fungus gnats. help ):

DANK PURPY

Well-Known Member
I am going to give the coffee thing a try next time I get bombarded. The only way to find out is to try for myself right?
The Mosquito dunks didn't work for me. I tried crushing them and topdressing then watering. I also crushed and added to a gallon of water, let sit for 3 days and watered with that and still no joy!
The neem oil seemed to glue the soil together and I didn't like that. So far the Spinosad has done the trick! Any time I see a flyer around a pot, that one gets Spinowater for it's next watering. I also suck as many of the flyers as I can with the shop vac when it's bad. Iv'e sucked the top inch or so of soil out of the pots also then top dressed to replace the missing soil.
Laying those yellow sticky traps on the floor also did pretty good at collecting the flyers. Now I use a large fan to blow air across the floor/pots that seems to make it hard for insects to stay near the pots. Collecting and killing the flyers is the key to getting rid of them. Flyers lay eggs!!
the neem oil seems to be working but like you said i feel like its really thick and i dont like to use it on the soil so much i feel ill need to flush is afterwards. the neem oil is non organic as well. gonna def look into th spinosad. and i just look at the plants today a lot of new growth and didnt see any fuckers flying around. so that was good i just churned the top of the soil and watched to see if they come out(they usually scurry out and try to fly away) and i would immediately spray them with the neem oil and i spray till the thin top layer is moist. gonna water with it when the time comes i just dont want to over water them ): i have a habit of doing that ALOT!!!!!
 

Jon Galt

Well-Known Member
Sprinkle 3 tbs of neem meal
one tbs of kelp meal
on top of the soil.
cover with a thin layer of worm castings
water it in with aloe Vera
 

DANK PURPY

Well-Known Member
Sprinkle 3 tbs of neem meal
one tbs of kelp meal
on top of the soil.
cover with a thin layer of worm castings
water it in with aloe Vera
like i said. im on a tight budget. cant afford to go out and by these materials as much as i do need them. i will def keep that in mind though seems like thats a very good mixture. where can all this be found?
 

purplehays1

Well-Known Member
I have been able to get rid of them with just letting the soild dry out COMPLETELY, and just folliar feeding water for a day so the plant doesn't wilt too bad. But if you have a large gnat problem this will not be enough to kill them all, and never spray a flowering pant with liquid.

A layer of perlite works every time and i find the plants dont even notice. Make sure u put down enough to totally suffucate them, sand is more effective but is a lot harder to remove.and has more effect on the plants.
 

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
Anyone ever use diatomaceous earth for general pest control. I was thinking of adding into my topsoil mix along with the usuall stuff to cut any little buggers up crawling around. Also is great silica source. Which can't hurt anything.
 

ButchyBoy

Well-Known Member
I tried DE and it seemed to plug up the soil. This was after spreading it on the surface of the soil and after watering. It did nothing for the gnat's however!!! Mixing it might work though!

Sprinkling it on the ground around the pots will help with anything that crawls its way to the pots. I stopped using it last year and started pointing a large fan across the floor/pots. Those pesky gnats and spider mites don't stand a chance in the wind!!!
 

DANK PURPY

Well-Known Member
I tried DE and it seemed to plug up the soil. This was after spreading it on the surface of the soil and after watering. It did nothing for the gnat's however!!! Mixing it might work though!

Sprinkling it on the ground around the pots will help with anything that crawls its way to the pots. I stopped using it last year and started pointing a large fan across the floor/pots. Those pesky gnats and spider mites don't stand a chance in the wind!!!
good to know thanks! and yeah i need a better fan lol mine sucks
 

SirSteely

Well-Known Member
My method for fungus gnat control is completely mechanical. Is reusable, doesn't cause immunities in gnats, and is low cost.

I never let Gnats touch my soil.
I top my soil with a layer of weedblock landscape fabric, topped with gnatgnix and diatamcious earth mixed 10:1. I use smartpots to grow in , no holes for Gnats to colonize. And I wrap my 1g grow bag bottoms in wig caps , my soil stays sealed and my gnat problem solved without having to keep buying products over n over.
 

GrowerGoneWild

Well-Known Member
Fungus Gnats suck... Uncontrolled they can stunt the growth on seedlings/transplants.

You really have to have a very complete plan to kill these little fuckers. Just hitting it with Gnatrol or whatever doesn't work.

-Sanitation of the growroom/tent. clean up all puddles, corners.. etc. Spray corners with something like pyrethrim etc or whatever..

-Make the environment inhospitable to them. Let the soil dry out.. physical barriers like sand.. etc..

-A combo of natural and chemical treatments.. I like to treat initially with a pyrethim then follow up with
azamax/gnatrol/spinosad for the soil.

-Yellow sticky traps to monitor and measure progress.

The more soil you have the more hiding spots for them.
 

undercovergrow

Well-Known Member
i'm just getting over fighting gnats...well, the war hasn't been won yet but it is down to a few a day--sometimes just one or two. i use air-pots. i like them EXCEPT for battling these stupid gnats because the side holes give them a place to hide from me. i did try the sand on top and that seemed to help but it sure did make it a pain to water in the air-pots. and since the pots have side holes, it was not as effective. i use the yellow stickies and they do seem to help but the infestation was never very bad...maybe 30 a day at the height of the infestation. i think i am going to get some of that BT stuff to try because i want them Gone! also, i use a shop-vac and vacuum every day in my flower room to not only keep it clean but to suck those little buggers right out of the air.
good luck @DANK PURPY

ETA: letting my soil dry out a bit more in between watering has really helped
 
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