Fungus gnats in “cooking” soil, mosquito dunks?
- Thread starter Kind Sir
- Start date
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
Gnats are a bitch. You gotta hit them free all directions. Bits can be one method. Although I just read the company is revising its directions to make somewhat of a tea with the bits.
The best sure proof way to get rid of them. Keep working your soil. Keep the fresh compost coming. Don’t duck up moisture levels even for a day or two. Get the soil food web rocking snd they don’t bother coming around any more.
they being said it takes a few cycles for me to get there. The first run is always the worst because that’s when the most organic matter is there to decompose, which of course is what they eat.
I also find they seem more problematic in smaller pots without mulch layer and cover/companion crops.
a quick fix I like is mixing equal parts perlite and coco coir. Then about 2 cup’s diatomaceous earth per gallon of that mix. Top dress pots about 2 inches with this, keeps the de dry which makes it the most efficient. Then start bottom watering instead of top.
The best sure proof way to get rid of them. Keep working your soil. Keep the fresh compost coming. Don’t duck up moisture levels even for a day or two. Get the soil food web rocking snd they don’t bother coming around any more.
they being said it takes a few cycles for me to get there. The first run is always the worst because that’s when the most organic matter is there to decompose, which of course is what they eat.
I also find they seem more problematic in smaller pots without mulch layer and cover/companion crops.
a quick fix I like is mixing equal parts perlite and coco coir. Then about 2 cup’s diatomaceous earth per gallon of that mix. Top dress pots about 2 inches with this, keeps the de dry which makes it the most efficient. Then start bottom watering instead of top.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
Mix in EWC.
Rozgreenburn
Well-Known Member
I started top dressing with fresh EWC {thanks to the members who showed me], cover with a bit of mulch and soon Hypoaspis miles start to multiply and eat gnat larvae. It takes some time but I feel it will stay with the soil into my next grow. best of luck...
green_machine_two9er
Well-Known Member
This. Always. On top, during recycle. Before flower during flower. After flower lol.
Budzbuddha
Well-Known Member
Add neem meal to mix.
Hash Hound
Well-Known Member
Late last spring I noticed some sort of weird bugs in my cooking soils in bins indoor. I put them in black plastic bags and baked them in the outdoor sun flipping the bags once a day for about a month till I was ready to use them. VIOLLA! all gone.
Relaxed
Well-Known Member
for a couple bucks at walmart get these...Raid fly ribbon 10 pack. Shit works great and cheap. hung em on lower branches and ceiling. Too much water moisture too long causes em. Got really busy and forgot I watered and watered too soon and bam knats. google the home remedy u can mix.
spliffendz
Well-Known Member
gnatrol people were saying on another post, i heard it's bad for humans but that's a debate for another day
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
Diatomaceous Earth. Put a layer on top of what your cooking, and leave it there for a week or two. You can get food grade at Tractor Supply, adds silicone to your soil mix as well.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
It also kills beneficial insects.
MICHI-CAN
Well-Known Member
"DON'T F WITH THE BEES!!!!!!"
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
You've got to use food grade diatomaceous earth.
Pool grade (also called filter grade) diatomaceous earth is treated with very high heat in a process called calcination, which changes the silicon dioxide into crystalline silica. Pool grade DE is toxic and should only be used in filtration.
Food grade DE has less than 1% of crystalline silica and no more than 10mg/kg of arsenic or lead. Breathing in the dust is what I worry about.
Pool grade (also called filter grade) diatomaceous earth is treated with very high heat in a process called calcination, which changes the silicon dioxide into crystalline silica. Pool grade DE is toxic and should only be used in filtration.
Food grade DE has less than 1% of crystalline silica and no more than 10mg/kg of arsenic or lead. Breathing in the dust is what I worry about.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
Still kills beneficial insects.
m4s73r
Well-Known Member
If you have a gnat problem you're watering too much or not mulching correctly from my experience. Gnats are part of the decomposition process. If your growing in living soil you will always have some gnats. This is why living mulch is a good idea. It takes the guess work out of things. So the ewc is a good idea, but after that you need mulch over it. Like 3 inches deep. that spot on top of the soil under the mulch is the zone that all biolife grows. Keep it covered. Composted mulch is good, Leaf mould is good. But cover that up so that the bugs in the soil will eat the gnat larva. You get the bugs from decomposition. Hence the entire circle of the soil food web.
However if its out of control a small juice glass with some apple cider vinegar a little bit of warm water and 2 drops of dawn dish soap does act as a very good gnat trap.
However if its out of control a small juice glass with some apple cider vinegar a little bit of warm water and 2 drops of dawn dish soap does act as a very good gnat trap.
MICHI-CAN
Well-Known Member
I use H2O2 in my terrarium. Quite a bit smaller. But very correct. LOL.
m4s73r
Well-Known Member
This one is actually funny to me because my poor brother in law started recycling his and asked me about using a insecticide on his cooking soil. I came over with a 2 cuft bag of Back to Nature Composted Mulch and dumped it on all his shit. Gnats gone in 2 days... The bag was 10 bucks. I charged him 20.