Stupid gnats!! How do I get rid of them?

[Peachypink]

For weeks I had been finding gnats in my house but I through they were just fruit flies from some left out fruit or drain flies. Then yesterday I put Hansel in his temp cage for our move and found a bunch of them coming out of his cage. Then this morning I moved his temp cage into the sun and a crap ton came flying off. So obviously they are in one of his plants. I feel stupid now for not thinking of this but every time I fed him I never saw any flying around his cage.

I've not dealt with these before. So, what are my options? Do I just ditch his plant and get a new one? Right now his big cage is broken down and empty for the move and he is in a mesh laundry basket "cage" for the time we have his cage being moved.

 

[etclement]

There is probably eggs in the soil. There are a couple of things you could do. 1. Get a nepenthes pitcher plant. Pitcher plants and sundews will catch a ton of flies. Nepenthes, unlike sarracenia pitchers, do not need to hibernate because they are tropical. You could also look up how to make an artificial fruit fly trap. 2. Spray down the plants. This may get rid of some eggs on the leaves, but since you have everything taken apart, why not? 3. Repot the plants. If there are eggs in the soil, repotting and cleaning the roots of your plants would get rid of them.

 

[JacksJill]

I bought a box of beneficial nematodes to control fungus gnats. I don't know if it works because by the time it was delivered they had already gone away.

 

[etclement]

I bought a box of beneficial nematodes to control fungus gnats. I don't know if it works because by the time it was delivered they had already gone away.

The fruit flies knew they were coming!

 

[JacksJill]

It's that good.

 

[Peachypink]

There is probably eggs in the soil. There are a couple of things you could do. 1. Get a nepenthes pitcher plant. Pitcher plants and sundews will catch a ton of flies. Nepenthes, unlike sarracenia pitchers, do not need to hibernate because they are tropical. You could also look up how to make an artificial fruit fly trap. 2. Spray down the plants. This may get rid of some eggs on the leaves, but since you have everything taken apart, why not? 3. Repot the plants. If there are eggs in the soil, repotting and cleaning the roots of your plants would get rid of them.

Thanks! I will try and do this. I hate to just ditch it because it has some really great long vines and very established.

 

[Virgil1972]

I have heard that predatory nematodes work good.

Here is a picture of a predatory nematode eating something. Its quite a bloodbath.