How to Get Rid of Gnats on an Orchid Plant

Get Rid of Adult Gnats

• 1

  Purchase two "yellow sticky cards," which are often marketed to catch white flies or aphids. Most home and garden centers sell them.

• 2

  Cut one card into small strips and poke them into the soil to catch egg-laying females, as the female gnats tend to stay near the eggs and larvae in the soil.

• 3

  Hang the other sticky yellow card in the air near the orchid plant to catch swarming gnats.

Get Rid of Eggs and Larvae

• 4

  Prepare a new pot for your orchid. Make sure it has drainage holes so that the soil will not hold standing water. Fill the bottom with an inch of fine gravel.

• 5

  Remove the orchid from the old pot. Look for clumps of eggs and larvae near any rotting roots or decaying bits of fungus or plant material in the soil.

• 6

  Shake the excess soil off the roots, along with any eggs and larvae. Place the orchid in the new pot. Fill in around the plant with potting soil that contains inorganic materials such as perlite. Mixes containing charcoal and coconut also work well.