Simple Fungus Gnat Prevention Tips for Vegetable Plants

If you see adult fungus gnats flying around or near your plants, for sure there are also larvae feasting on your plants' roots. To monitor their population, use little yellow sticky strips placed horizontally right next to your plants. The adult gnats are not good in flying, making them very easy to trap. The yellow sticky traps are useful for monitoring the population but they cannot control the larvae which create the real damage to plants. Here are some simple fungus gnat prevention tips targeting the larvae.  

* Place inch-long slices of raw potato on the surface of the soil. Fungus gnat larvae will migrate to the potato pieces within 4 hours to much on them. After several hours, check on the potato slices, look for very small black-headed larvae both on and under the potato and then dispose the slices properly.

* Allow the soil of your plants to dry out for a few days. Since fungus gnats thrive on wet conditions, they will die with this process. But make sure your plants can tolerate several days without water.

* Consider getting an effective and affordable fungus gnat prevention product. Also, there are parasitic nematodes that kill fungus gnat larvae, but this product is more useful for bigger-scale gardens. Neem oil is also a very effective all-natural fungus gnat control material and could be used as a soil drench to kill the gnat eggs.

* Fungus gnats could also be controlled easily by using a simple product you can find in your very home. The larvae will die when they come in direct contact with hydrogen peroxide. Use the standard 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide without added ingredients. The process includes allowing the soil to dry out for a couple of days so the top 2 inches of soil is dry. This is where the larvae dwell, and they won't be able to survive in dry soil. During drought, fungus gnat larvae will delay their development, but when the soil is wet again, they'll resume eating and growing.

Follow the link provided or watch the video below to learn about fungus gnat prevention products that work.