I wanted to share this information originating from Spleebales post on the subject of Gnats and Root Aphids and Bayer insecticides.
Since the Bayer Tree & Shrub, Bayer Citrus and Bayer Complete Insect Killer have different amounts of Imidacloprid and B-Cyfluthrin and since they need to be used in different doses and for different lengths of time based on the type of system you have, I want to share MY experience in a Drain to Waste Coco system.
I have suffered for years with Fungas Gnats and as I recently discovered, Root Aphids (that I could never see). I've used Gnatrol and Mosquito dunks till I was blue in the face without results. I've also used beneficial Nematodes with little success. This plague has haunted me for years. I've spent hundreds of dollars on these products.
After reading Spleebales thread I decided to try the Bayer Complete Insect Killer. I chose the "Complete" product because it contained the contact killer B-Cyfluthrin in addition to the systemic Imidacloprid.
My application was as follows:
5ml/Gallon mixed solution giving each pot a single soak. I did not feed the day of the soak. The gnats were all killed instantly. The plants did not suffer any damage, in fact looked healthier the very next day (probably due to bug relief). Two weeks later there were 2-3 gnats stuck to my yellow indicator card but none in the coco. Those were probably a few strays that happen to be flying around the room. I also saw some very, very tiny baby Root Aphids crawling around the pot this time. Once again, I gave the plants another 5ml/gallon soak and the baby Aphids were gone. I could say that my dose was conservative and that you could go up to 10-15ml/gallon without problems.
The bugs are gone gone gone. The plants are now as healthy as if they were never infected and I am kicking myself in the head for not trying this years ago. I know that there are you Tofu eating tree huggers that want to do everything the hard "natural" way, but if you ever want to simply get rid of them done deal gone instead of "managing" the problem, then I highly recommend this product.
Since the Bayer Tree & Shrub, Bayer Citrus and Bayer Complete Insect Killer have different amounts of Imidacloprid and B-Cyfluthrin and since they need to be used in different doses and for different lengths of time based on the type of system you have, I want to share MY experience in a Drain to Waste Coco system.
I have suffered for years with Fungas Gnats and as I recently discovered, Root Aphids (that I could never see). I've used Gnatrol and Mosquito dunks till I was blue in the face without results. I've also used beneficial Nematodes with little success. This plague has haunted me for years. I've spent hundreds of dollars on these products.
After reading Spleebales thread I decided to try the Bayer Complete Insect Killer. I chose the "Complete" product because it contained the contact killer B-Cyfluthrin in addition to the systemic Imidacloprid.
My application was as follows:
5ml/Gallon mixed solution giving each pot a single soak. I did not feed the day of the soak. The gnats were all killed instantly. The plants did not suffer any damage, in fact looked healthier the very next day (probably due to bug relief). Two weeks later there were 2-3 gnats stuck to my yellow indicator card but none in the coco. Those were probably a few strays that happen to be flying around the room. I also saw some very, very tiny baby Root Aphids crawling around the pot this time. Once again, I gave the plants another 5ml/gallon soak and the baby Aphids were gone. I could say that my dose was conservative and that you could go up to 10-15ml/gallon without problems.
The bugs are gone gone gone. The plants are now as healthy as if they were never infected and I am kicking myself in the head for not trying this years ago. I know that there are you Tofu eating tree huggers that want to do everything the hard "natural" way, but if you ever want to simply get rid of them done deal gone instead of "managing" the problem, then I highly recommend this product.
