Fungas Gnats

[TRIBUNAL]

They're back!
At least they're not spider mites I guess..
But they're back.
It would seem as temps have risen the damn gnats have made a return.
I had luck with cinnamon but apparently its not working anymore.
I just used some neem oil and hope that helps.
Flowering has a 3-4 weeks left.
any suggestions?

The heat problem will be solved by the beginning of next week but I need to eradicate these things.

 

[1itsme]

i use mosquito dunks for those. theres a few other ways to get bt... ewc,and some pesticides use it. bt is a bacteria btw. dunks seem like an easy way to me tho crush and mix some in medium, throw part of one in res, or put in watering can. hth

 

[TRIBUNAL]

I been doing some reading,
I think i'm gonna try DE Powder and some guy recommended 5:1 Water to peroxide mixture to water the plants with.
going to try both

 

[doniboy]

Let me know if what you try works or not cuz I have them too... They aren't that bad right now, but I want to keep it that way.

 

[TRIBUNAL]

yea this battle has gone on long enough, I've lost plants before trying to revert them back to vegetative state after flowering. and I have had to pick early before too with these damn things infesting the plant.
I know the DE powder helps a bit, just did it. being as I already watered today i'll to the peroxide mix tomorrow or the day after and let you know how it goes.
Also just added some fly paper I didn't have in the new tent yet ^^
It's time for a decisive victory!

 

[doujadaze]

Yeah was going to ask if you had those yellow sticky traps. Those work pretty well and cheap. Probably wont solve the problem for good but will help for sure. Good luck

 

[RodriguesIV]

Step 1: Make sure they are actually fungus gnats. Lay out the cards and inspect them carefully to see if they have a beetle like body, or mosquito like body. If it looks beetle-like with two little pokers on its butt then you're in for the fight of your life because those are root aphids.

Step 2: If they are fungus gnats, you need to get some form of BTI as this is a very proven way to deal with them. I would go with gnatrol and give them the maximum recommended dose for a heavy infestation.

Step 3: Put out lots of yellow sticky cards to catch the adults. What many people don't get is that the gnatrol only breaks the lifecycle of the larvae, you need to kill the flying adults so they can't lay eggs and restart the lifecycle. Many people will say that a gnat can only live a week, but an adult gnat can live for 4+ months so there won't be any instant satisfaction.

Step 4: Apply weekly to all areas that the gnat could lay its eggs. When you go several weeks without a single indicator card receiving an additional gnat then stop. If you feel that the infestation is gone and it's not, a single gnat can lay 300+ eggs and start the lifecycle all over again.

It may not be a bad idea to add a little gnatrol to all waterings as a preventative since it seems pretty harmless to the plant.

 

[1itsme]

bti works very well in my experience. mosquito dunks are the cheapest, easiest way afaik (they are bti). i have also used ewc tea sucessfuly(also bti). the neem should kill the adults. sticky cards are a must (makes it easy to identify pests). hth gl

 

[Dannysayo]

Yea I hate those little fuckers, damn gnats will bite u too lmao damn things but anyway I line by a forest preserve n there are millions......

First off, have good air flow
Cheap traps are - yellow/white trays, add water and soup.
Add a layer of perlite on top of ur soil.
Ill try n think of more cost effective ways

 

[TRIBUNAL]

Confirmed fungus gnats.

First I did the DE powder. It may have worked on the larva but the next day I actually saw the flys landing on the powder and running around on it without concern. I have read it can take a while for it to get into their body though.
I did the peroxide water treatment 4.5:1 water to Peroxide mixture. Added a little less then two cups per one gallon pot of soil Fized a little but there were flys there some time after, again no signs of larva so maybe this helped.
The next day I added some shavings from the Mosquito Dunks, which I picked up at home depot, to the top layer of the soil. I will also add some of this to my watering next time it needs it just for preventative measures.

Also added fly paper like mad in each pot.

One thing to note, two days after the peroxide water mixture I am happy to say it has had no noticeable effect on the plants, if anything they look better which could be a number of things, dead larva, age.. who knows, it's just nice to see the peroxide didn't harm them at all
\
I still have some flys but less each day... It's a little early but I believe a decisive blow has been struck!

 

[Sunbiz1]

Confirmed fungus gnats.

First I did the DE powder. It may have worked on the larva but the next day I actually saw the flys landing on the powder and running around on it without concern. I have read it can take a while for it to get into their body though.
I did the peroxide water treatment 4.5:1 water to Peroxide mixture. Added a little less then two cups per one gallon pot of soil Fized a little but there were flys there some time after, again no signs of larva so maybe this helped.
The next day I added some shavings from the Mosquito Dunks, which I picked up at home depot, to the top layer of the soil. I will also add some of this to my watering next time it needs it just for preventative measures.

Also added fly paper like mad in each pot.

One thing to note, two days after the peroxide water mixture I am happy to say it has had no noticeable effect on the plants, if anything they look better which could be a number of things, dead larva, age.. who knows, it's just nice to see the peroxide didn't harm them at all
\
I still have some flys but less each day... It's a little early but I believe a decisive blow has been struck!

Crush the dunks up and allow them to soak, then use as a soil drench upon watering. They are effective, but can take up to a month to control the larvae feasting on your root structure. Watch carefully upon watering, and use a flashlight immediately afterwards...you'll be looking for wingless hoppity gnats that become active. I've actually duct taped a vacuum in place and ran it for a good 20 minutes sucking up hundreds. If you don't see them, you're in good shape b/c eggs are not hatching.

Peace

 

[althor]

https://www.rollitup.org/bugs/509912-easy-cheap-effective-safe-way.html

 

[strain horder]

sand works well. Go get some play sand from Home Depot ($5 for a 50lbs bag). Put like 3/4" on the top of your plants. The winged adults can't get through it to lay eggs. Controls pretty good. The only place you will have to be concerned is around the drain holes of the buckets. Gnatrol works well but it takes about 3 weeks to start to work. Aptus Soil attack works pretty well also. Azamax works well also but you need to run for a bit to be effective. I would use yellow sticky traps for winged adults and Gnatrol for the larve.. I think Mosquito dunks is the same stuff as Gnatrol but not nearly as strong a dose..

 

[KangarooBunny]

The layer of sand on top of soil worked for me along with some sticky traps. I caught them very early though. Hope it works out for you OP.

 

[RodriguesIV]

BTW if you see a few, you probably have hundreds.

 

[Baxters]

I thought I had never had fungus gnats before, but after an extensive search of all my notes I discovered that I have had them in the past and I cured them with traps.

According to my notes, I got jam jars and put some vinegar in the bottom and make a small hole in the lid just big enough for the gnats to fit through, and I think it worked by them being able to smell their way in, but not able to smell their way back out again.

It must have worked for me otherwise it wouldn't be in my notes.

 

[1itsme]

the bti should kill all the larva, neem or insecticidal soap should kill the flyers. more importantly neem is a repelant. don't spray in late flower tho neem stinks.