How to Get Rid of Indoor Gnats

Select healthy, bug-free plants for your home. Avoid the problem in the first place by keeping them away from your home.

Isolate new plants from your existing houseplants and keep an eye out for signs of insects and diseases. If you don't notice any problems after two weeks you're in the clear to move the new plants to their permanent locations. This is a super easy way to prevent spreading problems to your healthy plants.

Fungus gnats thrive in warm, moist environments. Allowing the soil to dry between waterings kills gnat larvae and makes your plant less hospitable to adult gnats looking for a place to lay eggs.

If your plant does develop a fungus gnat problem, the first thing you should do is isolate the affected plant so the problem does not spread to healthy plants.

You can then trap and drown adult gnats by placing apple cider vinegar or wine in a small bowl near the problem plant.

Remove 1/4 inch of topsoil and replace with sand. Fungus gnats prefer moist soil with a lot of organic matter and will avoid plants top dressed with sand.

If you can't get the gnat population under control you will need to repot the plant in sterile potting soil. Gently remove as much of the original soil from around the roots and trim out any diseased or rotting roots prior to repotting in fresh soil.