Gnats on top of my coco

eyeball696

Active Member
How do you get rid of the gnats on top of the wet coco. They are driving me nuts. I tried gognats to get rid but I need another solution
 

Hugo Phurst

Well-Known Member
As far as I understand, the coco should be moist, not wet.
Sticky-strips, insecticidal soap, cover the coco with garden sand or hydroton.
Let it dry out somewhat, and try watering from the bottom.

Good luck
 

Wavels

Well-Known Member
Try this:


Diatomacious Earth (often referred to as "DE") is an off white talc-like powder that is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. When sprinkled on a bug that has an exoskeleton (such as bed bugs, ants or fleas) it gets caught between their little exoskeleton joints. As they move, the diatomaceous earth acts like razor blades and cuts them up. But it doesn't hurt mammals. We can eat it. We do eat it! It's in lots of grain based foods because lots of grains are stored with diatomaceous earth to keep the bugs from eating the grain!
Die bugs! Die! Die! Die!

I have heard two explanations of how diatomaceous earth works.

  • One is that on a microscopic level, the diatomaceous earth particles are very sharp looking. These particles stick to an insect and get stuck between its exoskeleton joints. As the insect moves, it gets physically cut up.
    The other explanation is that diatomaceous earth sticks to the insect and somehow causes them to dry out. I think this approach involves scratching the insects waxy layer which then allows precious moisture within the insect to get out. So their teeny tiny bug-innards turn into teeny tiny bug-innards-jerky.

    http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp
 

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
Try this:


Diatomacious Earth (often referred to as "DE") is an off white talc-like powder that is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. When sprinkled on a bug that has an exoskeleton (such as bed bugs, ants or fleas) it gets caught between their little exoskeleton joints. As they move, the diatomaceous earth acts like razor blades and cuts them up. But it doesn't hurt mammals. We can eat it. We do eat it! It's in lots of grain based foods because lots of grains are stored with diatomaceous earth to keep the bugs from eating the grain!
Die bugs! Die! Die! Die!

I have heard two explanations of how diatomaceous earth works.

  • One is that on a microscopic level, the diatomaceous earth particles are very sharp looking. These particles stick to an insect and get stuck between its exoskeleton joints. As the insect moves, it gets physically cut up.
    The other explanation is that diatomaceous earth sticks to the insect and somehow causes them to dry out. I think this approach involves scratching the insects waxy layer which then allows precious moisture within the insect to get out. So their teeny tiny bug-innards turn into teeny tiny bug-innards-jerky.

    http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp
Have you tried it?.
 

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
I have been using it for many years. Works great...
This is why I ask:

"In conclusion, based on the results from both experiments, the incorporation of DE into growing medium had no effect on fungus gnat second and third instars. This suggests that the use of DE as an amendment incorporated into growing media may not be beneficial to greenhouse producers. However, further studies are needed to access whether there is differential larval susceptibility (first instar vs. later instars) to DE and if moisture content influences the ability of DE to control soil-dwelling arthropods."
http://www.gpnmag.com/fungus-gnats-and-diatomaceous-earth
 

Wavels

Well-Known Member
This is why I ask:

"In conclusion, based on the results from both experiments, the incorporation of DE into growing medium had no effect on fungus gnat second and third instars. This suggests that the use of DE as an amendment incorporated into growing media may not be beneficial to greenhouse producers. However, further studies are needed to access whether there is differential larval susceptibility (first instar vs. later instars) to DE and if moisture content influences the ability of DE to control soil-dwelling arthropods."
http://www.gpnmag.com/fungus-gnats-and-diatomaceous-earth
Interesting. However I do not incorporate the DE into the soil.
I wait until the surface of the soil is dry, and then spread a thin layer of DE on TOP of the soil.
After watering I re-apply when the surface is dry.
This gets rid of the pesky little buggers. Prevents re infestation as well.:leaf:
 

DemonTrich

Well-Known Member
i hang 2 stickey fly strips from my tent ceiling. seems to work well. got 4 of them and havent seen any more flying around. picked them up at wally world for .50 for a 4 pack of black flag brand. grabbed 6 packs as backups.
 
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