I killed them gnats real good

phreakygoat

Well-Known Member
So I had quite a few fungus gnats flying around my grow room (and therefore laying root-eating babies), so I tried all types of different ways to kill the bastards. nicotine spray didn't do it fully, Safer brand pesticide did nothing, and those sticky things only caught like 5. Then I tried a Hot Shots brand pest strip... and it was like a gnat genocide.

I came home the next day, and my room's floor was speckled with the decrepit corpses of these asshole bugs. A few new larva did hatch, but I watched closely and observed that this new generation wasn't flying, and could barely walk. Now they are all dead! i was in veg at the time, i don't know if those things are safe for late flower...
Link For Pest Strip
 

phreakygoat

Well-Known Member
I keep the strip about 4 feet away from my plants, but in veg the strip could potentially be over them. In late flower, Im going to stop using it...
In terms of birds, all I know is they are super sensitive to airborne vapors and shit, so I would keep them (and the pest strip) in good circulation. It's only harmful to anything if the air can accumulate with the mildly poisonous air. just my 2cents
Man vs. Gnat... Survival of the fittest bitch
 

phreakygoat

Well-Known Member
An update, as gnats never die all @ once (they come in generations, a week at a time):
The gnats kept poppin out intermitently, and I even saw one flying for the 1st time in a week, but they are so fucking dead. The only issue, according to my grower homies and my hydro homie, is that the gnats are an idicator of fungus, and that treating the gnats is only the surface solution for a potentially much bigger problem... anywho, peace and love to my fellow bug warriors
 

bigwheel

Well-Known Member
Hey Goat, thanks for the gnat tips. I'm in mid to late bloom and noticed some of the black bastids crawling and flying around the base of one of my girls today. I'm so close to harvest not sure it be a good idea to try to kill them now or not. What do you think?

Big Wheel
 

phreakygoat

Well-Known Member
now that i have a better ventilation system, the air doesn't sit long enough to poison the bastards, so I instead got some clean SAND from home depot, and spread a healthy layer over the top of the soil. although this may limit gas exchange, you are at the point in budding where it shouldn't matter if so. the sand prevents the newborns from exiting the soil, so they cant lay more eggs... also, put a little hydrogen peroxide in ur h2o...

knats suck because the little flying bugs don't actually do anything, its their larvae deep, unaccessible in the soil, munching on the (fungus covered) roots of your plants. kind of counterintuitive
 

Babs34

Well-Known Member
I picked up one of those from Lowes not long ago, thinking I'd be using it. But, when you read the directions, it very clearly states to leave it in a place that is UNOCCUPIED for a period of time. That was enough for me to take it back.
 

Babs34

Well-Known Member
Hey Goat, thanks for the gnat tips. I'm in mid to late bloom and noticed some of the black bastids crawling and flying around the base of one of my girls today. I'm so close to harvest not sure it be a good idea to try to kill them now or not. What do you think?

Big Wheel
The way I see it, you have the choice of doing one of two things....harvest now before they drain those buds of THC, OR....tediously attack the bastards as safely as possilbe.
Take a q-tip with alcohol on it and run accross the bottom of leaves and wherever else you see them...immediately kills them.
 

phreakygoat

Well-Known Member
The way I see it, you have the choice of doing one of two things....harvest now before they drain those buds of THC, OR....tediously attack the bastards as safely as possilbe.
Take a q-tip with alcohol on it and run accross the bottom of leaves and wherever else you see them...immediately kills them.
that one's new to me, sounds groovy. its true that the sand is too slow at the point when you get a swarm, but a few gnats here and there aren't the apocalypse.
If you really hate them and aren't broke, get gnatrol right away. sand the soil to prevent further probs, and do the alcohol thing w/ the gnatrol. they will perish. Don't Harvest Early!!!
 

Relaxed

Well-Known Member
I cant take credit for it but this is what someone mentioned in another gnat thread. I am trying it going on 2 weeks and it has improved greatly. I keep good comments in word doc for future ref. I take a dull knife and plow up 1-2 inches anyway.....

"No need to buy anything special especially grow shop chemicals,,fungus gnats are easily destroyed in soil grows but you must take away their breeding ground first,in order to wipe them out start scarifying the top 1 to 2 inches of the soil every day,this will bring any larve up to the top & they will bake in the sun & die instantly,scarifying the soil daily ensures that no larve will be missed long term,it works with great sucess,100% sucess in my case."

 

SHOTTY6868

Well-Known Member
OK NOW SO I AM in the same situation now. these little biiaatttcchheeessss just want go away. im going to try the kool-aid trick now. let them kill themselves, lmao!!!!!!!
 

Relaxed

Well-Known Member
my suggestion is working great....only a couple around now. the fly paper show the truth. From about 100 to maybe 3-5 on the paper now. Get that veg. organic spray bug spray from Lowes couple with neem and the straffing soil and they are 99% gone organically. spray them when the light isn't on. If you have to during light time from some reason turn lights away from plants so you dont burn them. An hour later when they are dry from the fan turn light back on em.
 
Last season I used the Hot Shot pest strips and they worked!! Just to make sure use them with a neem oil and you are guaranteed bug free. As far a distance, hell I tried keeping them in the pots just laying on the surface and this worked. My plants weren't affected by them and I used them through the whole process. Remember, hot shot pest strips and neem oil and you can't go wrong.
 
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