green_is_good
Well-Known Member
any help please
How To Kill Fungus Gnats
- Thread starter green_is_good
- Start date
Garden Knowm
The Love Doctor
NO pest strips...
and this stuff
http://plantitearth.com/store/product.asp?pid=317&catid=1
and NOW you KNOWM
and this stuff
http://plantitearth.com/store/product.asp?pid=317&catid=1
and NOW you KNOWM
Attachments
green_is_good
Well-Known Member
i thank you
Wavels
Well-Known Member
My preferred gnat control is...
Diatomaceous Earth...
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth - Food Grade5-lb - Bag - Diatomaceous - Garden Harvest Supply
It is commonly used to organically control insects, as an internal wormer, and for parasite removal.
It controls insects by physical, not chemical, action; it punctures an insects exoskeleton and absorbs its body fluidsthus posing no harm to warm-blooded life. Moreover, on any surface, this natural pesticide has a remarkable repellency factor. As long as diatomaceous earth is present, insects tend to stay away, making a serious infestation unlikely. The more it is used, the more an environment is created that makes insects feel unwelcome.
When Diatomaceous Earth is used as an organic wormer, it kills any worms or parasites your animals may have.
I love this stuff!
Diatomaceous Earth...
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth - Food Grade5-lb - Bag - Diatomaceous - Garden Harvest Supply
It is commonly used to organically control insects, as an internal wormer, and for parasite removal.
It controls insects by physical, not chemical, action; it punctures an insects exoskeleton and absorbs its body fluidsthus posing no harm to warm-blooded life. Moreover, on any surface, this natural pesticide has a remarkable repellency factor. As long as diatomaceous earth is present, insects tend to stay away, making a serious infestation unlikely. The more it is used, the more an environment is created that makes insects feel unwelcome.
When Diatomaceous Earth is used as an organic wormer, it kills any worms or parasites your animals may have.
I love this stuff!
Garden Knowm
The Love Doctor
sounds cool wavel.. i wonder if that is the same stuff they put on our carpets to kill fleas.. NON TOXIC..
cheers
cheers
Justin Hale
Active Member
cover your media with black aquarium rocks, the gnats will stavre to death in a few days/weeks......best thing is no poisons. the rocks may be re-used after a brief washing with cold/ lukewarm water.
mogie
Well-Known Member
Adult fungus gnats are tiny black flies which spend time running around on the surfaces and sucking sap from the leaves. After the adults lay their eggs on the soil (medium), the young worm-like larvae hatch out and begin to feed upon the roots. The larvae initially eat the fine root hairs before moving on to burrow throughout the larger roots and even up into the stems. After feasting on the roots the larvae will pupate before hatching out as adults and repeating the life cycle by laying their eggs. The larvae resemble little worms. They have clear or white bodies with black heads.
Life cycle: Adults live about 7 to 10 days and deposit eggs on the moist soil surface or in soil cracks. Females lay up to 100 to 300 eggs in batches of 2 to 30 each in decaying organic matter. Eggs hatch in 4 to 6 days; larvae feed for 12 to 14 days. The pupal stage is about 5 to 6 days.
Damage from the fungus gnat larvae feeding on the roots shows up in the leaves as overfertilization and nutrient deficiency symptoms: yellowing, browning, burning and curling leaves.
Three fungus gnat larvae biocontrol agents:
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) bacteria which can be purchased as mosquito dunks or gnatrol. Bti is the most appropriate anti gnat biological control agent for DWC systems.
Hypoaspis mites.
Steinernema feltiae nematodes.
Occasionally a dry layer of sand is recommended as a deterrent to fungus gnats. This technique should be discouraged as the close packing nature of the sand particles reduces the quantity of oxygen which penetrates down into the root zone.
Life cycle: Adults live about 7 to 10 days and deposit eggs on the moist soil surface or in soil cracks. Females lay up to 100 to 300 eggs in batches of 2 to 30 each in decaying organic matter. Eggs hatch in 4 to 6 days; larvae feed for 12 to 14 days. The pupal stage is about 5 to 6 days.
Damage from the fungus gnat larvae feeding on the roots shows up in the leaves as overfertilization and nutrient deficiency symptoms: yellowing, browning, burning and curling leaves.
Three fungus gnat larvae biocontrol agents:
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) bacteria which can be purchased as mosquito dunks or gnatrol. Bti is the most appropriate anti gnat biological control agent for DWC systems.
Hypoaspis mites.
Steinernema feltiae nematodes.
Occasionally a dry layer of sand is recommended as a deterrent to fungus gnats. This technique should be discouraged as the close packing nature of the sand particles reduces the quantity of oxygen which penetrates down into the root zone.
jordisgarden
Well-Known Member
sand and beer is working for me. i spray the bottom of my buckets with shultz houseplant and garden spray to get em when they come out the bottom.
charlesweedmore
Well-Known Member
what is sand and beer method ?
please explain how to use them
please explain how to use them
Sir Psycho Sexy
Well-Known Member
its where you sit by your plants with a bucket of sand, get shitfaced and then throw sand every time you see a gnat flying around
stellarcollision
Member
DE (diatomaceous earth) and apple cider vinegar is the way to go IMO. A lot of people like neem oil, but i'm not so big on it.
sleepytime
Member
how do you use the apple cider vinegar?
swelchjohn
New Member
Ah, good times.
Ontheball
Well-Known Member
wtf thats my name !
Nullis
Moderator
I would advise against putting a layer of DE on top of your soil, although sand might help. DE needs to be dry in order to work, and the particles are also very fine; this can lead to a sloppy mess. Dry DE spread around the floor, in crevices or wherever else you see them will help to kill the adults. Once they come in contact with DE they will die within 48 hours.
No pests strips? No where near my plants.
So, the root of the issue here is that indoors in your grow room fungus gnats have [virtually] unlimited food and no predators. The result is the potential for their populations to really get out of hand, in a relatively short period of time and before you even know it. The fungus gnat life cycle is about 4 weeks and there are 4 stages to this life cycle (egg, larval, pupal, adult). The adults are the ones which are most evident, and so they're the most often targeted by gardeners. But if you have an infestation you have to take multiple steps and target the fungus gnats while in larval and/or pupal stages as well.
Don't under-estimate the power of a good vacuum against adult fungus gnats. Vacuum your grow room while you water to catch the most adults. Do this as often as you can if you have an infestation. Here are some other safe recommendations I have given in other gnat threads.
Pyrethrin as a botanically-derived insecticide that kills on contact and breaks down within several hours, it is not toxic to birds, mammals or amphibians and leaves no toxic residues which is ideal for our purposes. The spray is widely available at most home improvement centers. I am pretty sure this is the same stuff as Dr. Doom, only that brand costs more than it should. This is also good for killing adults on the soil surface.
Mosquito Dunks or Bacillus thuringiensis isreali (Bti) is a natural bacterium that produces a larvacide which is toxic only to a handful of species of insect larvae including fungus gnats and mosquitoes. It is widely available in compressed circular pucks under the brand name Mosquito Dunks, sold in most home improvement centers. They also sell Mosquito Bits, which is the same thing and another brand is Gnatrol, but these products are usually less available. If you get dunks you use them by soaking in a bucket of water over night and irrigating. This should kill most of the larvae; although it is best used to prevent a gnat population from taking hold in the first place. If you already are infested this is still a very necessary step in order to kill the larval stages of the gnats. Re-apply every two weeks even when you don't see adults.
Then of course you should have yellow sticky traps around and Safer brand or Gnat-Stix sticky traps in the containers. But it is hard to bring absolute elimination if you have a lot of plants, house plants, etc. Biological controls are really the best. Someone mentioned Hypoaspis mites, which predate on the pupal stages of various insects including fungus gnats. I have these myself and they do quite a job. Given a sufficient food source (like gnat pupae) the Hypoaspis mite population can really boom; once they've eaten the majority of the pest insects their populations may drop although they can subsist on dead organic matter/vegetation.
Hypoaspis, Bti and beneficial nematodes are a sure fire way to rid your garden of gnats and keep them form coming back.
No pests strips? No where near my plants.
So, the root of the issue here is that indoors in your grow room fungus gnats have [virtually] unlimited food and no predators. The result is the potential for their populations to really get out of hand, in a relatively short period of time and before you even know it. The fungus gnat life cycle is about 4 weeks and there are 4 stages to this life cycle (egg, larval, pupal, adult). The adults are the ones which are most evident, and so they're the most often targeted by gardeners. But if you have an infestation you have to take multiple steps and target the fungus gnats while in larval and/or pupal stages as well.
Don't under-estimate the power of a good vacuum against adult fungus gnats. Vacuum your grow room while you water to catch the most adults. Do this as often as you can if you have an infestation. Here are some other safe recommendations I have given in other gnat threads.
Pyrethrin as a botanically-derived insecticide that kills on contact and breaks down within several hours, it is not toxic to birds, mammals or amphibians and leaves no toxic residues which is ideal for our purposes. The spray is widely available at most home improvement centers. I am pretty sure this is the same stuff as Dr. Doom, only that brand costs more than it should. This is also good for killing adults on the soil surface.
Mosquito Dunks or Bacillus thuringiensis isreali (Bti) is a natural bacterium that produces a larvacide which is toxic only to a handful of species of insect larvae including fungus gnats and mosquitoes. It is widely available in compressed circular pucks under the brand name Mosquito Dunks, sold in most home improvement centers. They also sell Mosquito Bits, which is the same thing and another brand is Gnatrol, but these products are usually less available. If you get dunks you use them by soaking in a bucket of water over night and irrigating. This should kill most of the larvae; although it is best used to prevent a gnat population from taking hold in the first place. If you already are infested this is still a very necessary step in order to kill the larval stages of the gnats. Re-apply every two weeks even when you don't see adults.
Then of course you should have yellow sticky traps around and Safer brand or Gnat-Stix sticky traps in the containers. But it is hard to bring absolute elimination if you have a lot of plants, house plants, etc. Biological controls are really the best. Someone mentioned Hypoaspis mites, which predate on the pupal stages of various insects including fungus gnats. I have these myself and they do quite a job. Given a sufficient food source (like gnat pupae) the Hypoaspis mite population can really boom; once they've eaten the majority of the pest insects their populations may drop although they can subsist on dead organic matter/vegetation.
Hypoaspis, Bti and beneficial nematodes are a sure fire way to rid your garden of gnats and keep them form coming back.