How to use yellow sticky traps for fungus gnats

Do your houseplants have gnats? No one wants that in their house! Here’s how to use yellow sticky traps for fungus gnats!

I love my houseplants (duh, hello, welcome) but I don’t love every aspect of having plants inside the house.

The main negatives are they they can accumulate dust if you don’t clean the leaves and they can attract bugs.

Bugs are gross. Luckily I have a cat/bug catcher, but she doesn’t catch every bug (she can be a bit lazy).

One bug that really… bugs me is gnats. They are tiny little flies that buzz around and just make a space feel dirty.

Gnats are attracted to garbage, rotting fruit, and moist potting soil.

So, the best solution to keep gnats away is to not let your soil sit around moist.

However, accidents happen and once you have gnats, it’s hard to be rid of them.

What is the fastest way to get rid of gnats?

You can use a homemade or store bought spray to spray gnats. You can also try to lure them with soapy vinegar water. But, the fastest and easiest way to get rid of gnats is with sticky traps.

Sticky traps are simple sticky plastic that gnats get on to and get stuck and die.

They are typically yellow because gnats are naturally attracted to yellow things. Perhaps they think it is a flower.

I love yellow sticky traps as a pesticide and poison free way to get rid of gnats and fruit flies.

Do yellow sticky traps work for fungus gnats?

Yes, yellow sticky traps are perfect for fungus gnats on indoor houseplants! They will also catch aphids, leafminers, white flies, shore flies, and thrips.

Benefits of yellow sticky traps

Some of the biggest benefits of yellow sticky traps are that they are:

• Cheap
• Easy to use
• Very effective
• Non-toxic

Disadvantages of yellow sticky traps

There are a few negatives to using yellow sticky traps to catch gnats.

• They can trap other critters like lizards or good bugs and kill them (typically outdoors, so I suggest using indoors only)
• If you have a toddler that pokes into your plant, you will want to hide it a bit to avoid getting them stuck too (though I got it off her skin no problem)
• The bright yellow can stand out and distract from your pretty plants

How do you use a sticky trap for gnats?

It is very easy to use sticky traps to catch flying insects.

First, order yellow sticky traps. These are the ones I got. You can make these from yellow index cards as well, but I found the price reasonable and easier than assembling something from scratch.

Peel the backer off both side of your sticky trap.

Then, carefully place the stake of the trap into your soil. Position it so both sides of the trap are accessible and it’s not touching the leaves of the plant.

You can also place sticky traps away from plants to sort of lure gnats away. Keep them around plant height for best results!

Wait for it to take effect!

How long does it take for gnat traps to work?

It will take at least 24 hours to catch any flying bugs. After 48 hours I started to see some “accumulation” for lack of a better word.

Leave the fly traps in place until they have a lot of flies on them or you no longer see gnats.

Any more questions about using yellow sticky traps for pest control?

Thanks for reading!

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