Aren't we all growing or wanting to grow
a variety of plants inside our homes?
Pest infestation is a common problem faced by
people who grow plants in this way.
These are small insects, such as mosquitos,
or fruit flies, which are nicknamed by many,
are called fungus gnats.
In today's video I am going to tell you
how these fungal infections occur,
what are the annoyances
they cause us and how to control them.
Let's go straight to the video.
I am Jyju from Jyju's Home Videos !
For those who do not know what these Fungus Gnats are,
let me first introduce this party.
These are very small insects that can be seen here.
Like I said earlier,
they have a lot in common with fruit flies.
But their size is very small.
These fungus gnats begin their life cycle
by laying eggs at the base of the plant in the topsoil.
An insect or fungus can lay up to 300 eggs.
The eggs hatch in 4 to 6 days
and hatch into larvae like these.
These larvae live on organic matter in the soil.
The roots of the plants are also their favorite food.
Small plants do not need much delay
to become extinct if they are more infested.
These larvae reach maturity in 4 or 6 days.
The total life of these fungus gnats are
only three to four weeks under suitable conditions.
These do not bother or bite us.
But who can tolerate the fact that
hundreds of baby insects are flying
around our house?
These fungus gnats prefer
moist soil and moist conditions.
Where do these fungus gnats come from ?
These fungus gnats first come to a home
that is free of them
by the plants that we buy from nurseries
or from our friends' and other homes.
If the plants we buy have their eggs or larvae,
it will take only a short time for them
to spread to other plants in our house.
So my friends who like plants when choose
to buy plants,
make sure that there are no eggs, larvae
or live fungus gnats inside the pot.
I got the chance to do this video
because I got into trouble like this.
It is natural to have doubts about how to know
if these fungus gnats are present.
This is very simple.
Slightly tap by hand around the plant pot, like this.
If there are any live insects
you can definitely see them jump out of the hidden soil
and fly around the pot.
If you no longer see flying insects,
gently shake the top of the pot
with your finger or a stick.
This is to ensure that the larvae of these
fungus gnats are not present.
Their larvae look like this.
If there are no more larvae in the pots,
we can buy plants.
Because we can't find their eggs.
Their eggs are so small.
Now I 'm going to tell you how to get rid of these
fungus gnats in our plants.
If the fungus gnat infestation is too much,
we have to deal with insects in three different stages.
Eggs, larvae and adult insects.
If we want to get rid of all these,
the first thing we can do is kill the flying insects.
For this we can buy or make
adhesive papers like this one.
Now all we have to do is to destroy
the eggs and larvae in the soil.
Here are 5 methods I have tried.
Here are 5 methods that are completely safe
for us and do not use any deadly chemicals.
1. Soap solution:
Dilute 1 tsp or 5ml of liquid soap
in one litre of water in room temperature
and spray or pour on the plants and the bottom
until the soil is well moistened.
Care should be taken that
this used soap is not anti-bacterial.
This soap solution should be used once a week.
2. Apple cider vinegar solution:
Add a tablespoon or 15 ml of Apple Cider Vinegar
to the soap solution mentioned earlier and pour it
on the soil at the base of the plant as it gets wet.
Some plants do not like vinegar.
So it is safe to test first and use it on plants.
3. Hydrogen Peroxide Solution:
Hydrogen peroxide with a strength of 3% should be used.
Mix 1 part of hydrogen peroxide with 4 parts of water
i.e. 1 to 4 parts of hydrogen peroxide and water
and water the soil at the base of the plant
until it is well moistened.
If we use the 6% one, we can use water in double
4. Neem oil solution:
Mix one teaspoon of neem oil
and one teaspoon or 5 ml of liquid soap
in one litre of water
and spray as if the whole plant is wet
and pour until the base is well moistened.
5. Mosquito Bits:
It is a product for biological extermination
of eggs and larvae of mosquitoes and fungus gnats.
These Mosquito Bits, which can be purchased
at Amazon and other online stores, can be used
effectively in two ways.
The first is Mosquito Bits Tea.
A tablespoon of Mosquito Bits should be soaked
in a litre of lukewarm water for 30 minutes,
then cooled and poured at the base of the plant
until well moistened.
The second method is to sprinkle half a cup
per square foot of Mosquito Bits
at the base of the plant.
After that it is enough to water as usual.
When used in both of the above methods,
the biological larvae BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis Israellensis)
contained in Mosquito bits is released.
BTI is a natural bacterium that kills
mosquito and fungus gnat larvae.
In my experience the most effective of these
five methods is neem oil or Mosquito Bits.
No matter which of these methods is used,
single use will not eliminate the fungus gnats.
It is very effective to alternate between one or two
of these methods every other week.
Neem oil spray destroys flying fungus gnats
and Mosquito bits tea larvae in the soil.
Now I am going to tell you some useful tips
for those who are bothered by this fungus gnats
and those who have not yet.
These fungus gnats lay their eggs and prefer to live
in moist soil and moist environment at all times.
By eliminating these conditions
we can certainly eliminate or reduce the incidence
of these fungus gnat infestations.
Here are some ways in which we can control them.
1. Always keep the soil at the base of the plant
dry to one or two inches below.
Don't be afraid,
the roots of the plants will be even lower.
In short, reduce watering of plants.
In the absence of moist soil and
favorable conditions,
these fungus gnats may go elsewhere and survive.
2. Slightly change
the method of watering the plants.
Change the method of watering from the top
and water from the bottom.
Didn't get it ?
Let me explain.
As you can see,
take a bucket or basin that is big enough
to hold our pots down and place our pot in it.
Now pour the water into this outer bucket.
Simply pour water at a level one or two inches below
the top of the pot.
Water seeps in through holes
in the bottom of the pots.
That is, water will be drawn through the holes
below to moisten the planted soil.
After five or ten minutes,
lift the pot and drain the excess water.
What an idea !
Dry is the top of the pots !
Water enough for the bottom !
3. Mulching is the next best way
to control fungus gnats.
As I said before, these fungus gnats
lay their eggs in the top layer of soil.
Here we are trying to eliminate this egg-laying situation.
For this we can use barriers like very small pebbles,
rough, course sand, etc.
If large pebbles are used,
the fungus gnats will squeeze to the soil
and lay eggs.
In addition to the pebbles and sand I mentioned earlier,
there are some products that are used exclusively
for this purpose.
Barriers like these are one of them.
This product costs about $ 20 per four litres.
Those with more plants will have to spend a lot.
But the sand that I mentioned is the one
that fits in our pockets and is very effective.
4. The next method is to use a variety of potting mixes
that claim to keep these fungus gnats away.
Such potting mixes are made using
a variety of ingredients that are not at all
attracting to these fungus gnats.
Although the price is a bit high,
such potting mixes are very effective.
The top half of the pot of this money plant
is filled with this potting mix.
We should not be idle after the fungus gnats
are eliminated completely,
by applying the tricks I mentioned.
Always keep an eye on the base of the plants and the soil.
These tiny insects are likely to return at any time.
So be careful.
If you like this video and
you think it would help someone you know,
please do share it with them.
I hope you liked this video on Fungus Gnats.
I also hope that you learned how to grow plants
in you home without any troubles from these fungus gnats
Until we meet again with another useful video
like this one, Good Bye Everyone !