Fungus gnats!!!!! Organic control methods

[mad librettist]

Your opinion is noted. But, I deal in facts. I don't really care if you think the neem tree is the best thing since sliced bread. I know that there are many very very safe synthetic pesticides out there... possibly not for fungus gnats, since I have never looked. But, neem kills. Maybe not directly, but it does. Just like too much broccoli.

Well it's a fact that many synthetic pesticides used by cannabis growers are not rated for food use and stick around way beyond the time it takes for neem break down. Neem oil is safe to spray on food the day of harvest. You can just wash it off. That's a big deal.

To do the same kind of critter population damage (and reduction in diversity) with neem oil you would have to spray a whole lot - enough to suffocate beneficials with the oil, and even so you would not be exposing yourself to the same health risks.

I agree, neem kills. Maybe not by shutting down the body directly, but by fucking with all kinds of regulatory systems, like molting and appetite and who knows what else. It's crazy shit! But it's not as crazy or dangerous as even a very safe synthetic. It's got a thousand years of human interaction without adverse consequences.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Years ago i tried the potato thing... didnt work.

As annoying as a few gnats are they wont do any significant damage.

Quite a few years ago i had loads of gnats and healthy plants... go figure?

Smoke em, smoke em, smoke em if you gottem... if you aint gottem, you hit rock bottom

 

[mad librettist]

Was the OP's original question ever answered? Are mosquito dunks, with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) as their main ingredient, safe for the microherd/microgoodies in organic soil? The gnats have just started to appear around day old seedlings, and I fear for their lives.

Re: your seedlings. I would start the next batch. Or do my less-organic-than-you tobacco tea drench. Remember to sterilize the tea by boiling a goodly time. Try to limit that kind of thing, it's a powerful poison. american spirit sells orgnanic pouch tobacco.

You can grow your own ornamental tobacciana, btw, and it will work. When Bt works, it works fast, but it has to be eaten. After that the grub stops eating. Big plus. With neem, DE, and other methods it takes a while.

 

[MikeRoOrganix]

If you are in soil the easiest way is to put 2" sand on top your soil. In hydro they are a REAL pain and I lost most of those battles. Something needs to be corrected so they don't ever come back. Could be the hydro sys, could be ventilation. Try not to let your medium stay wet all the time. Mosquito Dunks did not work for me in hydro. Also tried Gnatrol and it torched my ladies. GH has a new product called AzaMax which I am trying for Spider Mites. It is derived from Neem. Tried it in my res and did not like it, but as a foliar spray or soil drench should be great.

 

[guest2012y]

So l ran a little test using vinegar in jars set in various places in the room. They have all been in there for at least 20 hours. Not one single gnat is in any of the 5 jars. I also did a little reading about the life cycle of the gnat. Pretty typical fly,egg,larvae,pupae,adult stage,BUT....they tend to have large female populations for heavy breeding purposes. One female can lay up to 300 eggs...freaky little breeders.

 

[mad librettist]

So l ran a little test using vinegar in jars set in various places in the room. They have all been in there for at least 20 hours. Not one single gnat is in any of the 5 jars. I also did a little reading about the life cycle of the gnat. Pretty typical fly,egg,larvae,pupae,adult stage,BUT....they tend to have large female populations for heavy breeding purposes. One female can lay up to 300 eggs...freaky little breeders.

Sometimes the swarm I get ignores vinegar like you experienced. I've also had fruit flies not interested in anything but actively fermenting fruit.

 

[MikeRoOrganix]

I find beer works good just a lil in the cup

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Beer is always a good thing!

LOL

CC

 

[guest2012y]

Some new observations in Fungus Gnat Land. Today I noticed some that couldn't fly,I'm not sure if they are freshly hatched and just drying their wings out,or that what Clakamas said about neem working on them in a way that makes them forget to fly is actually happening. I have been misting the soil surface with a very fine mist where I see any activity on a daily basis. Since it is such a fine mist,I don't worry about it getting in to the soil.......if you have been following this thread that was one of my concerns.

 

[MikeRoOrganix]

I have tried 2" of sand several times and it takes them right out, so simple in soil...

 

[mad librettist]

Some new observations in Fungus Gnat Land. Today I noticed some that couldn't fly,I'm not sure if they are freshly hatched and just drying their wings out,or that what Clakamas said about neem working on them in a way that makes them forget to fly is actually happening. I have been misting the soil surface with a very fine mist where I see any activity on a daily basis. Since it is such a fine mist,I don't worry about it getting in to the soil.......if you have been following this thread that was one of my concerns.

sounds like a smart approach

 

[guest2012y]

sounds like a smart approach

Well ya' know MJ.....Today I saw two mating!!! Yes,fungus gnat porn if I'd a had the camera. I smooshed them in the act. Since the misting of the soil surface the #'s have dropped off dramatically. No effect on plants at all when the neem is mixed according to the directions. I think one of the coolest things to witness is when they fly into the light and spiral down like a WW 1 bi-plane. I'm happy with the neem.

 

[mad librettist]

yeah neem is a good tool to have that's for sure.

 

[rrog]

And we're sure that Neem doesn't interrupt the herd?

 

[mad librettist]

And we're sure that Neem doesn't interrupt the herd?

no, we are not. but Capt.Cheeze seems to take this in to account, and makes a a choice to use it with full knowledge of the possible consequences/benefits, and does his best to minimize any antifungal effect in the soil by misting instead of drenching. I used to just go ahead and drench. to me that's smart thinking compared to what I did.

Listen, even straight horticultural oil can screw you if you pretend it's harmless. How many times do you think a beneficial insect can be sprayed with oil before it suffocates? When telling others about pesticides, it's important to say that nothing is harmless in excess, and you don't want to show pests all your cards at once. If they beat your hand, you are out of options.

 

[rrog]

Makes sense. Absolutely. There are few solutions that don't risk some small unwanted side-effect. You proceed for the greater good.

I had little benefit with goGnats (had live larvae many days after application) and would try Neem next time. Right now the plants seem fine, no sign of new flies since I sealed off the entry points and added 2" of perlite to the surface.

 

[guest2012y]

Well that's the idea. I don't want to recklessly kill anything good in the soil. Even if any amount of neem solution does scratch the surface a bit,I know the amount that I applied will not dramatically effect the recovery of any form of life at the soil surface(I think). But like CC said,neem doesn't kill in a way that we as consumers expect. It works over a course of time to disrupt the life cycle of the little bastards. It takes a bit before you see results,but the results for me have been good.