Question
Darlene,

All of my house plants have nats or little black bugs coming from the dirt. I use Miracle grow dirt. I have changed it but they still keep coming what can I do?

Thanks,
Fay  

Answer
Fay,

The bugs are fungus gnats. They are there because the plants soil is too wet and the roots may be beginning to rot. Set the plant in the sink and remove the drain tray to drain as much water as possible. Then do not water the plants till the soil feels very dry. Most plants need to be dry in the top inch of soil before being watered again.

You can also pick up a bag of horticultural charcoal and a bag of perlite at you garden center. Then gently unpot the plant and remove as much potting soil as possible without disturbing the roots too much. Then mix the soil with the same amount of perlite and add a handful of charcoal. Then repot the plant with the newly mixed soil. Your soil will
drain better and not attract fungus gnats in the future.

Just drying out the soil will get rid of the gnats if you can be patient. If not put some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and spray the surface of the soil with it. You will kill any fungus gnats that it hits on contact. But that is only a temporary fix. Keep your plants dryer and they will go away. Two hours after you water your plants dump the water out of the drain tray so the plants are not sitting in water and they are less likely to be overwatered. More plants are killed by too much water than by too little! Good luck.

Darlene Kittle