big gnat problem

hey guys, long time lurker first time poster. waddup everyone and really dig the site.

i need a little help... just started flowering my first grow about 2 weeks ago it's coming along nice with the exception of a SHIT LOAD of gnats. had no problems for over 2 months and then one day about a week ago i open the door on her and there were a couple flying around. didn't worry to much about it until now because there is a crazy swarm of them.

how can i get rid of this mothers?

I never did get rid of the things during one grow. I had a MAD infestation. Tried sand, predatory nematodes, No pest strips, I cut down the amount, but never did get rid of them entirely until I chopped and got rid of that soil. I'm told they'll damage tiny roots, but my clones didn't show any stress. Who knows?

man...get the hydroton or rock all purpose at the homedepot and cover on the soil and drench with your usually water...so the flying gnats will be drowning !!

they are a pain! I have had good luck with strong camomile tea...cooled to room temp. it kills the fungus the larvae live off of in the soil. use strips to catch as many flying ones as you can while killing the ones in the soil. good luck!

thanks for the ideas guys! i just did a search and found a guy that was killing them with a clothes iron. i tried that because i didn't have anything else at this moment and it actually killed all the ones on the soil! there are like a dozen flying around but 75% are dead so that took a load off my mind anyway lol.

i'm gonna keep this up and maybe get some sand or gravel and the camomile tea to beat these bastard bugs.

Mosquito Dunks I hear works on the larvae

Jack Harer said:

I never did get rid of the things during one grow. I had a MAD infestation. Tried sand, predatory nematodes, No pest strips, I cut down the amount, but never did get rid of them entirely until I chopped and got rid of that soil. I'm told they'll damage tiny roots, but my clones didn't show any stress. Who knows?

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Really ??? I tried Azamax and Gnatrol and they became immune to it.. Predatory nematodes did the trick.

Look into predatory nematodes by Scanmask , they are a microscopic ring worm that feeds on Gnat larvae. Use sticky fly traps to catch the adults flying. They wont go back into the medium to fuck and drop larvae with nematodes chilling in the dirt. Fight nature with nature way better than chemicals.

stumpjumper said:

Mosquito Dunks I hear works on the larvae

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Man my Gnats chilled on the mosquito dunks lol didn't phase them...

Sand works too... The sharp edges kill the larve.

what kind of sand? play sand? gonna try that and something to catch/kill the adults. maybe some nematodes too, whatever lowes has.

Tsleezy said:

what kind of sand? play sand? gonna try that and something to catch/kill the adults. maybe some nematodes too, whatever lowes has.

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Yeah the sand you can get in the concrete section at your local home improvement center.

Ive found using sand works best. it kills them at the source. its easy to do...hard to maintain (ie. generally when you water slowly the sand will fall through the pot). only way to beat it is to water slower than normal (so no water puddles up to the top) or keep putting new sand in.

its not necessary to remove the sand once the gnats are gone. it wont hurt anything. just make sure you use sterile sand so you dont introduce anything new to your growing medium.

no pest strips work for adults (the actual gnat).

I always seem to get a few here in there in my grows...so i keep a few bags of sand saved up.

Also neem oil and montery insect spray (organic) are good substances to use for protection against many pests that harm mj plants. can be found at your local hydro store.

i got rid of most! used apple cider vinegar to capture the adults (works very well), and put a layer of sand across the top. i have the smallest number i've had since they came so i'm stoked. only saw about 3 today and i killed them bitches lol.

thanks for all the replies. i'm gonna throw this soil out after i harvest but at least i know how to keep them under control in the future.

in my situation the fungus gnats became immune to the azamax, mosquito dunks didnt seem to work at all, but the neem oil soil drench seems to be doing the trick for me

absolutely saw NO GNATS today. pretty stoked about that too. for everyone wanting a fix to your gnat problem here's a sure fire fix:

1. 1/2"-3/4" of sand over soil
2. bowl of apple cider vinegar next to plants

the sand keeps them out and the larvae already in the soil can't escape and will die. the vinegar fermenting attracts the adults and they end up as floaters. it stops the cycle immediately and by the 3 day the last adults are dead. so there ya go... kill the bitches.... go go go

kush groove said:

in my situation the fungus gnats became immune to the azamax, mosquito dunks didnt seem to work at all, but the neem oil soil drench seems to be doing the trick for me

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Same happened to me, my gnats would chill on top of the mosquito dunks. Predatory Nematodes did it for me.

i have had great success with sand in my house plant, have never tried it on my cannabis. I know for a fact that if you put sand on every single pot, you will get rind of them for good. They cannot make it. This is a pain in the ass IMO and i don't like the sand but i haven't found any better method

Diatomaceous earth, sprinkle it everywhere to help kill anything it touches. Another plus to using it is that it contains trace elements and silica (K). You can spread it on your hydroton, or sand if decide to use either, I like they hydroton as mulch myself. That helps with the reproduction.

Adults can be taken care of with pest strips and a vinegar trap. Predatory nematodes and a combination of the rest is the best way to go.

BeaverHuntr said:

Man my Gnats chilled on the mosquito dunks lol didn't phase them...

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lmao..good stuff