Fungus gnat?

I have tiny black gnats flying around soil. Fungus gnats? Want to know if spraying the top of the soil with Neem Oil is enough to get rid of the flies AND eggs/larva in soil (main concern). Indoor cabinet grow.

Not sure how neem oil works but by letting the top couple inches of soil dry out it will kill any larva and stop eggs from being able to develop, as well as prevent any gnats already present from wanting to lay eggs there.

AfgooCBD said:

I have tiny black gnats flying around soil. Fungus gnats? Want to know if spraying the top of the soil with Neem Oil is enough to get rid of the flies AND eggs/larva in soil (main concern). Indoor cabinet grow.

Click to expand...

Make sure you id the pest correctly first. Catch one on a sticky trap and get your microscope out.

Neem or Azamax etc, seems not to totally control them, I've been fighting them for the last few weeks, oddly enough I get more fliers after routine application. So I'm still having some problems with azamax and sticky traps for fungus gnat control. If I were you I would go with a neem treatment and spinosad neem/azamax seem to act as an anti-ovipository and spinosad is toxic to larve... so I'm going to add spinosad to my pest management.

Also I'm reducing the water times for the plants in soil, apparently this is an ideal environment for fungus gnats (wet soil tops) I might consider mulching if I cant get things under control.

What did work for me in the past was pyrethium foggers, I just warn you its harsh on your plants.. It burned leaves, etc.. I just applied a quick fog over the base, waited a few days and did again a few times and I killed them all

Lastly I picked up a shit load of fungus gnats from zen potting soil, I'm never using that shit again. Ive switched to black gold seedling mix.. much better stuff.

Thank you!

Sorry to hop on your thread but I thought since you were having problems similar to mine, that maybe you could help me figure out if this thing is a fungus gnat..

Al Yamoni said:

Sorry to hop on your thread but I thought since you were having problems similar to mine, that maybe you could help me figure out if this thing is a fungus gnat..

Click to expand...

Looks like the tiny guys flying around my plants. If they are fungus gnats, what happens is the larvae go dormant when the top of the soil dries. Then when you water, they all wake up again and start destroying your roots. From what I've read. So I'm going to hit my soil with hydrogen peroxide (4 parts water, 1 part hp) Friday. Supposed to kill both the eggs and larvae. The flies themselves won't damage the plant. It's the larvae.

Fungus gnats or winged root aphids? Wings longer than torso and "dual exhaust" nubs posterior equals winged root aphids.

If just gnats, gnatrol.

If aphids you need imidacloprid, orthene and diligence.

Sounds good. I'll have to look more closely. They are so small! Read that the wings are vertical with aphids, and flat with gnat. Thanks Snaps.

These little bastards have wings longer than their torso and they lay flat on there back while they are crawling around on my bitches..

Additional Info on Fungus Gnat Control.

http://www.ggspro.com/new/pdfs/Fungus-Gnat.pdf

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7448.html

Thanks GGW. Good to know. I had shore flies last year for sure, based on your first link, like tiny house flies. These are a lot smaller, like tiny mosquitos.

Here's the link I saw about hydrogen peroxide and fungus gnats: http://www.freeplants.com/fungus-gnats.htm

Got a pic of one on my soil. I don't know, so hard to tell. (IMG pic is from my garden. Screen shots are from online). Will know for sure after treating for fungus gnats first. If that doesn't do it, then it's time to go to battle!

Getting rid of the adults is easy: simply use sticky yellow cards to land on. The larvae are a bit trickier. The first step toward getting rid of them is to starve your plant of water for a few days, Once the soil is dry, mix 1 part hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution with 4 parts water. Use 3% solution, which you can find in any drug store or in the hygiene/medicine aisle of a chain grocery store. Water your plants as you normally would, using the hydrogen peroxide solution and taking care to get good coverage of the entire top layer of soil. Use a spray bottle if desired. The soil will fizz for a few minutes after application; this is natural. The gnat larvae die on contact with the H2O2. After a few minutes the fizzing stops and the H2O2 breaks down into oxygen molecules (which your plants don't mind) and water molecules (which your plants love).

Geronimo420 said:

Getting rid of the adults is easy: simply use sticky yellow cards to land on. The larvae are a bit trickier. The first step toward getting rid of them is to starve your plant of water for a few days, Once the soil is dry, mix 1 part hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution with 4 parts water. Use 3% solution, which you can find in any drug store or in the hygiene/medicine aisle of a chain grocery store. Water your plants as you normally would, using the hydrogen peroxide solution and taking care to get good coverage of the entire top layer of soil. Use a spray bottle if desired. The soil will fizz for a few minutes after application; this is natural. The gnat larvae die on contact with the H2O2. After a few minutes the fizzing stops and the H2O2 breaks down into oxygen molecules (which your plants don't mind) and water molecules (which your plants love).

Click to expand...

If it were only so easy.

Aphids are evil little bastards. You need something with a residual systemic effect like imidacloprid.

Found this informative page on the fungus gnat, if anyone is interested: http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/controlling-fungus-gnats-organically

I tried all kinds of methods minus the hydrogen peroxide.

Nothing worked.

Well I think I beat the gnats. In a week I will know for sure.

1) I've been in construction mode in the greenhouse, I had some random buckets of hydroton, and the gnats found a home in there to.. It comes down to sanitation and getting rid of all the hiding spots. I even found them in my dehumidifier.

2) I used something with fast knockdown power, pyrethrum fogger for all the stuff around the place and carbyl will kill the larve, I am still continuing with azamax to keep them out of the plants. And the sticky traps will never go away.

The problem is they can get everywhere, so you really cant just treat soil or medium.. you have to treat the entire building, So really hydrogen peroxide, or spinosad is only part of getting rid of them.

GrowerGoneWild said:

Well I think I beat the gnats. In a week I will know for sure.

1) I've been in construction mode in the greenhouse, I had some random buckets of hydroton, and the gnats found a home in there to.. It comes down to sanitation and getting rid of all the hiding spots. I even found them in my dehumidifier.

2) I used something with fast knockdown power, pyrethrum fogger for all the stuff around the place and carbyl will kill the larve, I am still continuing with azamax to keep them out of the plants. And the sticky traps will never go away.

The problem is they can get everywhere, so you really cant just treat soil or medium.. you have to treat the entire building, So really hydrogen peroxide, or spinosad is only part of getting rid of them.

Click to expand...

Good to know! Thanks for the info. For me, the sticky trap is a must in getting rid of the adults. I'm working on the soil now. Things are looking good on my end too. I'll know for sure around Friday when I water next.