Gnat Sack .. an idea in the works.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

We're in the middle of R&D at the moment.

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seems legit good luck

DoubleAtotheRON said:

We're still testing microns ... we feel we need to find that sweet spot for salt feeders, as we think it will build up over time, but we're still testing it. Well water feeders are another thing to consider. Hard water may clog things up. But!, the good news is that it's reusable, washable, so there's that.

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The size is key.
There will definitely be clogging, not just from salts but from soil particles.
But if you can brew beer in a bag you can definitely do this.
A good 10 gal brew bag runs about $25.
Don’t go cheap. People will buy quality.
Cheapos will try and use pantyhose.

drsaltzman said:

The size is key.
There will definitely be clogging, not just from salts but from soil particles.
But if you can brew beer in a bag you can definitely do this.
A good 10 gal brew bag runs about $25.
Don’t go cheap. People will buy quality.
Cheapos will try and use pantyhose.

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Soil particles from the drain?

drsaltzman said:

Cheapos will try and use pantyhose.

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And that's what Im afraid of. You put an idea out there, and home growers will do just that. Commercial?... maybe not.

Unless you use Drag Queen hose lol.

drsaltzman said:

The size is key.
There will definitely be clogging, not just from salts but from soil particles.
But if you can brew beer in a bag you can definitely do this.
A good 10 gal brew bag runs about $25.
Don’t go cheap. People will buy quality.
Cheapos will try and use pantyhose.

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Hmm. My mothers are bonsais in 4" rockwool cubes. I might be a cheapo and stick them in panty hose. I tried to use similar sized nursery bags once, but they were too thick to seal off or water through even if I could. The bag would fill up when the rockwool was fully saturated, which was kind of cool. Then they got thrips so I scratched the idea.

Sounds like a really good idea. It's one of the only recurring problems I face that I just can't seem to eliminate. Gnatrol works to keep it from being a real issue but they can just be annoying. Keep us updated.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

Soil particles from the drain?

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Yeah, all the muck that filters out.

FirstCavApache64 said:

Sounds like a really good idea. It's one of the only recurring problems I face that I just can't seem to eliminate. Gnatrol works to keep it from being a real issue but they can just be annoying. Keep us updated.

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Will do!

drsaltzman said:

Yeah, all the muck that filters out.

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Well... I don't see any harm in a little bit of soil particle settling at the bottom of the Gnat Sack.. harvest, and wash it.

DoubleAtotheRON said:

Hey guys... I have an idea that Im working with a manufacturer on, that would accommodate 3,5,7, and 10 gallon pots. It's basically a formed netting that you put your pot into. It has a cinch drawstring that is at the plant stalk. You can adjust the drawstring as the stalk gets bigger, and also put a yellow sticky near the drawstring (comes in the kit) to capture adult Fungus Gnats that would try to enter even the tiniest hole. This would protect your drain holes (where they like to feed and lay eggs) and also the surface. You'd be able to feed through the netting as well. No need to ever remove it during the grow cycle. You can also feed in MicrobeLift to kill out the larvae through the netting.Should I continue with the manufacturer for this? You guys think the demand would be great enough to continue this endeavor?... What would be a good selling price for something like this? It will be washable, and reusable.

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I've already got a gnad sack. But I'm interested in the washing.

PadawanWarrior said:

I've already got a gnad sack. But I'm interested in the washing.

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Head to toes in the shower... didn't yo mamma teach you anything?

DoubleAtotheRON said:

Well... I don't see any harm in a little bit of soil particle settling at the bottom of the Gnat Sack.. harvest, and wash it.

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No harm is right.
It ain’t glutenous barley mash.
Love the idea.

Pantyhose....

Love the idea but sorry bud you can’t use the name. Wifey already trademarked my custom swim trunks lmao

If it has a 'quick cinch' that you could open up for watering and tighten back down when done, then the worries about salts or the mesh being too fine isn't a problem up top, it's just a matter of what happens on the 'drain' side of things when it comes to salt build-up, particulate and whatever you'd need for water to drain properly.

I used old bed sheets over my sips. The sheet had to lay right on the dirt to be effective. So pots need to be over filled or mounded. Any little gap and they just multiply.

I would definitely give it a shot. Would it let the soil breath and not retain its moisture drying out at its usual rate.

Hiphophippo said:

I would definitely give it a shot. Would it let the soil breath and not retain its moisture drying out at its usual rate.

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For me it Definitely slows down the drying.

I like the net sac idea. I've been thinking of something similar. I'm considering turning an old grow bag or paint strain bag uspide down using it the same way over the top of the pot. A paint bag with a small hole in the middle and put over the pot may accomplish the same thing you are looking for.

I've used a product in the past called Growstone Gnat Block which as far as I know isn't made any more. Supposedly they don't like to crawl over the rough texture. I'd use about an inch on top. It did a decent job of keeping the gnats in check . It was reusable, but I lost a bit after each use.

Since I can't find it anymore I decided to salvage what I had left and put it into sacs I made from 5g paint strainers. I think they were 200 microns but can't be sure. They worked pretty good except one grow I had such a bad infestation they were even crawling inside the sacs! They could have got inside through the seems where I closed up the bags with a stapler. Or small ones made it through the holes.
That seemed to have been an isolated incident and I've been using them for almost 2 years with good results.



Another thing I'm experimenting with is a product called Pittmoss (recycled news paper and cardboard). Using it as a mulch seems to be working as good as the Gnat Block so I made sacs filled with the Pittmoss and am trying it out on one of my current plants for easy reuse and easy to lift up to top dress. So far so good.

Good luck with your project.