Hi all,

My Redbud bonsai tree has been infested with fungus gnats, and I'm trying to find a solution. I've placed sticky traps around it, but whenever I water the plant, the gnats become more active. I usually water it sparingly to avoid creating a hospitable environment for them, but I also try to keep the soil as dry as possible. Interestingly, my smaller bonsai doesn't seem to attract as many gnats because its thicker foliage allows it to dry out faster, requiring more frequent watering. Any advice on how to deal with this issue? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

I have found an Insect control that deals with them it is called Systemic Houseplant Insect control. You sprinkle/spread it around the plant's area and it keeps them away/kills them. I got it on Amazon. seems to work well. I use it for my bonsais and Desert Roses.

These gnats are not harmful, it is a sign of wet soil. You need to get your husbandry correct and they will dissappear

CarolF4 wrote:

I have found an Insect control that deals with them it is called Systemic Houseplant Insect control. You sprinkle/spread it around the plant's area and it keeps them away/kills them. I got it on Amazon. seems to work well. I use it for my bonsais and Desert Roses.

Desert roses should never alow to stay constantly wet. If dried out properly between watering the soil will be a hostile environment for the larvae and there will be no fungus gnats.

Thanks everyone.

I'm doing better watering my bonsai when they are dry, but the Redbud still has loads of them, there's no way to kill them all so I'm going to have to take different actions. I used the sticky traps but these don't work with the larvae, and they keep coming out ,so I ended up buying a product that is disolved in water and can be applied to both plants.
I bought enough to create 2 liters: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295959645369

I will keep you updated.

Thanks again for your help!

They are harmless, there is no need to use poisons to kill them.

Watering in the poison will make it even wetter

The life cycle of the gnats may come into play.

You probably need to leave the strips out a long time. There are probably a lot of eggs in the soil hatching over weeks of time. Just killing today's bugs won't help much against tomorrow's or next week's.

They are harmless, but it's not very nice to have about 50 fungus gnats flying around and on white walls where you can spot them all.
In the morning I checked the bonsai, and I killed about 15. I moved the soil a bit and I could see a lot more there. They are a nightmare.
The strips have been up for 2 weeks, I changed them three times because they were full. In these two weeks I waited until the bonsai didn't have enough strength to open the leaves, so that shows the soil was dry until the limit, but once you water it, they come back in waves! It's incredible

Hopefully I'll get the "Mosquito Bits" soon so I can get rid of the eggs and the adults stick to the strips and I'll do some more hunting.