Gnat Gnat

This is what's left of my first grow (had to throw out 5 males). I was watering yesterday and noticed some little gnat looking bugs come to the surface. After doing some reading i think their fungus gnats. Read about some different ways to get rid of them using diatomaceous earth, or neem oil. Problem is I can't find either of those around here. How else can I get rid of them?

Do you see flying gnats? that's their reproductive phase and a good way to catch them is with yellow sticky traps available at a hardware store. You can cut down the population in no time.

I didn't see any flying ones, a few came to the surface when I watered then they went back into the dirt.

hmmm. If they don't fly, why call them gnats? They have wings that you can see?

I get fungus gnats in my ffof all the time. To get rid of them put a couple drops of dawn fish soap in a gallon of water and give it to your plants. I do this to sterilize my soil before I transplant now and I haven't seen a fungus gnat since I started this.

Yeah, I've gotten fungus gnats my last two grows. I put some sticky traps right below the canopy, on top of the medium and to be honest I think it got rid of them.

those sticky traps only kill the adults. Adult fungus gnats don't harm your plant. But the larvae that live in the soil will feed off of your roots.

assasinofyouth420 said:

those sticky traps only kill the adults. Adult fungus gnats don't harm your plant. But the larvae that live in the soil will feed off of your roots.

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this is true, but no more adults laying eggs = no more larva, i think. All I know is that I placed a bunch of them on top of the buckets i grow in and after a few days of catching gnats i placed clean strips in there and have not seen one more gnat. I used to be able to see a few flying around when i watered but now there is nothing. Granted, my infestation was not that bad, a worse infestation may take more. I have heard (if you're growing in soil) of placing a layer of sand on top of your soil.

If it works I wont knock it. I think youre right, maybe those strips work best if you catch them early.

I notice these little tiny flying gnats in my room and in the soil from time to time but they don't seem to effect the plants whatsoever...

They're right,the flying ones dont do the harm.The larvae they leave behind under your soil will eat your roots and kill your plants.There is an easy fix.Go to lowes or home depot and buy mosquito dunks.put a couple in a zip lock bag and crush em.sprinkle all over top soil.Every time u water it will activate and kill the larvae.Do this every 3 weeks or so.I bet when u feed them the water doesnt drain as well.Try the mosquito dunks and get back on track!

Thanks for the reply's. Think I'm going to try the dish soap thing first. +Rep for those suggestions

One more question, I'm still thinking about ordering the diatomaceous earth or neem oil. Which of these would be better?