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Millennials’ love of houseplants and succulents is well documented, but what’s not as well known is that indoor plants can also be the perfect breeding ground for certain types of gnats, which thrive on fungus in the soil. So if you’ve filled your home with succulents, cacti, snake plants, money trees, and everything else you can buy from The Sill, then don’t be surprised if gnats suddenly start to take over your home. It’s one of the unfortunate downsides of turning your abode into a bohemian houseplant paradise.
I discovered this myself after a recent infestation of gnats. At first, I assumed I was dealing with fruit flies, so I cleaned my apartment from top to bottom in search of an errant grape or banana. When no culprit appeared, I decided to try a different approach, and that led me to my houseplants. There are 15 houseplants inside my Brooklyn apartment, as well as some additional planters on my balcony. The balcony has become the resting place of a dead jade plant (R.I.P.), withering away in its planter. Turns out, the wet soil inside these planters can be a fertile and convenient breeding ground for fungus gnats.