Any new tech for fungus gnats?

Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i have two small clip on fans set up so that one is just above the tops of my pots, then a little higher up on the other side of the room i have one blowing the opposite way, towards my filter, between the tops of my plants and my lights. this keeps air moving gently across the top of my medium. this does two things. it dries out the tops of the pots faster, and it annoys gnats when they can't fly around easily. i haven't had gnats in years, and i don't use anything. nothing. did use dunks at one time. think i still have half a pack if you need them.
 
Stink Bug

Stink Bug

Well-Known Member
NanoGadget said:
Seeing a few of the little bastards buzzing around and it's been years since I've had em. In the past I always used a combination of microb-lift bmc and sticky traps or mosquito dunks and sticky traps. Just curious if there is anything new on the market that I should try that you all think is superior and why...
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Dunks and sticky traps are 100% safe and effective. Sometimes tried and true is hard too beat!
 
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Stink Bug

Stink Bug

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
new tech says they are harmless

unlike mosquito dunks

best is still the 'old' lay sliced pototes or french fries on the top soil

remove and check for worms after 2-3 days

works great as I beleive its the worms that attack the roots

good luck
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What's unsafe about Bt?
 
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ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
The particular strain of B. bassiana utilized in this product was isolated from soil in Clanwilliam in South Africa and so is adapted to hot, dry conditions.
Beautiful but arid countryside with a huge dam. They have a massive bass fishing contest yearly. My dad always went there. My mom was born not far from there.
 
Azubaz

Azubaz

Well-Known Member
I had a couple gnats as well. I freaked out and flushed with h202 amd washed my tent down with a light bleach solution and added the potato slices on top of the soil for 24 hours. I assume i already had larvae growing, but after picking the potato slices up i had nothing on them. I'm not saying i don't have any at all, but if i did, they didn't show up and the potato theory doesn't work, or the h202 killed them. Probably killed a bunch of microbes too but the plant seems to be doing well since. Still have a couple gnats here and there i see once in awhile. Most people tell me it's normal to see one or two especially if you over watered a bit. But nothing new on the market i know of
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
To be honest I'm a little itchy about applying DE to stuff we inhale

fine on my veggie greens but my weed I'm very cautious

I've heard of some nasty surpirises with this DE

but love ur posts either way

hugs from darkest Russia ..lol
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Nasty surprises like what? Diatomaceous earth is a natural product made of millions of fossilized diatoms; aquatic organisms that are totally harmless to humans or animals. In fact it can even be ingested to combat internal parasites like worms. People sometimes put it in their dog's food and it's an ingredient in some toothpastes and skin exfoliaters. It is totally nontoxic but I understand why you wouldn't want it getting on your buds..maybe just wet it down to and ok maybe don't snort it either lol
https://draxe.com/diatomaceous-earth/
 
redzi

redzi

Well-Known Member
Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles)...ordered from Arbico. Unable to see any of the little predator mites but they are there. 10 days and no trace of fungus gnats. Shipping can be the most expensive part of it.... comes in plastic bottle overnight UPS by 10 am. A double bubble foil wrap along with some cold jell packs kept the 30,000 alive. When they were in the container I could see the females, the males are too small to see without a loop. Tried fungus killer, hydrogen peroxide, Neem..the processed kind and of coarse fly tape. These together would know down the numbers, especially when using the wet/dry vac. Those little fu ers would always bounce back. The company has a coupon but I had already paid the $65.
 
Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
Has anybody had experience with daily synthetic fed coco, hay mulch and weekly organic brew?. Microbe lift bmc used twice weekly still can't keep them in check. It's like pissing into the wind but is it possible to maintain that level of organic matter gnat free while watered daily?.

Could you use a layer of hay under an inch of coco so that you still get it's break down effect, some of the mulch effect but minus gnat heaven?.
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Flowki said:
Has anybody had experience with daily synthetic fed coco, hay mulch and weekly organic brew?. Microbe lift bmc used twice weekly still can't keep them in check. It's like pissing into the wind but is it possible to maintain that level of organic matter gnat free while watered daily?.

Could you use a layer of hay under an inch of coco so that you still get it's break down effect, some of the mulch effect but minus gnat heaven?.
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You have to be careful with hay or anything that. It's not uncommon for gardeners to use it and find out the hard way that it was produced with herbicides that prevent your crops from growing. I'd expect it to be just as likely to have pesticides that could have negative affects on beneficials used in organic soil grows. The same goes for pretty much anything that's produced exclusively for livestock.
 
B

Bacala

Well-Known Member
I work in a garden center and get this question at least a couple of times a month. If you have fungus gnats your soil is too moist, period. The fix is simple and you don't need anything other than a toothpick, nail or something similar.

Aside from the obvious suggestion to water less often (top 2-3 inches of soil should be dry between waterings), use the pick or nail to till the top couple of inches of soil once or twice a day to expose the eggs and larvae to air, which will dessicate and kill them. The life cycle is very short and it takes little time to eliminate the gnats this way.
 
SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Bacala said:
I work in a garden center and get this question at least a couple of times a month. If you have fungus gnats your soil is too moist, period. The fix is simple and you don't need anything other than a toothpick, nail or something similar.

Aside from the obvious suggestion to water less often (top 2-3 inches of soil should be dry between waterings), use the pick or nail to till the top couple of inches of soil once or twice a day to expose the eggs and larvae to air, which will dessicate and kill them. The life cycle is very short and it takes little time to eliminate the gnats this way.
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I am on top of taking my pots dry cycles the edge and still have to deal fungus gnats at times. Granted it maybe mostly when I've recently transplanted and the pots stay wet for an extended period before it's well colonized with roots but I don't believe you can definitively say that fungus gnats always means overly wet soil.

And there's no way I'm going digging through the top layer of dozens of pots with a toothpick when I can just dose them all once with Gnatrol and be done with it.
 
Flowki

Flowki

Well-Known Member
SchmoeJoe said:
You have to be careful with hay or anything that. It's not uncommon for gardeners to use it and find out the hard way that it was produced with herbicides that prevent your crops from growing. I'd expect it to be just as likely to have pesticides that could have negative affects on beneficials used in organic soil grows. The same goes for pretty much anything that's produced exclusively for livestock.
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The hay is from a local pet store for rabbit feed. I've seen nothing but positive effects other than the gnat increase. I dunno if pesticides are used but I can only assume it can't be that bad if the fungus gnats do ok. Their was also a cycle were I gave up and removed the hay. A few days later after watering I noticed a lot of 1cm long thin worm like biology getting washed out (nematodes as far as I could compare on internet). That continued over the next few days. Call me for jumping to conclusions but removing the hay seemed to knock out a major part of the life chain for microbes because I think perhaps many other types were getting washed out/vacating but were not visible. Aside from the hay it's just coco with a weekly inoculation so I don't think they like to stick around otherwise.

However I'm open to change. What organic mulch would you suggest as an alternative to hay?. Straw has no nutrient value and also sucks up N to break down so it seems pointless to use it over other inert options. I'd like it to be an organic because it obviously brings extra benefits, DE by what I've read fails at controlling gnats once wet and I don't think it will house the same kind of biology diversity in a coco setting that hay has. But pure speculation.

What if the hay was buried under a layer of inert mulch or possibly DE?. Maybe it's enough to keep the gnats out but water/organics in. Or other ideas?.
 
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SchmoeJoe

SchmoeJoe

Well-Known Member
Flowki said:
The hay is from a local pet store for rabbit feed. I've seen nothing but positive effects other than the gnat increase. I dunno if pesticides are used but I can only assume it can't be that bad if the fungus gnats do ok. Their was also a cycle were I gave up and removed the hay. A few days later after watering I noticed a lot of 1cm long thin worm like biology getting washed out (nematodes as far as I could compare on internet). That continued over the next few days. Call me for jumping to conclusions but removing the hay seemed to knock out a major part of the life chain for microbes because I think perhaps many other types were getting washed out/vacating but were not visible. Aside from the hay it's just coco with a weekly inoculation so I don't think they like to stick around otherwise.

However I'm open to change. What organic mulch would you suggest as an alternative to hay?. Straw has no nutrient value and also sucks up N to break down so it seems pointless to use it over other inert options. I'd like it to be an organic because it obviously brings extra benefits, DE by what I've read fails at controlling gnats once wet and I don't think it will house the same kind of biology diversity in a coco setting that hay has. But pure speculation.

What if the hay was buried under a layer of inert mulch or possibly DE?. Maybe it's enough to keep the gnats out but water/organics in. Or other ideas?.
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It sounds like your hay is fine. Look up Gnatrol.
 
doniawon

doniawon

Well-Known Member
Luckily I have zero animals n my pots. But will disturb the soil food web.. them lil maggots are vicious though. Lol. Bt prolly best for organics. Or hypersilaci milieszes
 
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