Hi,

New to the forum and plants in general.

I few months ago I thought it would be nice to get a plan for my plant-less house.
However I always seem to run into one of two problems. Either I kill the plan through over/under watering or they bring lots of flies into the house.

I bought a Devils Ivy plant and I've been watering it about every 10 days. It has fungus gnat flies. I've been trying to treat it with: SBM Life Science Baby Bio House Plant Bug Killer but doesn't seem to be working.

Anyone have any tips ?
Thanks
Mark

Fungus gnats thrive in moist, humid conditions. You may be watering too much but honestly, it does not sound like once every ten days is too much.
However, if you water too little in terms of volume, you could be promoting the outbreak. Try taking the plant to a sink to really water it thoroughly so that the entire root system gets water. Then you could let the top layer of the soil dry out really well before you water again. Maybe watering once every two weeks might help.
Fungus gnat larvae feed on organic matter in the soil. Some potting soils have a mixture of soil and peat moss and other organic matter which is what the gnat larva feed on. Watering deeply and less frequently should help. A gnat only lives for a week or so and making that minor watering adjustment should help to control them.

The gnat larvae live in the upper portion of the soil so they can fly out when they mature into winged adults. Thus, allowing the top layer of soil to dry out as much as possible will help a lot. You might also remove any loose soil on top that is not in immediate contact with the roots.

Look for a gradual reduction in the number of gnats as a sign of progress.

Keep in mind that better retailers don't sell plants infested with pests.

Hi UK_HomePlanter,

Your Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) is a lovely specimen.

Fungus gnats are usually present when the potting medium is staying moist and it may be that the gnat eggs were already present in the soil when you purchased your plant and have since begun hatching.

Always water deeply by pouring water atop the soil until it's running out the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot and always empty any excess water from the pretty green cache pot that the nursery pot is sitting in.

I have Devil's Ivy growing up trees here in my garden and I find it to be fairly drought tolerant. You may need to allow your plants soil to dry even longer than every 10 days, before watering again.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I didn't know about watering until it's running out the drainage holes.
I've done and sprayed a little bit more of the Plant Bug Killer on the soil. Will leave it for 14 days now! :)