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alfalfa and fungus gnats?

trichrider

Kiss My Ring
Veteran
use coffee filters inside the bottom of your pots to deny access via the drain holes.water from bottom.
 

Ratzilla

Member
Veteran
Just top dress some neem seed cake on top and walla no more gnats!!!
:headbange
Down to Earth Neem Seed Meal is a five pound box of all natural fertilizer with 6-1-2 formula and is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production
An excellent all natural fertilizer for enriching garden and agricultural soils and encouraging optimum plant development and provides benefits for crops while improving soils' organic matter content
A slow-release, nitrogen-rich fertilizer that is cold pressed from the seeds of the fast growing Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica), it is also referred to as neem cake
Can be mixed into soils or potting media, used as a top dress around established plants or steeped to make a potent liquid solution that is good for both leafy greens and young plants
Carefully blended from organic nutrients in the ideal proportions without the use of synthetics, growth stimulants or low quality fillers
 

dank.frank

ef.yu.se.ka.e.em
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I've never had a problem and I use alfalfa meal and many other things. Quit over watering and have a media that drains properly for cannabis and you won't foster gnats.



dank.Frank
 

trichrider

Kiss My Ring
Veteran
Just top dress some neem seed cake on top and walla no more gnats!!!
:headbange
Down to Earth Neem Seed Meal is a five pound box of all natural fertilizer with 6-1-2 formula and is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production
An excellent all natural fertilizer for enriching garden and agricultural soils and encouraging optimum plant development and provides benefits for crops while improving soils' organic matter content
A slow-release, nitrogen-rich fertilizer that is cold pressed from the seeds of the fast growing Neem Tree (Azadirachta indica), it is also referred to as neem cake
Can be mixed into soils or potting media, used as a top dress around established plants or steeped to make a potent liquid solution that is good for both leafy greens and young plants
Carefully blended from organic nutrients in the ideal proportions without the use of synthetics, growth stimulants or low quality fillers
quite by accident i discovered using neem seed meal, oyster shell flower, and fish bone meal, mixed in equal quantities and spread over the top would harden to prevent access to the soil by pests, yet water flows through without pooling. it becomes like permeable concrete,
pests can't get through and it's got nutrient value.

i do not water till it runs out the bottom.

another trick is, i use milk cartons to start plants and poke only a small hole for drainage. this works to drain if top watering and to absorb water by wicking if watering from the bottom (inside a tub).
 

reghatesschwag

New member
I've never had a problem and I use alfalfa meal and many other things. Quit over watering and have a media that drains properly for cannabis and you won't foster gnats.



dank.Frank
thanks for the advise. i do water better these days so maybe i will try again. the interesting thing was that other mixes at the time didnt attract the gnats so i wonder what it was about the alfalfa that did? someone above mentioned that it and frass are fungus foods. any thoughts?


Reg
 

exploziv

pure dynamite
Administrator
Veteran
Any decomposing matter is food for them.
Also, i use landscape fabric then a layer of perlite/vermiculite/gravel at the bottom of my pots. It improves drainage and 100% does not let fungus gnats access the soil from the bottom of the pot.
 

VerdantGreen

Genetics Facilitator
Boutique Breeder
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
fungus gnat larvae feed on roots and rotting vegetation, so that would make sense.


it depends mostly on the environment your grow is situated in as to whether you suffer from gnats. i never had a problem until i moved my cabs from the loft to the garage... which is full of junk and has a leaky roof in places.


i would second the coffee filters covering holes in bottom of the pot and any similar barriers on the top.

also a new product by cx called Tanlin i am trying - which is some kind of inert crystal that kills them when they eat it, seems to work. expensive but 2 drops in a watering can.
nematodes are great but expensive and short lived.

gnatrol doesn't always work for me... and i use neem meal in my soil which isn't a miracle cure either.

letting the soil dry out in between waterings as much as you can helps too.

VG
 

Ratzilla

Member
Veteran
quite by accident i discovered using neem seed meal, oyster shell flower, and fish bone meal, mixed in equal quantities and spread over the top would harden to prevent access to the soil by pests, yet water flows through without pooling. it becomes like permeable concrete,
pests can't get through and it's got nutrient value.

i do not water till it runs out the bottom.

another trick is, i use milk cartons to start plants and poke only a small hole for drainage. this works to drain if top watering and to absorb water by wicking if watering from the bottom (inside a tub).


I use a lot of organic matter in my pots and was constantly bothered by fungus gnats.
Would hammer the gnats with a neem spray and it was very effected in dealing with the flyers with no problem with the plants.
Seeing this neem cake readily available and making my pots up before hand outside I would sprinkle about a tbsp on the top surface of a 6 x 6 inch pot and then cover them with a breathable cloth until i needed them which is usually around 10-16 days.
When uncovering there would be a huge growth of fungi a good kind being i never had any problem with these pots.A scraping up of this fungus and a hard top was all i do.
I never had any more gnats after that and i have been doing this for a few years.
Oh by the way i double water both times to run off.
I showed you where the water is but it is up to you to drink it or not.
RatZ loving all you
PS I turn 77 tomorrow so old I am!
 

reghatesschwag

New member
I use a lot of organic matter in my pots and was constantly bothered by fungus gnats.
Would hammer the gnats with a neem spray and it was very effected in dealing with the flyers with no problem with the plants.
Seeing this neem cake readily available and making my pots up before hand outside I would sprinkle about a tbsp on the top surface of a 6 x 6 inch pot and then cover them with a breathable cloth until i needed them which is usually around 10-16 days.
When uncovering there would be a huge growth of fungi a good kind being i never had any problem with these pots.A scraping up of this fungus and a hard top was all i do.
I never had any more gnats after that and i have been doing this for a few years.
Oh by the way i double water both times to run off.
I showed you where the water is but it is up to you to drink it or not.
RatZ loving all you
PS I turn 77 tomorrow so old I am!
well happy birthday then! its good to see the passion never dies


Reg
 

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