topic Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion in Community Chat

Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

occasionalrain — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 19:50:31 GMT

My kitchen has been under attack.

I've tried boiling water down the sink drain, morning and night to no avail. Now I've moved on to the vinegar-sugar-soap bowls. Any suggestions?

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

eadu4 — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:10:13 GMT

@occasionalrain I feel your pain. We moved into our new home in April and have been under seige with them. I have had a pest company come but they basically told me there really isn't much you can do. I have those Zevo sticky trap purple lights all over the place in different outlets. They work good catch quite a few (double as night lights lol) but it's non stop. We tried apple cider vinegar etc you name it. It's so annoying and gross. So I just keep trying whatever I can. If anyone has a permanent solution let me know.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

We rescue cats — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:25:03 GMT

I bought the Dyna Trap Indoor Fly and Insect Trap, specifically for the gnats we get, it has been a great asset! It's capturing miller moths, gnats and the little no-see-ums.... I ordered mine from QVC but if they don't have them available to deliver quickly I think 'A' has them as well.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

kitcat51 — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:28:47 GMT

There are different kinds of gnats...fungus, drain, fruit. I identified mine as drain & found this solution that worked for me... pour 1 cup bleach in a gallon of water down the drain....then I closed tbe sink stopper & let it set overnight.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

colleena — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:43:33 GMT

@occasionalrain Sorry your going through this & hope it can b resolved soon. If it was me I'd probably have to move, lol.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

Caaareful Shopper — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:47:39 GMT

@We rescue cats wrote:
I bought the Dyna Trap Indoor Fly and Insect Trap, specifically for the gnats we get, it has been a great asset! It's capturing miller moths, gnats and the little no-see-ums.... I ordered mine from QVC but if they don't have them available to deliver quickly I think 'A' has them as well.

@We rescue cats I ordered the same thing this season. I cannot remember having so many gnats. But this thing is fantastic! Problem solved.

I went straight to Dyna Traps' own website; at the time, they had a deal on extra traps so it was the least expensive then.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

occasionalrain — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 21:12:18 GMT

Thank you for your suggestions. On the plus side, they don’t bite or spread disease, they're just annoying. My kitchen is white and they give it an active speckled look that I've decided to view as installation art.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

RedTop — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 21:14:06 GMT

The water that lays in the drain trap stagnates and draws these flies. Pouring at least a cup of salt in the drain at night absorbs the water these flies need to lay eggs and survive. Doing this 1-2x is not enough, be diligent for at least a week; glue traps also catch a few.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

FranandZoe — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 22:11:21 GMT

Drain fly killer from Amazon. For fruit flies Terro brand fruit fly killer.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

rms1954 — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 01:53:32 GMT

I've noticed them also. Every morning I find them in our bathroom sink and toilet.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

drizzellla — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 02:29:06 GMT

I have been noticing the tiny gnats lately.

But I think the ones in our house are from a bag of bird seed that we bought.

We used to store the bird seed in the garage. The mice found the bags. So we moved them to the shed. The squirrels found the bags. They chewed through the Rubbermaid tubs. We bought a galvanized trash can. The squirrels chewed threw the wood on the shed.

We moved the bird seed bags into the house. They are piled by the back door close to the bird feeders. Has worked out well. Until a month ago. It seems one of the bird seed bags had tiny gnats. The offending bag of bird seed is gone but the gnats are still with us.

Next time we go to the feed store, I am buying a few fly paper hangers. Hope that works.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

occasionalrain — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 02:54:23 GMT

I have black oil sunflower bird seed but my gnats have no interest in it.

I put a bit of sugar on the counter, a test, and a herd of them gathered there.

Some, not enough, have landed in the bowl of vinegar-sugar-soap, so a Dyna trap is being delivered on Sunday.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

kze — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 09:54:37 GMT

In the past, I've put small bowls of vinegar on the counter to attract them. Then I placed the sticky paper next to the bowls. While checking out the vinegar, they landed on the paper. Although some were in the vinegar, huge numbers were trapped by the sticky paper. I had no idea there were that many! The brand my local store carried was Tom Cat and I think they were intended for rodents so were super sticky.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

FranandZoe — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 12:01:22 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
I have black oil sunflower bird seed but my gnats have no interest in it.
I put a bit of sugar on the counter, a test, and a herd of them gathered there.
Some, not enough, have landed in the bowl of vinegar-sugar-soap, so a Dyna trap is being delivered on Sunday.

Good luck. I'd still use something in the drain to kill them and stop them in addition to the Dynatrap.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

Still Raining — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 14:33:29 GMT

I have a little used bathroom which got swarms coming out the shower drain! Go figure!

After I put all the products down there to clear and kill them, I covered the drain with one of those flat silicon pan lids. Could lift and reapply as needed. Showed them! Then I threw it away.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

shoekitty — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 02:09:29 GMT

Put out sticks of wriggly s spearmint gum. Open foil and leave them in cupboards and around. Or I sometimes use peppermint or spearmint oil, I buy Amazon. Place drops On a piece of cloth or cotton around. They hate it. It takes a few days. They won't mate, then die off and new gnats won't go near it

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

goldensrbest — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 11:44:52 GMT

@shoekitty wrote:
Put out sticks of wriggly s spearmint gum. Open foil and leave them in cupboards and around. Or I sometimes use permit oil, I buy Amazon. On a piece of cloth or cotton around. They hate it

Never heard of permit oil?

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

jackiejenny — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 11:49:48 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
@shoekitty wrote:
Put out sticks of wriggly s spearmint gum. Open foil and leave them in cupboards and around. Or I sometimes use permit oil, I buy Amazon. On a piece of cloth or cotton around. They hate it
Never heard of permit oil?

I think she meant peppermint oil.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

occasionalrain — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 14:02:11 GMT

@goldensrbest

I knew what meant and so did you. I suspect auto correct changed it.

Re: Tiny Black Gnats Invasion

shoekitty — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 02:14:30 GMT

I went back and corrected it. It is spearmint. Darn autocorrect. I also use spearmint oil. Also raccoons don't like it either so we put in bottle and spray it where they come in Lots of it. You have to repeat every couple days when you use it outside though. I got the idea from a book with natural cures. Some animals have odor detergents , has worked for me. We doused old pine cones with a few tablespoons of the oil and placed in netted potato or onion bag. We placed on roof of shed where possums poop every night. Gone, and I think they left our yard. No sign of them. Although I did love seeing them come to pond at night.