Fungus gnat help

I have had this problem at times over the years with plants. Years ago I knew a biologist who studied natural means of dealing with insects, etc and he advised me to put a few cigarettes (or butts) into some water, and let it soak for approx 24 hours and to water the plants with that. It works and kills the bugs and larvae but does not harm the plants. I usually apply it two or three times, instead of watering the plant and it has always been successful

I have just moved into a new house this summer and I am so happy to remodel/dress up my balcony and the dinner room with new plants. But it seems that one problem after another happened. Firstly, in May, there are caterpiller attacked on the tree overlooking our balcony. Then there were a spread of big black ants from next door neighbours to our balcony and eventually some indoor area. We managed to kill/control them with insecticide products for them. Next it comes to the tiny red bugs, a lot of them crawling along the wooded bench, balcony floor and balcony entrance. We just used insecticide soap to spray them. They seem to die when contact but still in sight though a lot less. Now it comes to a new issue. It seems the creatures are getting more and more tiny each time but more and more in numbers.

I saw so many tiny tiny white bugs crawling rapidly in and out of the soil in my plant which is indoor and is used to be super healthy and shiny on the leaves. Now I found that it actually starts to be wilting on the root and leaves falling and become spongy. Today I found that actually the two plants next to it, got the same problem. After I read the above articles, I wonder if I really overwater them and fungas gnat larvae start to grow in it? But so far, I don't see any flying adult in the room. Originally, I didn't want to bring these plants out to get infected by any red bugs "like spider mite" or infect the outside plants with these white larvae bugs. But now I found that even those plants outside in my balcony actually got white bugs crawling in the soil as well. They were all very pretty floral plants that I bought two months ago. But now they start to have yellow leaves and some of them got flowers drying/wilting out.

I am so so frusting. Coz I really care the plant so much. I water them once to twice a day . Only in the 2 weeks of end of May and early June, it was super super hot when in Toronto, I watered them twice a day because the it seemed that the flowers were all looking dry, down and strengthless. I don't know if I was wrong but it still okay. Until this couple week, it start to have heavy rains. So on those days, I didn't water on plant, only on the day when it's back to sunny, then I water them by noon time. I do see bees flying around but not seeing small flies. So is it really the flies that lay eggs onto my plant? And how can these white bugs get inside my indoor space? It seemed that the pot indoor got the most so far. I am really concerned that there will be an outbreak soon. Will they develop to hundreds of black flies?

But most concern is, I got two cats especially they like to chew on the easily-falling leaf of the plant that got most bugs in the soil. I have to use natural way to kill these bugs. Otherwise, I am thinking should I give up the plants indoor to be safe to the cats? Can you suggest what? And in your above articles, you've suggested the beneficial bugs, will it be harmful to the cats? Are they visible or scary looking in the soil as well? Should I put all plants outdoor to do the cleaning/killing process? Can anyone also suggest a most effective way to kill the tiny crawling bugs which are still in sight in the balcony?

And most of all, can anyone suggest me a way to prevent the balcony to be attacked by bugs always?

Helena

Will the peroxide hurt the plants at all when I pour the water/peroxide mixture into the soil to kill the larva?

I wished I had read some of these posts before I bought the soil ( Miracle Gro) We have thousands of them in our office and we are going crazy trying to get rid of them.

Cover the soil with a layer of sand - this creates a barrier and prevents more egg laying.

I agree, I think some soils that Ive been buying are infected with this gnat. Only when I repot my plants does this happen.

beneficial predatory nematodes will eat/kill off fungus gnat larvae

I used one part 3% h2o2(hydrogen peroxide) to five parts water for fungus gnats. This works out to roughly pouring in 2 cups of 3% h2o2 into a gallon milk jug and filling the rest with water.

This recipe WILL make the soil fizz and kill any larvae living in the soil. Make sure you use enough to see the solution seep out the bottom of the pot.Be sure to water regularly in between.

The adults will still be alive so you will need to repeat once /week for 3 weeks and be sure to place yellow sticky traps above the soil.

I had gnats and at the time I was caring for 2 very small children. I was unable to treat the gnats right away and they spread, wiping out my entire (15 year old) collection of houseplants. I gave up on plants for 2 years but brought them back into my house again to find the gnats are, once again, making a comeback. I have been extremely over-cautious with watering...always watering in a sink, allowing water to drain completely, waiting for soil to be practically parched before I water again. I am sure there is an outside source infecting my plants.

I have heard to use sterile soil, or some sort of man made non-soil to prevent this? What are your thoughts on this?

Also, the above article recommends applying a mite to a indorr houseplant? Sure, this may work to get rid of the gnats but what then of the mites living in your houseplants?

I will take any suggestions to rid myself of these annoying pests, aside from getting rid of my plants, again. I love having plants and having them back in my house again reminded of how much I missed them.