Tired of having to fight gnats every time you get a brick of coco?

[YetiOG]

I'm having a hard time seeing how bricked coir can be a source for fungus gnats. I've been using it for several years and have not seen one. It would require that gnats lay eggs in the presumably moist coir piled somewhere waiting for processing. This first step seems unlikely since there isn't anything in coir for gnats to eat, making it an unattractive place to hang out or lay eggs.

The next assumption is that the eggs will survive desiccation and pressure during bricking. Then transport and storage. I think it is safe to assume that the bricked coir isn't going to be a target for gnat eggs.

Finally, we hydrate the coir, the eggs hatch, larvae munch and gnats fly off the surface of our coir. I soak mine in water to break it up, wash it, precharge it with cal/mag add 1/3 perlite and store it in 55 gallon Brute containers. Maybe I've just been likely, but it seems like I should have opened one of the containers, at least once and had a gnat or two fly out. When I've had fungus gnats, they've come from my environment.

Do you have any fucking idea how they harvest coco? Omg you think you are brilliant but look like a total jackass. You are roasting SB and all hes doing is sharing a helpful technique. He could be the worst grower ever bugs arent caused by humans they come in on their own. Even perfect environments are susceptible

Coco is ground then piled in huge piles and aged until it changes color... so yeah the fucking gnats go lay eggs in it its a pile of shit thats totally hospitable for them.

Far as the compressing wow you dont realize lots will survive being crushed they are microscopic. All it takes is a few to survive and bang. They replicate faster than rats

Your area is probably lucky and recieves clean coco. One day you wont get clean you will get dirty shit full of bugs then be cryin and shit.

Why dont you spend your time being constructive rather than a troll?

Think about what you are saying. None of it makes sense. Talking about why would gnats lay there if theres nothing to eat... you a bug expert now? I think not. Im not but i know bugs are opportunistic and are not humans with brains they lay there eggs all over. They dont think hmm is this a good spot, they see and do...

Strait troll

 

[YetiOG]

I use gnatrol hand watered straight into the medium. No messes for me anymore except wiping out the mixing bucket for the hand watering session. I never use any carbs or anything in my res that will cause slime or a bio film build up.

Ok so what im talking about dosent apply to you at all...
Or does it? You use bti so if you use a ph pen it can still be a problem carbs or not. Bacteria collonize inside so im not sure what you are getting at with your reponse. Im just stating some observations of past useage, nothing you said devalidates anything i said.

Im just confused what you are getting at.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Ok so what im talking about dosent apply to you at all...
Or does it? You use bti so if you use a ph pen it can still be a problem carbs or not. Bacteria collonize inside so im not sure what you are getting at with your reponse. Im just stating some observations of past useage, nothing you said devalidates anything i said.

Im just confused what you are getting at.

I was just sharing what worked for me so u don't have to get a slimey res or use carbs to have success. I see what u mean about the ph pen, rinse it off if ur using it to measure water with bti added. for that instance I just use the pen, add the bti, and not worry about if the bit has effected the solution, since im just hand watering it in once a week. My res always gets checked and kept around 5.8 to 6ph.


Not trying to devalidate u, if that's a word, lol, I know what u mean. Just trying to help like u bud.
thanks for sharing, n have a good day,
mm

 

[Deprivation]

I started running a tea kettle full of boiling water through each pot of coco after flush but prior to pre charging cations. So it's been years now since I have seen gnats and I run cheap brick with chunks and strings. I top hydroton, DE and still put up a few sticky traps just to be sure.

 

[onavelzy]

Sevin/Carbaryl risks

Sevin/Carbaryl risks

With that you can treat up to harvest without contaminating buds because the adults only live a few days and carbaryl targets larvae. You spread out your soaks on every single plant longer than the span of the flyers and treat three times. Since you can treat your flowering room, you won't encounter the difficulty most pesticides cause perpetual farmers

From the Wikipedia page on Carbaryl:

Risk[edit]
Carbaryl kills both targeted (e.g. malaria-carrying mosquitos) and beneficial insects (e.g. honeybees), as well as crustaceans.[5]
Although approved for more than 100 crops in the US, carbaryl is illegal in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Iran, Germany, and Angola.[6]
Carbaryl is often produced using methyl isocyanate (MIC) as an intermediary.[4] A leak of MIC used in the production of carbaryl caused the Bhopal disaster, the largest industrial accident in history.
Safety[edit]
Carbaryl is a cholinesterase inhibitor and is toxic to humans. It is classified as a likely human carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)[7] The oral LD50 is 250 to 850 mg/kg for rats and 100 to 650 mg/kg for mice.

 

[StankyBeamer]

From the Wikipedia page on Carbaryl:

Risk[edit]
Carbaryl kills both targeted (e.g. malaria-carrying mosquitos) and beneficial insects (e.g. honeybees), as well as crustaceans.[5]
Although approved for more than 100 crops in the US, carbaryl is illegal in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Iran, Germany, and Angola.[6]
Carbaryl is often produced using methyl isocyanate (MIC) as an intermediary.[4] A leak of MIC used in the production of carbaryl caused the Bhopal disaster, the largest industrial accident in history.
Safety[edit]
Carbaryl is a cholinesterase inhibitor and is toxic to humans. It is classified as a likely human carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)[7] The oral LD50 is 250 to 850 mg/kg for rats and 100 to 650 mg/kg for mice.

If you read how carbaryl is used in my garden you would see that it is not an issue. I used it a few times to knock down an existing gnat infestation. I wateredbit in, wearing protective clothing, it was not sprayed I.e. Atomized so it was not spread through my whole environment and it was never applied to foliage. It's toxicity was already addressed by me in an earlier post in this thread. Now that I have no gnats, organic pyrethrin is enough to keep them at bay. So I don't see where your ld50 info comes into play if the chemical in question is not making it into the finished product

 

[StankyBeamer]

Do you have any fucking idea how they harvest coco? Omg you think you are brilliant but look like a total jackass. You are roasting SB and all hes doing is sharing a helpful technique. He could be the worst grower ever bugs arent caused by humans they come in on their own. Even perfect environments are susceptible

Coco is ground then piled in huge piles and aged until it changes color... so yeah the fucking gnats go lay eggs in it its a pile of shit thats totally hospitable for them.

Far as the compressing wow you dont realize lots will survive being crushed they are microscopic. All it takes is a few to survive and bang. They replicate faster than rats

Your area is probably lucky and recieves clean coco. One day you wont get clean you will get dirty shit full of bugs then be cryin and shit.

Why dont you spend your time being constructive rather than a troll?

Think about what you are saying. None of it makes sense. Talking about why would gnats lay there if theres nothing to eat... you a bug expert now? I think not. Im not but i know bugs are opportunistic and are not humans with brains they lay there eggs all over. They dont think hmm is this a good spot, they see and do...

Strait troll

Lmao thank you bro, I was confused as to why my skill level comes into question for me trying to start a dialogue about ipm. For the record I'm an ok grower that has my fuck ups and has my good runs. No need for egos in the equation.

 

[onavelzy]

If you read how carbaryl is used in my garden you would see that it is not an issue. I used it a few times to knock down an existing gnat infestation. I wateredbit in, wearing protective clothing, it was not sprayed I.e. Atomized so it was not spread through my whole environment and it was never applied to foliage. It's toxicity was already addressed by me in an earlier post in this thread. Now that I have no gnats, organic pyrethrin is enough to keep them at bay. So I don't see where your ld50 info comes into play if the chemical in question is not making it into the finished product

Hi Stanky, not knocking how you used it at all. I just thought it would be useful for others to weigh that info out when they (like me) are trying to figure out what will be the best and safest approach.

For now, thanks steering me to the simplest and cheapest strategy: boiling water.

I'm still considering a lot of things vs the whole array of invaders. I'm starting things out with clones. I have to expect the worst so i'm trying to walk the line between slamming the door right on them before my space gets innoculated vs avoiding collateral damage to me and my household from the treatments. dont want the cure to be worse than the problem.

thanks again for the thread and the discussions. Take care,

Ona

 

[YetiOG]

I was just sharing what worked for me so u don't have to get a slimey res or use carbs to have success. I see what u mean about the ph pen, rinse it off if ur using it to measure water with bti added. for that instance I just use the pen, add the bti, and not worry about if the bit has effected the solution, since im just hand watering it in once a week. My res always gets checked and kept around 5.8 to 6ph.


Not trying to devalidate u, if that's a word, lol, I know what u mean. Just trying to help like u bud.
thanks for sharing, n have a good day,
mm

Gnatrol is bti all i am getting at is anyone who dips a pen into solution with bti will have the problem dunks, gnatrol all of it. Its very easy to get slime in anything that contacts it and gives it a place to hide, live and breed.

Just be aware of the problem cause its real regardless of which bti you use. You may feel gnatrol is not messy, but it certainly has the potential to be

If you rinse the pen you need to do so with peroxide once its infected. Believe it or not if bti gets into your pen its infected just like a person is. Its harbouring bacteria. While its not bad stuff it can effect the pens performance. Just do your ph stuff all first then do your bti after ph is settled.

Just remember bti will effect your ph naturally.

 

[YetiOG]

Lmao thank you bro, I was confused as to why my skill level comes into question for me trying to start a dialogue about ipm. For the record I'm an ok grower that has my fuck ups and has my good runs. No need for egos in the equation.

I know you are a fine grower. We are actually friends, though that is not why i stand up and say what i say. You are being legit i stand by you because what you say is legit.

Fact is anyone can get anything. I get bugs and pm every time i take a clone so ive stopped taking in stuff its not safe for me.

I applaude you sharing stuff that works for you. I myself will probably stick to inert medium now on but may revisit coco down the road. Im just having more success doing perlite and rockwool. Bye bye buggies try setting up in perlite... only thing ive heard can is root aphids which dont seem to exsist in my area.

I dont post much anymore because trolls just ruin it for me

 

[Loc Dog]

I believe that coco coir bricks contain fungus gnat eggs, but could be wrong. I have never heard of them ever before living in NYC area. I do not consider RB26 to be a troll. I consider him to be one of the best growers on ICMag. He has won numerous hightimes cups, at least 10 I think, and consistently gets lab results with GG4, over 30% THC. He is also the creator of Chiquita Banana, and has got results over 31% THC.

I personally hate coco, for about a dozen reasons, and have abandoned after 2 years of trying, and going to RDWC which is awesome. I am growing some mother plants in coco now, just because the are easy to move. I put BTI in water three days before I use it, and have seen 2 fungus gnats, that probably would have died on their own. My first coco grows I had thousands of them. Would breath them in there were so many.

I think the people who love coco, were expert outdoor growers in soil. I consider hydro a science, and coco an art.

Just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.

 

[Vash]

I believe that was RB56, not 26.

 

[Loc Dog]

I believe that was RB56, not 26.

Duh!!!! Sorry, sleep deprived. Correct RB26 is the master. Know nothing of RB56. I thought it was common knowledge that coco comes with Fungus Gnats.

Once I move my mothers to final pots, will stop the BTI and see if fungus gnats appear.

Thanks for the correction!!!

 

[paper thorn]

i never get gnats in my coco. i use the blocks.

 

[Loc Dog]

i never get gnats in my coco. i use the blocks.

What brand?? I use GH.

 

[StankyBeamer]

What brand?? I use GH.

Yeah the 56 26 thing threw me off a bit. Maybe that's not on accident? Acting like the master that knows everything and even having the same screen name with one character different lol. The bricks certainly can come with gnat larvae. I guess it could depend on your area but the hydro shops will admit that the bricks have gnats, I don't see why they would inform me of something that would discourage me from buying a product unless it was true or encouraged me to spend more money. Instead, they said my idea to expand with boiling water was a good idea. If you're one of the lucky ones that doesn't get gnats, you have no reason to post. This is a thread for people who need to decontaminate their coco, not people who want to disprove everything and try to act like what applies to you in your area applies to everyone everywhere, this attitude is ignorant. Any good grower knows that they will face different obstacles in different geographical locations. This isn't rocket science guys

 

[StankyBeamer]

To those insistent on doing the least amount of work and calling my methods paranoid and unnecessary, my best friend just had to stop growing because of aphids that came in a bale of promix hp. He doesn't run ANY clones, everything in his garden is from seed, and he follows the same cleanliness procedures as me (showering and wearing sterile clothes into the grow room every time) and now he's fucked. Has to gut his grow, wait out the "over-wintering" period, then start over from scratch. I will GLADLY continue to boil all of my medium so that this never happens. I've got single mother plants worth more than most people's entire grows (skva and aj sour d for example), if I had to shut down i would lose genetics id most likely never get back. And I just checked everything after he told me he found ra in his rooms, my house is clean as a whistle

 

[Old Toker]

How long does it take the dormant eggs to hatch after you add (non-boiling) water? If they are in there does it take a week? Longer?

 

[StankyBeamer]

How long does it take the dormant eggs to hatch after you add (non-boiling) water? If they are in there does it take a week? Longer?

It can take awhile, gnat have a life cycle of around 30 days and approximately 27-28 of that is larval stage. So I guess it depends how developed the larvae were before the coco was dehydrated and they went into hybernation.

 

[Old Toker]

Thanks. I've got a couple more weeks before I know if I'm safe.