FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi! I’ve seen a lot of posts about attracting flies to your vft but I have the opposite problem! The moist soil is a breeding ground for these little black gnats. They do tend to be an issue where I live, but I can control them in my other houseplants but not saturating the soil. Obviously that’s not an option with the vft. Has anyone found a product or method that helps with this type of fly control?

I had the same problem last year in a garden window in the kitchen. I added a pinguicula aphrodite. That ping's leaves were covered with those pesky gnats all spring and summer. Problem solved... and I had a wonderful excuse for adding another plant to the collection. If the area is sunny enough, a sundew is an option as well.

I would add a sundew or 30 to help solve that problem.

If you add a sundew I would recomend a Drosera multifida extrema because it is good at catching a lot of insects. If the space where you put it doesn't have much light a D. adelae might work. Most people find D. adelae easy to grow but I killed mine so I'm not sure.

I would just buy yellow glue traps. One of those will fix the issue quicker than a tray of sundews.

SundewWolf wrote:I would just buy yellow glue traps. One of those will fix the issue quicker than a tray of sundews.

Shut your dirty mouth! More carnivorous plants is always the answer.

The cheapest method would be to let the plant dry out before watering again so those larvae will just disintegrate but then you'll have more with the adults that are already hatched. I would go with either those sticky fly strips like sundewolf said or get some sundews. Although depending on location the sundews might not receive enough light to produce any dew so your left with using those fly strips. IDK what the health of your vfts look like so we can't really say what the complete best option would be. I'd say water a little less and get fly strips. Buying more sundews is a cool option ,but if your budget is tight and or you don't want many more plants your limited to the suggestions.

Buy a package of "Mosquito dunks" at the garden center. Put one quarter of one in your watering can. This will kill the larvae in the soil and stop future generations. It is all natural and safe. Use sticky traps and manually kill the adults.