Root Gnats in DWC

Hey Ic crew! Things are great in the garden minus one consistent thing in my whole career! Root gnats! Ive always had a back and forth with them. I want to eliminate them for good in a safe way in dwc (flower) and flood and drain (veg). Something i could add to the reservoir would be ideal. Any suggestions? Ive never tried mosquito dunks. Are they safe? Effective? I dont want to stress the plants if possible. Much love and appreciation!

Bump

Root gnats? There are root aphids and fungus gnats, hope you mean fungus gnats! I can assure you, BTI, bacillus tu...rigneneensesis israelensis, is very effective at breaking the cycle, and completely safe to use on the plant. Plants don't give a crap about it at all & continue to thrive. I would not really recommend keeping it, or any other pest control products, in a reservoir, but in water culture I guess it can't be helped & Ive seen it done with many products similar to this. For example beneficials pose the same "problem" they can gunk up your reservoir and clog stuff depending on your system. Anyway, a dirty reservoir/etc is much preferable to pythium or pests, right. Apply it manually where possible. A combined mode of action. sticky traps to kill the fliers and BTI to kill the larvae, when done right can eliminate 100% of gnats

I know people use Gnatrol WDG in DWC. There are various kind of BTI products... gnatrol dissolves well but other BTI products you might need to put it in a micron bag in the reservoir to prevent particles messing up the system etc.

SuperBadGrower said:

other BTI products you might need to put it in a micron bag in the reservoir to prevent particles messing up the system etc.

Click to expand...

this^^^ ... a mosquito Dunk in a micron bag would work great

SuperBadGrower said:

Root gnats? There are root aphids and fungus gnats, hope you mean fungus gnats! I can assure you, BTI, bacillus tu...rigneneensesis israelensis, is very effective at breaking the cycle, and completely safe to use on the plant. Plants don't give a crap about it at all & continue to thrive. I would not really recommend keeping it, or any other pest control products, in a reservoir, but in water culture I guess it can't be helped & Ive seen it done with many products similar to this. For example beneficials pose the same "problem" they can gunk up your reservoir and clog stuff depending on your system. Anyway, a dirty reservoir/etc is much preferable to pythium or pests, right. Apply it manually where possible. A combined mode of action. sticky traps to kill the fliers and BTI to kill the larvae, when done right can eliminate 100% of gnats

I know people use Gnatrol WDG in DWC. There are various kind of BTI products... gnatrol dissolves well but other BTI products you might need to put it in a micron bag in the reservoir to prevent particles messing up the system etc.

Click to expand...

I do mean fungus gnats! So it sounds like ill be grabbing some dunks and throwing them in a micron bag! Thank you!!! And this is why IC is the absolute truth

Treat the bugs like you would mosquitoes as opposed to treating the plants.

Ive had em so bad that they would bite me when I went in the room, or hit the light and fall on the buds. When I did rdwc on one run they were breeding in the water. I’m talking millions. They love some Rockwool and coco too!

Now I get some natural bug spray called Maggie’s farm from casa de pot. I spray the floors and tops and bottoms of the pots. Combined with plant ipm in veg the gnats are not a problem anymore

fungus gnats arent affected by dunx:
imidaclorpin
triazicide
insecticidal soap

are all proven effective
soaps not gonna help in dwc

Boyd Crowder said:

fungus gnats arent affected by dunx:
imidaclorpin
triazicide
insecticidal soap

are all proven effective
soaps not gonna help in dwc

Click to expand...

Imid does nothing to them. So far, i added the dunks in micron bags and im gonna wait it out 30 days. Time will tell. Many i know claim they work! I also added a shit ton of sticky traps which are already covered. You never know you have it that bad till you focus on it. Ill look into triazicide. Thanks!

BTI and Fungus Gnats

BTI and Fungus Gnats

From Summit Chemical’s website,

Because fungus gnats are closely related to mosquitoes, fungus gnat larvae are effectively killed by BTI—the naturally occurring bacterium that is deadly to mosquito larvae. BTI, short for Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, is deadly to mosquito larvae and fungus gnat larvae but harmless to other living things. The bacterium is nature’s way of keeping fungus gnat and mosquito populations down, but it has no effect on other insects (such as bees and butterflies)—nor does it harm animals, fish, birds, plants, pets or people.
BTI is the active ingredient in top-selling Mosquito Bits®, which is approved for the control of fungus gnats. To kill fungus gnat larvae, simply shake the granular Mosquito Bits® onto the potting soil in houseplants and other container- grown plants, including vegetables and herbs. Mosquito Bits® can also be mixed with potting soil prior to planting. When the plants are watered, the BTI in the Mosquito Bits® will be released. After subsequent watering, the BTI is washed below the soil surface. Fungus gnat larvae feed on the BTI and die.