Club 600

TwistItUp

TwistItUp

Well-Known Member
Blue Dream. Pretty soon here I'm going to start pulling air from OD through ducting in a wall. See if I can get them cold and get some colors to come out.
 
GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
Hey so i've got just a small number of little black flies running around my grow area. I've only really seen them low on the pots of my plants.

How much should I worry about it? Should I take care of it now so it doesn't get worse? What consequences may come with letting it get worse?

I've read plenty online about dealing with bugs and different types of bugs, but there have been so few of them I havent been able to tell exactly which ones they are. I would say they may be fungal gnats but i'm nowhere near confident enough to be sure of that.

Thoughts? If any of what i said makes sense. Hah.
 
GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
Dr.D81 said:
Knats a much smaller than flies. If it is just flies get fly strips. If it is knat dry your plants out more and hit it with pyrithren. I know that is the wrong spelling but i have to go so no time to look it up.
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Ok i just went hunting to figure out what they were for sure. They are probably 80% chance fungal gnats, i smushed (ever so slightly) one of the 2 I could find and looked at it on my finger for a bit. It maybe looked a little more light brown than the fungal gnats i've seen on google image, which accounts for probably the 20% chance that they are not.

I'll go ahead and read a little on "pyrithren."
 
giggles26

giggles26

Well-Known Member
If they're gnats then just get yea some braggs vinegar and pour a lil in a cup with a lil soap and put a slight ring of soap around the top and set it by your plants.

They are attracted to the smell and then soap won't let them fly.
 
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TwistItUp

TwistItUp

Well-Known Member
I've had great success using Gnat Nix. There's an old trick where you just put a layer of play sand on top of your medium and this prevents gnats from getting to the medium to lay eggs or worse eat roots and get down in there. Some people also would buy some mosquito dunks and crush the dunk then add it to water and water with it. The gnats and things will eat the dunk and it makes them full so they stop eating. The idea with the play sand is also that sand drys out faster so if the gnat's lay eggs in the sand the eggs dry and die, another reason to just let your medium dry a bit even without play sand. But now there is an even better product specifically for this, Gnat Nix. Same idea as with the play sand but its made from calcium carbonate and recycled crushed glass and it works amazingly well.
http://www.growstone.com/fungus-gnat-control/



 
GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
Thank you all for the responses I really appreciate it!

I'll probably do a combination of your suggestions. As I said I only saw two gnats searching around a few momments ago so its not a huge problem as of now (although, i'm quite certain there are more than 2 of those mofos in there), i might as well take care of it asap. Maybe i'll let my plants get a little EXTRA dry (I always let them dry as much as I see reasonable) between the next few waterings as well? They are about 2 weeks in flower in very low humidity

edit: Looks like my local hydro shop carries the gnat sand so i'll definitely be able to grab some of that and try gig's wing troll method
 
TwistItUp

TwistItUp

Well-Known Member
Part of why I use smart pots. Fabric top to bottom, no drainage holes for bugs to sneak in through the bottom or anywhere, then top off with gnat nix so the medium is protected with a barrier all the way around.
 
giggles26

giggles26

Well-Known Member
That gnat mix is shit. I've used it and don't care for it. Blocks the big guys but the lil fuckers come right through and it's extremely lightweight and blows everywhere and sucks to water with it.

There are many other ways to get rid of them and I think they're more affective. But give it a try and maybe it will work for you. Didn't get the best reviews either.
 
TwistItUp

TwistItUp

Well-Known Member
Also gnats love things like dirty dishes, other house plants, it could even be a can of pork and beans in your recycling or food in the trash, or if you have a basement with a sink that hardly ever gets used. You would want to every once in a while run water through all drains to fill the P traps with water otherwise they wont have any water in their making a seal to stop things from flying in through the sewer. Not that I think any of that is happening but more things to think about. Usually its from cheap soil, but can happen with soil/soiless that you would expect to be clean too.
 
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GemuGrows

GemuGrows

Well-Known Member
TwistItUp said:
Part of why I use smart pots. Fabric top to bottom, no drainage holes for bugs to sneak in through the bottom or anywhere, then top off with gnat nix so the medium is protected with a barrier all the way around.
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Yeah this is only my 2nd grow, planning on reinvesting in more equipment in a few months, smart pots being one of the things I really want to use.

giggles26 said:
That gnat mix is shit. I've used it and don't care for it. Blocks the big guys but the lil fuckers come right through and it's extremely lightweight and blows everywhere and sucks to water with it.

There are many other ways to get rid of them and I think they're more affective. But give it a try and maybe it will work for you. Didn't get the best reviews either.
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Fair enough, the stuff is only $14/bag at my local hydro shop so I might as well give it a go if the problem persists, i'll definitely throw a vinegar trap or two in there though



My soil is FFoF, pretty sure my grow area did not actually produce the gnats though, I saw them in other parts of the living space before my growing space
 
TwistItUp

TwistItUp

Well-Known Member
One thing I didn't like about Gnat Nix is that the fist bag I got was really good looking nice white/grey type coloring. The next bag I got, not what I was expecting. A bunch of it was crushed into powder and it was off white looking almost yellowish tinge, but it worked flawlessly again. If you are going to use it its better to plan on using it ahead of time so you leave space in the planter to fill in with it. It can have a tendency to fall out. Especially with the smart pots because the edges can fold down if you brush them with a watering can or whatever. I've still had excellent success keeping Gnats out of my grow area since I've started using it. Not sure I even need it but I just plan ahead and try to use it every grow now. You could even reuse it too.
 
TwistItUp

TwistItUp

Well-Known Member
Someone thought I was growing in 100% perlite in smart pots when they saw a pic of the gnat nix. Someone who saw it in person thought I was growing in kitty litter, but this same person also thought i was growing in kibble when they saw hydroton. Back when I was using play sand a fight literally broke out when someone accused me of growing in 100% sand and called me stupid, but he wouldn't listen. Guy was going off about how there is no f'ing way that weed was going to grow in sand. He wasn't even a grower. Pretty sure that's when that friendship ended.
 
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giggles26

giggles26

Well-Known Member
GemuGrows said:
Yeah this is only my 2nd grow, planning on reinvesting in more equipment in a few months, smart pots being one of the things I really want to use.



Fair enough, the stuff is only $14/bag at my local hydro shop so I might as well give it a go if the problem persists, i'll definitely throw a vinegar trap or two in there though



My soil is FFoF, pretty sure my grow area did not actually produce the gnats though, I saw them in other parts of the living space before my growing space
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Fox farms ocean Forrest is notorious for having gnats in it. 1 of the many reasons I stopped using it and starting building my own soil.
 
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