some other bacteria) and works for indoor and outdoor plants. They will also kill whitefly, thrips, and many other fly larvae.
Katchy
- Automatically turns on in the dark and turns off in the light to save energy and ensure it's used most effectively. Shift to manual mode to control...
- Triple trapping power: first the UV light attracts the bug, then the fan sucks it in, and finally the sticky glue boards trap it. No zapper.
- No more ugly traps! Subtle and stylish; easily place in your home, kitchen, or office as a decorative piece. Use the trap only indoors, close to...
Katchy is a new type of bug catcher sponsored by Amazon. It specializes in catching and killing mosquitos, gnats, moths, and fruit flies. This device is interesting because, unlike other bug catchers, it does not shock the insects.
Instead, Katchy attracts insects with UV light and then uses a fan to suck them inside of the machine, where they get stuck to a glue board. This works for both outdoor and indoor use.
Like most airborne insects , fungus gnats are attracted to light, so if you place this device near your houseplants at night time, it has a good chance of catching several of the gnats inside.
Trappify Yellow Sticky Traps
- Pest Control: Dual sided sticky bug cards for mosquito, leafminer, aphid, and other flying pest problems. Protect your best inside plant from fungus...
- Easy To Use: Peel off a trap from the stack and place in a houseplant, a home kitchen, or a garden. Highly rated zapper catchers to finally protect...
- Organic Gardening: Safe way to remove small pests with non toxic and no harsh ingredients. Fruit Flies, Gnats and other small flying insects are...
Yellow sticky traps are probably the best traps for gnats because they’re so easy to deploy. Trappify keeps this philosophy with its easy-to-use product. The traps are double-sided, so you’ll have twice the sticking power in your garden.
Trappify also swears by the attractive yellow color, claiming that they specifically designed it for flying plant pests. These traps also work well to kill aphids.
SHOPXOH Yellow Sticky Traps
If you want a yellow sticky trap that’s a little more stylish, then you can’t go wrong with SHOPXOH. They have fun traps shaped like birds, butterflies, cats, carrots, and trees to make the dead fungus gnats less of an eyesore.
If you’re worried about chemicals in the glue, don’t be. These traps are non-toxic and eco-friendly to keep your garden happy and healthy. They also have a sharp bottom so you can plant them directly into the soil.
Fungus Gnat Traps – Conclusion
A bad gnat infestation can ruin the aesthetic beauty of your garden. Beautiful flowers and blooming vegetables will be replaced by a buzzing horde of insects, making gardening less fun and more of a chore.
If you take the preventive measures we mentioned above, you won’t have any trouble with fungus gnats. A good sticky card or apple cider vinegar trap will keep adult fungus gnats at bay. If you want to kill the larva, then you can try the mosquito dunk or the nematodes.
We wish you luck with eliminating your pest and growing a flourishing and vibrant garden.
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