Houseplants and flies

[ReacherSaidNothing]

I found my MILs tongue plant was hoaching with little flies this morning, I left a jar of vinegar and dish soap to try and attract/trap them but further reading has found they're not actually fruit flies and I need to use mulch of some kind to stop the breeding cycle. Does anyone have experience of this and can recommend a mulch or any other tricks and tips? Thanks

Most likely fungus gnats and they are an absolute bugger! Breeding cycle is about 2 weeks. They like warm moist soil and breed in the top inch, so water as little as possible from the bottom.
Diluted hydrogen peroxide and a mix mad with mosquito bits (look on Amazon) are both meant to work. I am still struggling with them on some of my plants and had to throw a plant out as the soil was just so riddled with them.

I think there is a bigger problem these days to do with the way soil is treated, and conditions in plant shops and nurseries.

Nematodes, sticky traps and gravel (I bought crushed whelk shells) covering the soil completely got rid of mine.

I’m using nematode tablets and yellow sticky traps, both from Amazon. Seems to be working.

An alternative to the sticky traps is butterworts. Do the same job much more attractively, and you don't have to keep buying new ones because they grow more all by themselves.

We were infested with these last year. I tried everything, mulched, cling film, no water, lots of water. It just kept getting worse, no matter what I did. Then they moved out of the bedroom and started to spread over the landing and other rooms so I bought a can of Raid. Quick spray, shut the door and 24 hours later they were all dead. As soon as the next lot hatched, I sprayed again. Job done. I hate using chemicals but for these little blighters I made an exception

Keep the top layer of soil dry...that's the best way and try mulch as well.

Thank you to everyone for replying, I shook the plant out, moved it aside then blasted the flying gnats with a dish soap and water mix. Have ordered mulch and will water from the bottom.