Fungus Gnats Are Freeloading Scumbags. Here’s How to Keep Them Out

Drew Angers
3 days ago
3 min read

Pest prevention is always the move. Why wait until you're sitting on the couch, minding your own business, and some microscopic winged squatter flies past your face? By then, it’s too late. Fungus gnats aren’t just annoying once they’re settled in—they're harder to get rid of than that one “temporary” roommate who overstayed their welcome by six months.

And unlike that roommate, you can’t just change the locks.

If you want your indoor jungle to stay lush, pest-free, and peaceful, you need a plan. And it starts before the gnats even show up.

Step One: Stop Buying Crap Plants

Look, I get it. Those big-box store plants are cheap. They're easy. They're right there next to the patio furniture you weren’t supposed to buy. But there’s a reason they’re stacked like bargain-bin DVDs: they’re grown fast, shipped faster, and pest control is basically optional.

Every cheap basil pot and sad fiddle leaf fig you pick up at one of those places? They're Trojan horses packed with fungus gnat larvae, ready to unleash hell the moment they hit your living room.

If you’re serious about building a real plant collection—and not a pest daycare center—you need to buy from people who actually care about what they’re growing. (Local nurseries, specialized plant shops, or hey, someone like Verdure Studio. Just saying.)

Step Two: Treat Every New Plant Like It’s Radioactive

Even the good ones. Especially the good ones.

You don't know what’s lurking in that nursery soil. Assume every new plant you bring home is carrying something you don't want. That way, you’re never caught slipping.

The moment you get it home:

Rip that plant out of its original soil like it owes you money.
Toss the old soil straight into the trash.
Repot it immediately in fresh, sterilized soil that you actually trust.

If you're really about that life, sterilize the soil yourself.

Freeze it solid in the winter. Bake it in the sun until it hits at least 130 degrees.

If you wouldn't serve it to your most prized Monstera, don't plant with it.

This isn’t paranoia. It’s survival.

Step Three: Weaponize Your Soil

Clean soil isn’t enough. You need to make your plants' new home hostile territory for any freeloaders who might be thinking about settling in.

Enter diatomaceous earth. Ancient crushed fossils that look harmless to you but turn into a horror movie for insects. One wrong move across that soil surface and it's slice-and-dice time.

Here’s how you do it:

Dust a thin, even layer of diatomaceous earth across the top of your soil.
Bottom water your plants whenever possible to keep that top layer dry and dangerous.
If you have to top water, reapply the DE every couple of months to keep the minefield active.

It’s subtle. It’s deadly. And it’ll make sure your plants stay your plants—not a breeding ground for pests.

Bottom Line: No Second Chances for Pests

The reality is, by the time you see fungus gnats flying around, it’s already a full-blown problem.The goal is to never let them set up shop in the first place.

At Verdure Studio, we don’t do apologies when it comes to pests.

We do clean soil, strong roots, healthy plants, and ruthless prevention.

Your indoor jungle deserves better. And frankly, so do you.