What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Plastic pots veg coco gnats in drain holes

2011rex87

Member
I am a licensed pesticide applicator in the state of Colorado. I am a badged grower here in the industry. Some things you want to know...

You would not have fungus gants at all if there was no fungus to feed on. There would be no fungus to feed on if it was not growing in your pots and on your roots. This is only happening because your growing media is staying wet. Fungus gnat larvae live in the media and they feed on fungus and on decaying root matter. They can also feed on the fine root hairs. The larvae can only exist in a moist environment. If you dry down your media between watering, you have a chance at getting rid of the gnats all together in time. Problem is, not all pots dry down at the same time, so sometimes you have wet pots and dry pots in the same room so the gnats always have somewhere to fly to and lay more eggs. See what you can do about this...

In the mean time.. use breathable fabric smart pots that do not have bottom holes for drainage. The only opening is at the top. Top dress the media with Diatomaceous earth. That way, any gnats coming in or out of the pot will get cut up and die from the top dressing.

You can also use yellow sticky cards and petroleum jelly on the rim of the pot. Catch as many adults as you can. Sometimes putting a bug zapper light in your grow space will help kill flyers as well.

What do you think?
 

Dropped Cat

Six Gummi Bears and Some Scotch
Veteran
I use polyester pillow stuffing in drain holes keeps gnats out coco in.I also use e-z wet se by more grow. it kills gnats @ larvae on contact made from sugar soap safe and organic


Is that a root drench or foliar, many users like it.

I do the SM 90 and boil new coco pre use.
 

Mikell

Dipshit Know-Nothing
ICMag Donor
Veteran
We just lost SM90 in Canada for some reason. I use bleach now. Cheaper too.

Petroleum jelly is a pain in the ass. Makes a mess. DE likewise.

This is also a coco subforum. Most of us keep the medium quite moist, as dry causes issues.
 

2011rex87

Member
My recommendations are specifically for coco coir.

Also consider using predatory nematodes in addition to taking the steps I mentioned. Perlite cut into the coco coir will help you dry down your media more frequently.

Sprays and drenches are rarely effective in the long run if you do not cure the root causd of the issue. If you do not change anything about your grow and you spray and drench with those contact pesticides and you may kill 90% if lucky but your media will become infected once again with fungus gnats finding your overwatered moist media a nice home for its eggs/larvae. Please avoid using pesticides at all costs. You should implement methods that allow you to grow in Coco coir without fungus gnats. It is not a given that you will have fungus gnats simply because you grow in coco coir.
 

Mikell

Dipshit Know-Nothing
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Bti works great. Kills 100% (zero fliers on sticky traps) of FG and I use it three or four times a year. Nematodes are expensive and rare up here in Canada, nor is it wise to ship them six monthes out of the year.

Why screw around with jelly, DE, pantyhose? Or trying to dry a medium better kept moist. Have you ever tried to water a room with jelly all over the pots? You'll be covered in the shit unless you have the plant to light ratio of a rich hobby grower.

You may be surprised to know many of us have tried the solutions you and others suggest here. Bandaids at best.
 

Wingnutt

Member
Easiest way to get rid of 98% of your fungus gnats without pesticides or really any work:

Buy and use SLF-100. It will replace your current enzyme and dissolves fungus gnat larvae. I’ll still see the occasional one flying around but after a month or two of continual use they became a non-issue.
I tried all the other suggestions. This is the only thing that has worked and all I had to do was switch my enzyme.
I use it at 2.5 ml/gal in Veg and 3-4 ml/gal in Flower depending on plant needs, every watering except flush.
Try it, you won’t regret it.
 

Drop That Sound

Well-known member
Most the time I've got gnats i'm sure the eggs came bundled with my coco. I boil the hell out of it before I use it indoors now, pre-bagged or bricks...

Then I throw in some mosquito bits, and never see really them again.

But if I do for some reason, its so much fun to pump the pot of semi dry coco full of free base nicotine and propylene glycol vapor, and watch them all crawl to the top and die ;)
 

2011rex87

Member
SLF-100 is an interesting product, but nothing in the product is listed to effect fungus gnats as far as I can see. Please inform us further on the specific enzymes in SLF-100 that are working to control or destroy the fungus gnat. The only information I found lists 2 enzymes that work on organic and inorganic plant matter and nutrient salts, but this dos combat ROOT ROT which is helpful.

The enzymes in SLF-100 have been proven to be an effective antagonist for pythium. Hydrolytic enzymes like cellulase and glucanase have been known to combat the pythium fungus.

https://socascade.wordpress.com/

"Glucanases are enzymes that break down a glucan, a polysaccharide made of several glucose sub-units."

"Cellulase is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharides."



There are enzymes that control insects, such as chitinase.

"As chitin is a component of the cell walls of fungi and exoskeletal elements of some animals (including worms and arthropods), chitinases are generally found in organisms that either need to reshape their own chitin or dissolve and digest the chitin of fungi or animals."

If you do a search you can find commercially available products with chinitase in it. Look into this product and see if it can help you.. http://www.doctorzymes.com/pesticide-free-insecticide.php
 

Wingnutt

Member
I don’t know how it works but it does. Had thousands of the little shits flying around. 8kw bloom plus grow = a lot of real estate. Plus I keep my flowering coco pots on the wet side.

The only change I made was switching from Hygrozyme to SLF-100. The rest of my system has been the same for years. I went from seeing hundreds of flyers in each room to the occasional flyer. They aren’t even a concern anymore.

All I can add is my experience, but it was recommended by a trusted friend who had the same experience. Can’t explain how, just happy as hell it works.


SLF-100 is an interesting product, but nothing in the product is listed to effect fungus gnats as far as I can see. Please inform us further on the specific enzymes in SLF-100 that are working to control or destroy the fungus gnat. The only information I found lists 2 enzymes that work on organic and inorganic plant matter and nutrient salts, but this dos combat ROOT ROT which is helpful.

The enzymes in SLF-100 have been proven to be an effective antagonist for pythium. Hydrolytic enzymes like cellulase and glucanase have been known to combat the pythium fungus.

https://socascade.wordpress.com/

"Glucanases are enzymes that break down a glucan, a polysaccharide made of several glucose sub-units."

"Cellulase is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharides."



There are enzymes that control insects, such as chitinase.

"As chitin is a component of the cell walls of fungi and exoskeletal elements of some animals (including worms and arthropods), chitinases are generally found in organisms that either need to reshape their own chitin or dissolve and digest the chitin of fungi or animals."

If you do a search you can find commercially available products with chinitase in it. Look into this product and see if it can help you.. https://www.doctorzymes.com/pesticide-free-insecticide.php
 
Top