Mosquito Dunks in Soil?

[ProfGerbik]

i been reading around but i havent found a really assuring method of using this with a plant thats in flowering already.

i cant risk to experiment with the roots and am wondering if anyone around here would know how to use this in soil safely, not just assuming but they know it works safely.

im not having a huge problem with gnats but i do see some thrips that tend to come out when i water, i have used sticky paper to catch a majority but i just can seem to get rid of all of them as i know they are probably deep within the soil.

im not too concerned it hasnt seemed to be a problem yet but id hate for it to get out of control before its too late. any other safe full proof suggestions welcome. thanks.

 

[mg75]

unless you start from all new fresh clones/seeds and sterilize all of your equipment and room... the issue will not go away and potentially grow. so, basically... you will need to do something in regard to any potential pest problem.
you can safely mix mosquito dunks/bits in soil or even in water reservoirs. personally, i amend my soilless/soil/coco mixes with dunks all the time. if the infestation is really bad, then you will have to take stronger measures such as a systemic soil drench. i am a strong believer in IMID based products (but you must use it only in veg or very early into flowering). i am also a strong believer in hot shot anti pest strips. they work wonders and i only use them in the beginning of veg and beginning of flower (one week at a time). after that, i remove the anti pest strip and place it outside the grow area as a preventative. azamax/azatrol is organic/systemic and can also help.

make sure you treat each and every plant in your grow and around your grow (house plants and even all vegetation around grow location). bugs have some creative ways entering your indoor garden.

preventive measures will reduce the chance for harsh treatments later on...

and keep your temps down... they reproduce much slower when its colder.

 

[mg75]

----

 

[trichrider]

if fungus gnats are the problem mosquito dunks work well and have not shown any ill effects smoking afterwards.
put mosquito dunks in a baggie, pulverize with hammer, sprinkle resulting dust over the topsoil, and water in. the water will start it's cycle and they will destroy the larvae in the soil.
this method has worked very well for me. i do it every cycle as a preventative.
there are no pesticides or poisons in mosquito dunks, they are living organisms that prey on the larvae, never even enters the plant.
hope this alleviates any fear of ingestion.
peace.

 

[yortbogey]

if fungus gnats are the problem mosquito dunks work well and have not shown any ill effects smoking afterwards.
put mosquito dunks in a baggie, pulverize with hammer, sprinkle resulting dust over the topsoil, and water in. the water will start it's cycle and they will destroy the larvae in the soil.
this method has worked very well for me. i do it every cycle as a preventative.
there are no pesticides or poisons in mosquito dunks, they are living organisms that prey on the larvae, never even enters the plant.
hope this alleviates any fear of ingestion.
peace.

NAILED ... IT ......true dat

 

[ProfGerbik]

if fungus gnats are the problem mosquito dunks work well and have not shown any ill effects smoking afterwards.
put mosquito dunks in a baggie, pulverize with hammer, sprinkle resulting dust over the topsoil, and water in. the water will start it's cycle and they will destroy the larvae in the soil.
this method has worked very well for me. i do it every cycle as a preventative.
there are no pesticides or poisons in mosquito dunks, they are living organisms that prey on the larvae, never even enters the plant.
hope this alleviates any fear of ingestion.
peace.

oh hell yes i love you guys, exactly what i wanted to hear ^^. thanks so much. time to get me some dunks.

i should ask though, do i do a full watering with the dunks run off and all? or do i just water the dunk bits enough for it to penetrate once? also could i just water normally with nutrients as well or should i just use plain water with the dunks? bleh one last question how many do you put in your bag, 1 or more?

 

[ProfGerbik]

unless you start from all new fresh clones/seeds and sterilize all of your equipment and room... the issue will not go away and potentially grow. so, basically... you will need to do something in regard to any potential pest problem.
you can safely mix mosquito dunks/bits in soil or even in water reservoirs. personally, i amend my soilless/soil/coco mixes with dunks all the time. if the infestation is really bad, then you will have to take stronger measures such as a systemic soil drench. i am a strong believer in IMID based products (but you must use it only in veg or very early into flowering). i am also a strong believer in hot shot anti pest strips. they work wonders and i only use them in the beginning of veg and beginning of flower (one week at a time). after that, i remove the anti pest strip and place it outside the grow area as a preventative. azamax/azatrol is organic/systemic and can also help.

make sure you treat each and every plant in your grow and around your grow (house plants and even all vegetation around grow location). bugs have some creative ways entering your indoor garden.

preventive measures will reduce the chance for harsh treatments later on...

and keep your temps down... they reproduce much slower when its colder.

oh trust me i know how creative they can be, i swear to science i have like every insect known to man in my room at one time, mostly freaking scorpions.. they must hunt for the cannabis at no cost... most of them never make it.

but i will for sure add some dunk bits for future preventative measures. thank yee kindly.

 

[nomaad]

I have had great success in eradicating fungus gnats with dunks and other similar products. But prevention is really the best way to go.

You can use Bacillus Thurigensis (active ingredient in Mosq Dunks) in soil to your hearts content. Its unlikely that you could overdo it. I use a product called Microbe Lift and its the same BTi but its packaged for use in ponds and its super cheap. I water it in at 3 mils per hundred gallons ( I will check that for accuracy) of water almost every day that they get only fresh water outdoors. Indoors we use it once a week.

It would be difficult to harm your plants with any BTI product fed, in water, to the roots. I recommend using it a a preventative measure rather than trying to eradicate F. Gnats with it... but its possible... Took about 2.5 weeks and yellow sticky traps are a good companion... You are interrupting the cycle by attacking larvae at a specific stage... gnats will continue to hatch for a while, just stick to the program.

Both FFOF and Roots soils have been known to widely contain fungus gnats. There is a story about the owner of Aurora Innovations admitting to a grow shop owner that their soil was often host to fungus gnats and saying he'd buy a bottle of gnatrol for every customer who bought a pallet of Roots soil. Who knows if its true, but it is certainly a fact that many big brand soils will bring this pest to your garden. Only a proactive program of prevention can really keep you safe.

 

[ProfGerbik]

I have had great success in eradicating fungus gnats with dunks and other similar products. But prevention is really the best way to go.

You can use Bacillus Thurigensis (active ingredient in Mosq Dunks) in soil to your hearts content. Its unlikely that you could overdo it. I use a product called Microbe Lift and its the same BTi but its packaged for use in ponds and its super cheap. I water it in at 3 mils per hundred gallons ( I will check that for accuracy) of water almost every day that they get only fresh water outdoors. Indoors we use it once a week.

It would be difficult to harm your plants with any BTI product fed, in water, to the roots. I recommend using it a a preventative measure rather than trying to eradicate F. Gnats with it... but its possible... Took about 2.5 weeks and yellow sticky traps are a good companion... You are interrupting the cycle by attacking larvae at a specific stage... gnats will continue to hatch for a while, just stick to the program.

Both FFOF and Roots soils have been known to widely contain fungus gnats. There is a story about the owner of Aurora Innovations admitting to a grow shop owner that their soil was often host to fungus gnats and saying he'd buy a bottle of gnatrol for every customer who bought a pallet of Roots soil. Who knows if its true, but it is certainly a fact that many big brand soils will bring this pest to your garden. Only a proactive program of prevention can really keep you safe.

well i have ffof but not a problem with gnats really, its more the thrips until now everything was fine but i have started to see them crawl on the top of the soil, so if i can kill the larvae from becoming a major problem ill be happy with that, i know most of these soil dwellers arent that harmless in small numbers and can actually benefit a plant but i dont want them to get out of control.

 

[nomaad]

BTi is not going to handle thrips the way it handles things in the fly family like mosquitos and fungus gnats...

better natural controls for thrips are Spinosad to the foliar zone and predator nematodes to the roots.

 

[nomaad]

Spinosad may be effective in the soil as well... more likely on the surface.

 

[paladin420]

BTW Just had a room tested out. Dunks in every rez since day one. Zero pesticides in test bud. Little fuckers will hide/thrive in your drain n shit not just pots n shit.

 

[ProfGerbik]

nice, well im reading they are great from preventing any larvae from growing, so im gonna see how well it helps with thrips.

oh lawd... i didnt know that i hope they cant travel far..

 

[nomaad]

Its a very specific bacillus. in fact, there are two Bacillus Thurigensis strains in common use as biological pesticides. Sp. israliensis has proven to be effective for critters specifically in the fly family while Bacillus Thurigensis kurastaki is the actyive ingredient in DiPel and Safer Caterpillar killer and has been proven effective specifically on moth larvae. Neither are accepted for use on other known pests AFAIK. Hoping for a previously unbeknownst effectiveness with thrips (your stated nemesis) is the kind of reasoning that leads to failure. BTi is a great prong in your prevention regime, but not the component that will help you with thrips. I am interested to see where you aare reading that they work with "any larvea".

Spinosad is known to be effective against a wider range of pests. I know that mites, thrips and caterpillars can all be controlled to some extent...

Predatory nematodes are also known to attack a wider range of things that creep and crawl around your soil...

 

[yesum]

I had to dissolve the dunk pieces in water before watering, to get any help from them. I am using Dr. Bronner's Lavender Soap in water with better results than the dunks. Neem oil mixed with the soap is even better for a soil drench. 1 tsp of each in 1 gallon of water.

 

[trichrider]

uh...thrips i believe are ovipositors and lay their eggs in leaf tissue...dunks are effective for those root devouring devils called fungus gnats...just sayin'...

 

[nomaad]

I agree 100% about BTi's effectiveness on thrips. However...

I am finding a lot of conflicting information about where thrips pupate. Apparently some thrips are ovipositors and some are not. All the information i have read about predator nematodes says that thrips pupate in soil and that this is where the nematodes control them.

My experience is not scientific proof that the nematodes work, but as a part of my overall pest prevention program which include predator nematodes (as well as BTi and, later in the season, BTk), I have had less problems with the thrips in subsequent gardening projects.

 

[trichrider]

I agree 100% about BTi's effectiveness on thrips. However...

I am finding a lot of conflicting information about where thrips pupate. Apparently some thrips are ovipositors and some are not. All the information i have read about predator nematodes says that thrips pupate in soil and that this is where the nematodes control them.

My experience is not scientific proof that the nematodes work, but as a part of my overall pest prevention program which include predator nematodes (as well as BTi and, later in the season, BTk), I have had less problems with the thrips in subsequent gardening projects.

thanks man, i didn't know that...ain't had thrips yet (fingers crossed) but have had consistent gnat attacks in past. dunks work bottom line...without poisons.
examine the wing structure of the critters; thrips have wings that look like feather dusters (jagged outline) while gnats wings appear smooth edged...go from there.
good luck to op.
peace

 

[trichrider]

...and since have been host to thrips.

Spinosad...

kills thrips dead!

$98. gallon US for peace of mind.

 

[EclipseFour20]

Mosquito Bits...made by the same folks that make Mosquito Dunks.

Dunks are made of calcium carbonate and cork....and Bits are made bits of corn cob with a wee bit of vegetable oil. Dunks are "certified organic" but Bits aren't. I use Bits.

Both contain the same amount of BTI--but Bits are easier to use...try dry measuring Dunks with a tablespoon....LOL. I add 15ml of Mosquito Bits to each container at transplant...and 15ml of Bits per gallon of water.

Order on Amazon...free shipping too!