Fungus Gnat Prevention?

[Microbeman]

M-Man, no listing of the blue / yellow stickies in this thread (other than a greenhouse). I will check the referenced thread.

Is there only one type of blue or yellow stickie? Any brand name?

"a good horticulture/greenhouse supply" actually. I had no trouble finding them in Canada (avoid hydro shops). The vectobac should be available at the same location. Get the kind which is in format for fungus knats rather than mosquito dunks. Just tell them it is for personal use and no permit should be required.

First page doing a google;

http://www.rinconvitova.com/traps&.htm

 

[Microbeman]

http://www.thefind.com/garden/info-insect-sticky-traps

 

[mad librettist]

the real deal sticky traps are seriously sticky.

if anyone gets the goo stuck in their hair, I can testify that windex gets it out. shampoo, not so much.


as for the coffee grounds - that doesn't work. I've had terrible worm bin infestations from accepting coffee grounds.



I'm seriously seeing some fast results with the crab meal. I can't explain it.

 

[supuradam]

I'm seriously seeing some fast results with the crab meal. I can't explain it.

Chitin?

 

[mad librettist]

Chitin?

ya, but chitin does not explain the speed at which things are working. I am a worm guy who likes to try stuff. I have had many fungus gnat invasions. The addition of crab shell meal seemed to work wonders for me faster than I can explain.

I could almost have a female human in here.

 

[rrog]

M.L. the crabshell meal is all you use now?

 

[mad librettist]

ya that's it. CC turned me on to it by making fun of me.

I'd say I have a very manageable gnat population. Just enough to keep the carnivores happy.

 

[rrog]

No kidding? So in your estimation, I could use crabshell in soil, plus some stickies to substitute for my lacking carnivores?

 

[mad librettist]

yes

and top dress the crab meal too. It's actually a good fert.

my carnivores don't actually kill that many gnats. They just take samples.

unless you mean predators in my soil, which probably do a fair share of killing.

(because just like crab shell, gnats are a good fert)

 

[rrog]

So you're saying add a thin layer when you say "top dress?"

Where do I get this miracle material? EDIT: I see it's not an exotic ingredient. It's available everywhere...

 

[mad librettist]

I got a bucket of it online, but when I think back, I remember what happened when lobster was really cheap and I wound up with carcasses in my bokashi and worm bin. The gnats went away, and I thought bokashi was the key.

The key seems to be the shell.

by top dress, I mean a few things -
1)sprinkle it on the surface, then water it in.
2)mix it with compost and really top dress.

also I mix it in to the soil itself.

 

[GanjaPharma]

haven had em in years, but i still add mosquito bits in a large amount to one feeding a month. i figure thats enough to keep a high amount of bt for enough time to break a 30 day lifecycle. ounce of prevention worth a pound of cured and all that...

if i ever suspect bugs and need to put out sticky traps (which are imho just indicator traps, not a real control method) i make em my self by coating a yellow index card with vaseline (or tanglefoot, or murrays beeswax pomade) i make about 50 when i need em so this saves a ton.

 

[rrog]

Maybe I'll try the sticky traps, even for nothing more than as indicators. I guess it can't hurt to also use Bacillus Thuringensis (BTI) and the crab shell meal all together

 

[mad librettist]

dirtworks dot net

type in crab in the search bar.



CC would come through with a link, so that one's for CC.

 

[rrog]

From that site: Crab shell is also high in chitin, which promotes the growth of chitin eating bacteria. The exoskeletons of fungus and nematodes eggs, as well as the jaw structures of some garden pests like the japanese beetle grub are high in chitin. Crab shell, when added to the soil, helps create a hostile environment for the fungus and nematodes by feeding the biological life that eats the chitin based organisms. It is not classified as a fungicide or a nematocide even though it is known to have these properties.

Am I hurting my Fungus??

 

[KONY]

the key with the mosquito dunks, you gotta soak them in water for 12 hours before use, and then that "activated" water is only good for another 24 hours. Can't remember where I read it, but the few times ive gotten gnats, ive cut down on watering, or ammended more perlite into my mix, and used water soaked in crushed up dunk. And the gnats are gone.

Also do this for every plant a few times, a week apart.

I thought this stuff was common sense, but after reading so many people not having success with dunks, i started to wonder.

 

[mad librettist]

Am I hurting my Fungus??

if the question is do fungi feel pain, I don't know.

crab shell meal certainly tilts the balance towards bacteria.

It's fine for cannabis, which doesn't require fungal soil really.

 

[Microbeman]

if the question is do fungi feel pain, I don't know.

crab shell meal certainly tilts the balance towards bacteria.

It's fine for cannabis, which doesn't require fungal soil really.

Hmmmm....not sure yet

 

[mad librettist]

anything that breaks down that fast is getting bacteria'd

 

[Microbeman]

No I mean the jury is out on if cannabis thrives on fungal soil and fungal teas