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 Post subject: Nasty little house gnats
PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2003 3:04 pm 
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Joined: Sun May 04, 2003 8:24 am
Posts: 6
Location: Flint,TX
Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to get rid of those nasty lttle house gnats. I try to be very careful when bringing fruit into the house from the grocery store. I have put "DE" in the potting soil for my house plants. That does seem to help of a while but then they return. I don't know if they are deep in the dirt and I should just repot every plant with a specific potting soil or if this is just life! This is not a massive invasion mind you, just one here and there. Just a enough to annoy you. Are they just a summer thing and they come in from the outside. Periodically some of the plants at work get them but I put the DE on the top soil of my plants in my office area and it seems to keep them out of my office, but I do notice them in other areas. My husband is sure they are coming from the house plants (although there is no absolute proof of this) Any helpful ideas are apprecicated, 'cause I really don't want plastic plants!


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 Post subject: Gnats
PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2003 8:35 am 
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Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 9:20 am
Posts: 31
Location: Cisco,TEXAS
I have heard that you can put some cider vinegar in a jar and cover it with plastic wrap then poke small holes in the plastic. This will attract gnats that are in your house. Once they go in they get trapped in the vinegar and can't get back out. Of course this may attract them from outside???

I think that these little pest mostly come in from outside. I am not sure on this. I know that when I have fresh fruit sitting on the cabinet, the gnats just show up. Of course our house is in no way tight and they can get in easily.

Hope this helps some.
:?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 12:03 am 
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Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2003 3:45 pm
Posts: 2884
Location: San Antonio,TEXAS
I believe they are affected by BTi, the same bacteria that is used against mosquitoes. If you soak a mosquito dunk in water overnight and water your plants with that water, it should help.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2003 11:33 am 
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Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 9:49 pm
Posts: 66
Location: ,
My experience is that once you get them, it is hard to get rid of them. What I ended up doing is capturing them in my vacuum. I used a canister vac to suck them up and then sucked some DE into the vac as well. You may want to toss the bag (outside) or at least temporarily store you vac in the garage in case the gnats don't get killed by the DE and slip back out. It may take several vacuumings to get them all, but I have totally gotten rid of a fairly sizable population this way. Of course, eventually, they be back! Good Luck!

Marlyn


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 8:54 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2003 10:54 pm
Posts: 30
Location: Prosper, TX
You might also try Orange Guard. It is a ready to use orange oil product and wont burn the plants. I have used this on plants around a fountain and it knocks the gnats right out. You have to make contact with them, but it works great and smells nice too.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 9:01 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2003 10:54 pm
Posts: 30
Location: Prosper, TX
You might also try Orange Guard. It is a ready to use orange oil product and wont burn the plants. I have used this on plants around a fountain and it knocks the gnats right out. You have to make contact with them, but it works great and smells nice too.


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