My Battle with Fungus Gnats

I received the product mentioned in exchange for an honest review on my blog. The opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. This post contains affiliate links.

A local greenhouse let have some of its soil for a peace lily that I wanted to place in a planter. I thought, “Sweet, free dirt.” It was one of the biggest gardening mistakes that I’ve ever made because the dirt was infested with fungus gnats (but I didn’t know it). Soon, the gnats went on to live in other planters in my home.

At first, I thought I had a fruit fly problem. After trying all the tricks to get rid of fruit flies, nothing worked. After doing some research, I finally figured out what the buggers were. I’ve tried almost everything to get rid of them and nothing really seems to work. I’ve tried:

• Using hydrogen peroxide in the soil
• Letting the soil dry out
• Placing sand and pebbles over the top of the potting soil
• Using diatomaceous earth… a lot of it
• Insecticide sprays
• Incense (supposedly, the smoke kills them)

When Brillante offered the chance to try its Ultrasonic Pest Repeller, I did not hesitate to sign-up. The repeller is a device that you plug into a wall. It uses electromagnetic technology to vary the electromagnetic frequency of the wiring in the electrical outlet to deter pests. It comes with four functions:

• Ultrasonic sound: Emits a high-pitched sound that annoys pests
• Electromagnetic field alteration: To deter insects that are sensitive to electromagnetic variations
• Negative O3: Negative ozone to reduce odors and bacteria
• Negative ions: Reduces particles and odors that attract pests

According to the company, humans aren’t supposed to be about to hear the ultrasonic sound emitted. Well, I can hear it. At the same time, I can hear the high-pitched ringtones that adults aren’t supposed to be able to hear. The sound is like an annoying high-pitched buzzing. I like that I can turn off that function. When I do, I hear a different high-pitched sound from the repeller, but I don’t know which function is responsible for it.

So far, the repeller works okay. When I first plugged it in, I noticed in the first week that the fungus gnat population in my office decreased (which is where I’m using the device), but increased in my living room (where I do not have a device). After about four weeks, I still see maybe one or two gnats fly every day. Brillante states in the instructions that it takes up to six weeks for the device to be fully effective. While the gnats aren’t completely gone, I have noticed a difference.

Now, I want to try nematodes to get rid of the gnats in their larvae stage.  

I received the products mentioned in exchange for an unbiased review on my blog. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you click on an Amazon.com link and make a purchase.