How bad are fungus gnats?

DrDukePHD

Well-Known Member
Often more annoying than fungus gnats, I bring some fruit flies in the house with store-produce & have to break out the vinegar/applejuice/soap bowls.

I wash all the produce, so I'm baffled as to how they propogate.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
I used the Microblift in a peat based soil. I'd use 24-26 drops per 50 gallons, and get good runoff. I could put the runoff under the microscope and find dead larvae. Sometimes it would kill out the beneficial mites too, but hey... collateral damage.
I didn't think it was supposed to harm the predator mites. Just the gnat larvae. Did you see dead mites in the runoff or something?
 

7CardBud

Well-Known Member
I tried the DE before and it sealed the top of the container and took forever to water. Grow bags that have the soil top dressed with BT bits then covered in about an inch of fine pool sand really slows them down. Then add a few stickies for the adults and a fan that blows across the top of the media.
 

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
What castings did you get last time? Was it a yellow bag from Home Depot or whatever?
Wiggle Worm, I'd heard people say they'd had good luck with them and Amazon had them with 2 day shipping. They look really nice and were fairly moist, I've just been having fungus gnat larvae that I'm having to still use the Gnatrol on. I'm going with the Colorado worm castings from Build A Soil next time. They're pricey but look to be really high quality. I'd like to get enough nematodes built up so that I can eliminate the Gnatrol if possible.
I'm also still trying to find a local worm farm to get castings from directly. I have a hard time believing with all the trendy, yuppy farms near me that nobody is doing worm farming on a boutique level at least. I just have to find out where.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Wiggle Worm, I'd heard people say they'd had good luck with them and Amazon had them with 2 day shipping. They look really nice and were fairly moist, I've just been having fungus gnat larvae that I'm having to still use the Gnatrol on. I'm going with the Colorado worm castings from Build A Soil next time. They're pricey but look to be really high quality. I'd like to get enough nematodes built up so that I can eliminate the Gnatrol if possible.
I'm also still trying to find a local worm farm to get castings from directly. I have a hard time believing with all the trendy, yuppy farms near me that nobody is doing worm farming on a boutique level at least. I just have to find out where.
The Wiggle Worm I got from my Hydro store when I started had lots of predator mites and nematodes in it. I've been getting the BAS stuff though lately. The Vermicompost is good stuff too. They use to carry another local brand too that had even more life but they don't anymore. My recroom is full of stuff from BAS.

The Microbe-Lift BMC also worked great for me. You can always buy nematodes too.
 

Highway61

Well-Known Member
Mosquito Bits and sticky traps do the trick for me. Just sprinkle a few mosquito bits on top of your media and water in.
 

Cookiezealous

Well-Known Member
Microb lift works as well and lots cheaper. But if you don't break the cycle, they just keep going. Some on here use pantyhose to keep them ot of soil. Never tried that but, gotta keep them from your roots.
I got some microbe lift BMC, Two drops to a gallon, how long does it take for the stuff to work?
 

Cookiezealous

Well-Known Member
I got some microbe lift BMC wondering how long it’s gonna take for that stuff to work. I’m in week four of flower and I had them for about a week and a half now, just wondering how long it’s actually gonna take for them to start doing damage to the roots, I’ve used peroxide in the past when I was using salt nutrients but now I am in living soil so that’s not an option. Has anyone ever seen them really take down a grow? All of the plants in here or very healthy, large plants. They are all in 10 and 15 gallon fabric pots. After I use that organic tea they just took off like crazy. You can see in the photos they are still pretty happy, I was hoping for a run without a single issue .
 

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PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
I got some microbe lift BMC wondering how long it’s gonna take for that stuff to work. I’m in week four of flower and I had them for about a week and a half now, just wondering how long it’s actually gonna take for them to start doing damage to the roots, I’ve used peroxide in the past when I was using salt nutrients but now I am in living soil so that’s not an option. Has anyone ever seen them really take down a grow? All of the plants in here or very healthy, large plants. They are all in 10 and 15 gallon fabric pots. After I use that organic tea they just took off like crazy. You can see in the photos they are still pretty happy, I was hoping for a run without a single issue .
It'll start working pretty quick. But you gotta stay on it for awhile until you get a handle on them. I don't know how people can measure drops of it. I just pour a little in. You can't hurt anything by overdoing it. At least I haven't noticed any side affects. And get some yellow stickies for the flyers.
 

Somatek

Well-Known Member
Gnatrol was useless for me. I used it for months and it did nothing.
It has a short self life as it isn't a stable product, depending where you bought it that may be the issue as it wasn't a commonly bought item when I worked in hydro shops, which is why we never stocked much at once.

Gnatrol is a BTi product, just like mosquito dunks which are more stable and cheaper. Since there's no difference between them I always recommend mosquito dunks either crushed up and added to the soil or added to your water resevoir every month or two so your soil is treated for gnats or thrips whenever you water. I'm a big believer in prevention rather then reaction, especially with something as cheap as mosquito dunks.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I've never found gnats to be that difficult to control. I used to just spray a neem oil solution on the top of the soil/coco. That's always taken care of them for me. Neem meal added to the top is also effective. I don't use neem anymore. I use sesame oil and it has the same effect. You could also just use canola oil and a drop or two of soap.

Gnats like aphids are pretty easy to deal with and don't require any industrial strength solutions.
 

1212ham

Well-Known Member
I've never found gnats to be that difficult to control. I used to just spray a neem oil solution on the top of the soil/coco. That's always taken care of them for me. Neem meal added to the top is also effective. I don't use neem anymore. I use sesame oil and it has the same effect. You could also just use canola oil and a drop or two of soap.

Gnats like aphids are pretty easy to deal with and don't require any industrial strength solutions.
Don't think it would work with air pots though. Putting the pot in a paint strainer bag seemed to work well, tied around the stem and feed hose. I was worried about an infestation inside the bag and untied it around the top... Then the gnats came.

Next time I'll give it one dose of Microbe-Lift BMC or something to be sure there's no infestation in the bag.

Get Rid Of Gnats With These 6 Essential Oils

 
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