Mourning flies lay eggs in the soil of your plant and the larvae that hatch from them eat the (rotten) roots. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to get rid of it. In this blog we tell you how to fight them, but also how to prevent them.

To fight

set aside

Do you have several plants at home? Then the first thing you want to do is set the 'infected' plant aside. This prevents the other plants from getting mourning flies as well.

nematodes

What you can do next is purchase nematodes/nematodes. These are tiny powdered worms that eat larvae. Add water, pour it into the soil and wait. The nematodes will die automatically when they have eaten all the larvae and there is therefore no food left.

repot

Another option is to repot your plant. Clean the pot well and provide new soil. It is important that the excess water can drain away. The larvae and mourning flies do not like moist soil.

Appearance

Amount of water

If you have the plant at home, it is important to pay close attention to the amount of water you give the plant. If the soil is wet, it is more likely that mourning flies will be attracted to it. So make sure that the water can drain at the bottom of the plant.

loose leaves

Do leaves fall off your plant regularly? Clear these up as soon as possible. Mourning flies are attracted to dead leaves, so if you remove them, they will be less likely to reach your plant.