Fox Farms having a ton of gnats

S

SnowWhitte

Member
What to do? I've searched the web and some say get rid of everything and find a different supplier, but I need this asap as my seeds have just popped. My Hydroponic shop also has a no return policy for some bullshit reason.

This is why I stay faithful to hydroponics =X

Help!!
 
RIKNSTEIN

RIKNSTEIN

Well-Known Member
I use neem oil as a preventative for that stuff. I "had" spider mites and gnats, google it, it works...good luck
 
S

SnowWhitte

Member
Just neem oil? From what I've read its a pain in the ass to get rid/keep rid of these things, also does it matter if this is outdoors or not? <-- Is me hoping they will just ftfo from my ish and onto another plant haha
 
A

althor

Well-Known Member
Gnats arent hard to deal with.
Just fill up a cup of soap suds with a big shot of vinegar. They will fly to the vinegar smell and stick to the suds.
 
MYOB

MYOB

Well-Known Member
Mix diatomaceous earth with your soil. Get some sticky traps for adults. Done.
 
S

SnowWhitte

Member
That may kill the adults, but you still gotta remember the eggs that were already laid. Right now what I am doing is putting the soil in a black trash bag and "cooking" them in the sun for a couple days and then when it comes time the gnats should be suffocated/dead enough for me to put my soil back in my hole - then going to add 1/2 inch of sand ontop of my soil and when I don't see a single flyer I will then transplant, what do you guys think?
 
lovemymj

lovemymj

Active Member
SERIOUSLY!!! Just smother the little fuckers with play sand...NOT regular sand which has chemicals. Cover your soil completely! DONE! edit.. They LOVE fresh roots, and will kill early stage seedlings if they get a chance, from what I've seen. Let your soil dry ALMOST completely between waterings as well.
 
S

SnowWhitte

Member
Exactly the info I was looking for, lovemymj - This is exactly what I will be doing but in a different process. +rep to you my friend.
 
texin

texin

Well-Known Member
I have had to use a layer of sand on my FFOF soil. It happens every once in awhile you will get a bag with gnats. A layer of sand will always take care of it
 
S

SnowWhitte

Member
I know FFOF knows they have a problem with they're soil having gnats, but why haven't they done anything about it? At 20 dollars a bag on average, its kinda ridiculous to have to go through all of this just to ensure our soil is good to use.
 
AimAim

AimAim

Well-Known Member
lovemymj said:
SERIOUSLY!!! Just smother the little fuckers with play sand...NOT regular sand which has chemicals.
Click to expand...
SERIOUSLY ! What the hell chemicals are there in sand? Left over from the manufacturing process maybe? It's sand, they dig it, they screen it, they bag it.

Try to find "sharp sand" at some place that sells concrete, mortar etc. Regular sand can kind of pack down and seal the surface. Sharp sand stays loose and lets air and water through easily.
 
texin

texin

Well-Known Member
I like FFOF soil I do not have a place to make my own compost and everything. So this is the next best thing for me. I have used alot of bags of this stuff and it doesn't happen that often.
 
S

SnowWhitte

Member
Yeah I guess its just my luck - the first time I go with an expensive soil like FFOF I get this, haha - I've been looking up making a worm and compost bin in the last weeks and honestly you can do it indoors man. Just a small 10 gallon tote with a lb of red worms and about a quart of scraps per family member per week and in a couple months you have black gold. Check it out sometime
 
texin

texin

Well-Known Member
Lol Ya I have done a worm bin I love FFOF and I sup it up with all kinds of guanos, buffaloam and stuff. There is a forum about FFOF and what you add that a bunch of use posted what we all add to it.
 
two2brains

two2brains

Well-Known Member
Its not fox farms soil its how its handled. Any soil that gets torn open and wet/damp will attract bugs that will lay eggs on it. Soon as you fire up that warm light you now have a bug farm started. With soil i would recommend soaking it with really hot water then let it dry out completely, mega dry, as dry as it can get. Also, next time you buy soil look for any tears in the bags with wet soil and if does make sure to prep it before use.
 
RIKNSTEIN

RIKNSTEIN

Well-Known Member
SnowWhitte said:
Just neem oil? From what I've read its a pain in the ass to get rid/keep rid of these things, also does it matter if this is outdoors or not? <-- Is me hoping they will just ftfo from my ish and onto another plant haha
Click to expand...
Na, there's several ways to do it, and it's preference like anything else. If you want instant results then neem oils not for you, but if you want to kill and prevent bugs for the long haul then ya just neem oil..

I had spider mites and fungus gnats, and since I started using neem oil about a month and a half ago...I see no more bugs, and I use a heavy duty magnifying glass to look for them. I use neem oil to water and foliar spray my plants once a week, the plants love it and it KILLS the bugs that may decide to come around..do this and your garden will thank you, I gaurantee it, if used as directed...lol...good luck
 
RIKNSTEIN

RIKNSTEIN

Well-Known Member
RIKNSTEIN said:
Na, there's several ways to do it, and it's preference like anything else. If you want instant results then neem oils not for you, but if you want to kill and prevent bugs for the long haul then ya just neem oil..

I had spider mites and fungus gnats, and since I started using neem oil about a month and a half ago...I see no more bugs, and I use a heavy duty magnifying glass to look for them. I use neem oil to water and foliar spray my plants once a week, the plants love it and it KILLS the bugs that may decide to come around..do this and your garden will thank you, I gaurantee it, if used as directed...lol...good luck
Click to expand...
Here's what I read that made me use neem oil, hope it helps you :weed: it's long but worth it...

Neem Oil
Neem oil does work, but the way it works is different from other insecticides. Neem is not an instant, knock down, kill everything pesticide. Neem oil affects insects in many different, ingenious and subtle ways.
How neem oil messes with the insects&#8217; brains and bodies
Neem oil has many complex active ingredients. Rather than being simple poisons, those ingredients are similar to the hormones that insects produce. Insects take up the neem oil ingredients just like natural hormones.
Neem enters the system and blocks the real hormones from working properly. Insects &#8220;forget&#8221; to eat, to mate, or they stop laying eggs. Some forget that they can fly. If eggs are produced they don&#8217;t hatch, or the larvae don&#8217;t moult.
Obviously insects that are too confused to eat or breed will not survive. The population eventually plummets, and they disappear. The cycle is broken.
How precisely it works is difficult for scientists to find out. There are too many different active substances in neem oil, and every insect species reacts differently to neem insecticide. Neem oil does not hurt beneficial insects. Only chewing and sucking insects are affected. It is certainly fascinating.
Like real hormones, neem oil insecticide works at very low concentrations, in the parts per million range. A little neem oil goes a long way.
But this is not something that happens over night. People use neem oil as an insecticide, and expect everything to die instantly, because that&#8217;s what they are used to from chemical poisons. When that does not happen they conclude neem insecticide does not work.
How neem oil deters chewing and sucking insects
There is a nice story that demonstrates how grass hoppers react to neem oil insecticide. It goes something like this :Someone did an experiment. It involved two jars, two leaves, and two grasshoppers. One leaf was sprayed with a chemical insecticide, and one with neem oil. The two grasshoppers were put in the two jars, with one leaf each.
The first grasshopper ate the leaf and died almost instantly. The grasshopper with the neem oil covered leaf did not touch the leaf and lived. At least for a few days. Eventually it starved to death.
Neem stops insects from eating the plants.
Part of this action is due to to the hormone like action of neem oil that I explained above. Insects &#8220;forget&#8221; to eat after they&#8217;ve been in contact with even traces of neem oil.
But it is also the presence, the mere hint of a smell of neem oil, that seems to be enough to keep leaf eating insects away. Neem oil can be very powerful as an anti-feedant and insect repellent.
This anti-feedant property is one of the most often advertised and lauded properties of neem oil insecticide. However, the hormonal effects I described above are even stronger.
Neem oil as an insect deterrent works well against grasshoppers and leafhoppers, but all other insect pests are controlled mostly through the hormone action.
The subtlety of the hormonal effects,and the fact that they may take days or weeks to manifest, makes people overlook them. Ill informed gardeners seek instant gratification, i.e. lots ofdead insects immediately, rather than a balanced environment in the long run.
It&#8217;s a shame, because the hormonal effect is where the real power of neem oil lies. It&#8217;s the key to neem oil being an effective insecticide and good for the environment at the same time. It&#8217;s also important to understand this effect to use neem oil insecticide correctly.
Neem oil works from inside the plant
Many insecticides break down quickly.They wash away with rain, or when irrigating, or the sunlight destroys them.You either have to spray all the time, or you have to spray something that&#8217;s so stable that it stays around forever. That means the chemical builds up everywhere and eventually poisons everything, including you.
Neem oil breaks down very quickly, too. It is especially susceptible to UV light. But neem oil is also a system icinsecticide. That means you can pour it on the soil (not pure neem oil of course, you use a dilution or extract) and the plants absorb it. They take it up into their tissue, and it works from the inside. A leaf hopper may take acouple of bites, but that&#8217;s it.
However, this does not work for all insect species. The neem ingredients accumulate in the tissues deeper inside the plant. The phloem, the outer most layer, contains hardly any. A tiny aphid feeds from the phloem, it can not penetrate deep enough to get a dose of neem.But any leaf hoppers, grass hoppers or similar chomping insects will be incapacitated quickly.
People eat neem leaves to cleanse the blood, stimulate the liver, and boost the immune system. So we certainly don&#8217;t need to worry about a bit of neem inside our lettuce leaves. To me this is a much more attractive option than having poisonous foulicides build up in my garden.
Neem oil suffocates insects
Many gardeners use white oil (plain mineral oil) or even olive oil to combat soft bodied insects like aphids,thrips or whitefly. The oil coats the bugs and they suffocate. Neem oil insecticide does that as well. But it&#8217;s more like a little bonus on top of everything else it does.
It can be a hazard, though. Of course there is no difference between suffocating good or bad bugs. Oil suffocates anything. So this aspect can harm beneficial insects!
Neem oil and beneficial insects
Neem is non toxic for beneficial insects. The main reason is that insects need to ingest the neem oil to be affected, and beneficial insects don&#8217;t eat your plants. But you can still kill beneficial insects if you smother them with neem oil, so please be careful.
Beneficial insects are most active during the day. The best time to spray neem insecticide is very early in the morning, so the spray can dry before the good insects become active. Also a good time is the late afternoon or evening. Once the spray has dried it does not harm your bees, ladybugs, lacewings, predatory mites and wasps etc
 
MYOB

MYOB

Well-Known Member
Here is a secret. Mix diatomaceous earth with your soil. Hang sticky traps for adults. Problem solved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top