Gnats?

DankShasta

DankShasta

Active Member
Well I don't know if posting is a good idea? I usually just read the site, BUT fuck it here goes......


I am doing a hydro grow (my first not in dirt) and everything looks great, except i notice I have little gnats in the room. Not a lot of them, but I do notice 'em flying around. I'm using rockwools. I had some mites so I have been diligently using AzaMax and seem to have beaten that problem quite well. Where do these gnats come from? Should I be concerned? If so what should I do to get rid of them?
 
silentzombie

silentzombie

Active Member
Little black gnats are usually fungus gnats. They show up when conditions are moist and the larvae feed on decaying material and fungus (hence the name).
The flies themselves are harmless, but after a while the larvae can begin damaging the feeder roots. I grow soil and I know that in soil fungus gnats means two things: 1. Everything is too moist (overwatering) and 2. The medium is beginning to breakdown (old soil).

In soil the fixes are pretty easy, let things get real dry and re-pot. Depending on how tough your plants are you may want to let the rockwool dry out. Once it is dry you can pour some alcohol (at least 40%) on the cubes to kill eggs and larvae. To kill the flies you can use something like neem oil or gnat off.

hope this helps-:peace:
 
DankShasta

DankShasta

Active Member
Can I put alcohol on the cubes? That sounds like it would have to damage the plants? What about the Azamax? Is there a way to apply it to the cubes?
 
DankShasta

DankShasta

Active Member
well i am drying the cubes a little and applying a caterpillar killer (organic) I also changed enzyme solutions and will do 1 feed a day until I see some results. i also put up some gnat paper so i can get an idea of how the population is changing
 
silentzombie

silentzombie

Active Member
good call, because getting adult flies also means preventing new eggs and larvae.

As for the alcohol, the only point is to get things really really dry.

also, if any of the info I've provided has been useful a +rep by clicking the scales on my posts would be appreciated!
sorry to be a rep whore.
 
Decs

Decs

Well-Known Member
silentzombie said:
Little black gnats are usually fungus gnats. They show up when conditions are moist and the larvae feed on decaying material and fungus (hence the name).
The flies themselves are harmless, but after a while the larvae can begin damaging the feeder roots. I grow soil and I know that in soil fungus gnats means two things: 1. Everything is too moist (overwatering) and 2. The medium is beginning to breakdown (old soil).

In soil the fixes are pretty easy, let things get real dry and re-pot. Depending on how tough your plants are you may want to let the rockwool dry out. Once it is dry you can pour some alcohol (at least 40%) on the cubes to kill eggs and larvae. To kill the flies you can use something like neem oil or gnat off.

hope this helps-:peace:
Click to expand...
this is somewhat true but you forgot to
mention that this is the season for gnats.

around this time every year i have always gotten gnats in my house, usually in the
kitchen and bathroom due to water faucets.

it ALWAYS happens around this time of year.
 
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