Fungus Gnat Prevention?

[rrog]

As my Myco-rich soil bubbles away, the gnats are back. I have a lid on all soil containers. Landscape fabric hot glued to pail lids. Air and water can pass... not gnats.

But they smell the fungus and are here. I'd like to have some non-toxic flypaper or such hanging around to nab them over time.

Again, my pails and plants are not infected so not looking to treat the soils. Just some strips or tapes hanging would be fine.

Any gnat strip suggestions?

 

[Microbeman]

You can get yellow or blue sticky pads at a good horticulture/greenhouse supply. Use vectobac in soil; see the Symphalids thread

 

[echo_chamber]

Bacillus Thuringensis is great for killing larvae, that's the ingredient in Mosquito Dunks, Vectobac and a host of other things. I use that to kill the larvae and yellow sticky traps to catch the flying ones. Cutting the yellow sticky traps into 1" sections and putting them on top of your medium is also a great way to catch the young adults. Then to kick down a heavy infestation like when using an infected bag of soil, i use SNS-203 and area spray and spray on top of soil and under leaves if necessary. SNS-203 is Rosemary Oil Extract and some other organic things.

Good luck!

 

[fabvariousk]

I used to cover the tops of my pots with white duck tape the industrial stuff.
This would be reflective and catch all the fungus gnats.
Now I swear by Mosquito Dunks. I buy a bunch at a time and break them up into thirds.
A piece of MD on the top of your soil will take care of most gnats for awhile.

 

[guest2012y]

If you recycle your soil amend with crab shell meal,neem seed meal,and if you can find it Karanja seed meal.
Do a search in this forum on crab shell meal and why it is used...as well as the other meals.

 

[mad librettist]

i'm trying just crab shell meal. so far good results.

 

[ZZTops]

Yellow Plastic Strips coated with Vaseline work for me...

 

[kayaN0W]

I amend my soil with diatomacous earth (doesnt prevent em but kills anything that does get down there and lay). And instead of fly stripz...i simply leave a lil thang of water with some fish emulsion and kelp in it in my veg and flower cab, and they all seem to swarm to it and next thang ya kno, theres a bunch of the dead lil pecker heads floatin round in it haha....not sayin thats the best thing to do, but quite honestly, its cut down majorly on the lil buggers.

best of luck with the lil tards.

 

[mad librettist]

I forgot to mention - drosera love fungus gnats for lunch . Living sticky traps baby, and they love 12/12 lighting.

 

[itzaplant]

lady bugs for the natural pest control

 

[MtnLivin]

Regular feedings with Gnatrol and Azamaz/Azatrol will keep them away just fine.

 

[bakelite]

Let your soil get nice and dry between waterings. This made a big difference for me.

-bakelite

 

[mad librettist]

Let your soil get nice and dry between waterings. This made a big difference for me.

-bakelite

that makes a big difference for me too - reduced growth rates.

I'll take blumats and nice constant moisture thanks.

 

[habeeb]

I've always said, do all of the methods, as you can have these guys if you don't knock them out completely

biological - bti, nematodes
traps - cups of water, sticky paper
top dressing - sand / perlite / ( let the top dry out / bottom water )


what you want to catch is the adults, as they can lay hundreds of eggs. remember the bottom of the pots, as they will sit down there and just lay babies in the bottom


good luck..

 

[Ursus]

that makes a big difference for me too - reduced growth rates.

I'll take blumats and nice constant moisture thanks.

no need to be ignorant! this is probably the best method. Those damn mosquito dunks never worked shit for me. I crumbled them over the pots and even put 1 into a cup of water in the grow room. The (watered one caught more). If you have a small garden, you can use a spray of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water, just don't get it on your plants during mid day. Another effective method is putting a layer of sand ontop of your pots. The gnats won't be able to burrow into the soil. Last method I know of, is if you have neem oil, dilute that with water and give your soil a drenching.

 

[mad librettist]

no need to be ignorant! this is probably the best method. Those damn mosquito dunks never worked shit for me. I crumbled them over the pots and even put 1 into a cup of water in the grow room. The (watered one caught more). If you have a small garden, you can use a spray of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water, just don't get it on your plants during mid day. Another effective method is putting a layer of sand ontop of your pots. The gnats won't be able to burrow into the soil. Last method I know of, is if you have neem oil, dilute that with water and give your soil a drenching.

Ignorance is when you don't know.

Sure, a wet/dry cycle reduces gnats, but if you can find another way you have better growth rates. Dry soil is dormant soil

 

[rrog]

I'm interested in Nematodes (Steinernema), Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti), and these yellow pads that I have no info on.

Nematodes I understand will need to be re-introduced if there's no infestation to feed on. So maybe I'd save that if my preventive methods fail.

Can the BTI be deployed and survive if no larvae are present?

What are these yellow pads people referenced?

Thanks!

 

[thinkin]

not a fan of chemicals..

neem simplily failed
h2o2/water didnt seem to make a big dif.
dunks didnt seem to make a dif either. I was/am little worried about negative reactions to plants.

Top dressed the hydroton with sand. Worked like a charm! Significantly reduced amount of bugs. 5 to 1


BUT I tried something NEW with my house plants.
Researching i found people using old coffee grounds to kill mealy bugs.

left wet coffee grounds out in a dish. no bugs in it!... umm.. even after the grounds dried out. no bugs!

As a result, I top dressed all my house plants with old coffee grounds.
Plants didnt mind. Gnats bugged off the plants when i applied. Long term results are not in. I am happy with the short term results.

 

[Microbeman]

I'm interested in Nematodes (Steinernema), Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti), and these yellow pads that I have no info on.

Nematodes I understand will need to be re-introduced if there's no infestation to feed on. So maybe I'd save that if my preventive methods fail.

Can the BTI be deployed and survive if no larvae are present?

What are these yellow pads people referenced?

Thanks!

Did you check the thread I referenced? I already posted a shit load of sources of information there. Didn't I already say where to get blue or yellow stickies?

 

[rrog]

M-Man, no listing of the blue / yellow stickies in this thread (other than a greenhouse). I will check the referenced thread.

Is there only one type of blue or yellow stickie? Any brand name?