I am finding sensible, natural, solutions though.

The reason that I have tomatoes and cucumbers growing is thanks to the gnat problem that came with my apartment rental. I did see little bugs on the terrace when I rented here, but I did not pull out a magnifying glass to see the infestation outside every one of the windows. Surrounded!

The first month, I kept the doors closed and ran the A/C because, after all, the apartment came with an electric tennis racket for zapping them. But there were new ones every day and when I looked closer, I saw that they were in the soil. Lots of plants on the terrace here.

Gnats do not bite, spread disease, or hurt humans in any way, but I can attest to the fact that they are nasty fast, impossible to swat, annoying. Like "kamikaze" pilots, they nose dive but don't die. No, they actually dive and get in your nose. They like eyes and ears too.

As they emerge from the soil, they are easy to spot as long as you put on your reading glasses. Over winter, they also like to keep warm on the glass.

I tried spraying the windows and soil with a four-to-one hydrogen peroxide mixture. It kills on contact if they are young, but weeks of that proved that it would not solve the problem. There are two other plant filled areas that belong to the neighbors, and I cannot treat their plants, so I looked for another way.

Other methods

Sticky traps are not available here, and neither is a product called "Mosquitobits" which is known to eliminate them. I saw something interesting on 'duckduckgo' that recommended a living sticky trap of sorts. Those can be found in this country!

So I ordered a couple of pinguiculas, also known as a butterwort plant from a special plant distributor. These plants are the arch enemies of gnats. Let the war begin.

I got two of them and they came on the back of a motorcycle, twenty miles en route. It was a little shook up but the flower was still in tact. I will describe these plants in posts to come.

I have been so intrigued by the idea of a plant that would hunt down and digest the pests when they make their way into the house, I learned to pollinate them and grow them from leaf cuttings!

I only get two hours of sunlight through the windows, which lead to a grow light, which lead to sprouting tomatoes, jalapenos and cucumbers. That is the link I mentioned above.

Lots more pictures of the "pings" coming soon.

_{all pictures taken by me}