Gnats or Aphids?

HashBucket

Well-Known Member
Why are you all making it hard?

1) Go spend $5 on a small bag of diatomaceous earth.
2) Sprinkle on the surface of the medium or soil.
Done.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
If in flower I would try to get as many as possible with the sticky traps so they don't end up in the flower.
Yeah I use the sticky traps too. I wasn't clear, thanks for clearing that up. When I went into flower (my gnats happened during veg), I sprayed them down with water to knock off any dead bugs.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Why are you all making it hard?

1) Go spend $5 on a small bag of diatomaceous earth.
2) Sprinkle on the surface of the medium or soil.
Done.
I have a swimming pool with a DE Filter. The DE didn't even slow them down. I used it while waiting for the Permethrin to arrive. They also laughed at a root drench of Spinosad. Permethrin killed them in 2 treatments. I treated 2 more times to be sure.
 

HashBucket

Well-Known Member
That doesn't stop the larvae from being in the soil nibbling on roots. Also not effective when wet.
Oh, you want something RIGHT NOW.
Hell, just irradiate the damn thing with U238 - that'll fix the lil bastids RFN, or get yourself some Cloradane - that stuff will kill everything.

But, if you don't mind a little bit of root nibbling for a day or two till they hatch, it works. And, when they crawl out to fly away they get shredded and therefore don't lay any more eggs. Day or two, gone. And, you'll actually be able to safely consume your buds.

And, who says the medium has to be wet all the time? You never let your medium get dry? Never?
Prolly better to wait a week for your order of nemotoades to arrive from Canada or whatever. Or spend $45 on a pint of magic spray. LoL.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Oh, you want something RIGHT NOW.
Hell, just irradiate the damn thing with U238 - that'll fix the lil bastids RFN, or get yourself some Cloradane - that stuff will kill everything.

But, if you don't mind a little bit of root nibbling for a day or two till they hatch, it works. And, when they crawl out to fly away they get shredded and therefore don't lay any more eggs. Day or two, gone. And, you'll actually be able to safely consume your buds.

And, who says the medium has to be wet all the time? You never let your medium get dry? Never?
Prolly better to wait a week for your order of nemotoades to arrive from Canada or whatever. Or spend $45 on a pint of magic spray. LoL.
BTI in your watering works well and is biological, gets the larvae.
 

HashBucket

Well-Known Member
I have a swimming pool with a DE Filter. The DE didn't even slow them down. I used it while waiting for the Permethrin to arrive. They also laughed at a root drench of Spinosad. Permethrin killed them in 2 treatments. I treated 2 more times to be sure.
And, how many white flies do you have in your pool?
Just kidding.

DO NOT use swimming pool DE in your garden.
Use food service DE.

Yea, spinosad is good for thrips only.
Permithrin will work, but depending on time of their life, it can go systemic to the plant and affect flavor.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
And, how many white flies do you have in your pool?
Just kidding.

DO NOT use swimming pool DE in your garden.
Use food service DE.

Yea, spinosad is good for thrips only.
Permithrin will work, but depending on time of their life, it can go systemic to the plant and affect flavor.
Nope, it works by contact. It is not systemic, local systemic or translaminar:

If what you say was true it couldn't be used on tomatoes and it is frequently used for that.
 

HashBucket

Well-Known Member
Nope, it works by contact. It is not systemic, local systemic or translaminar:

If what you say was true it couldn't be used on tomatoes and it is frequently used for that.
Oh, I wasn't talking about using it ON the plant. Tomato or otherwise.
You said you were putting it in the soil, which means it gets taken up by the plant.

Kind of the difference between washing your skin with soap, or drinking soap.

So, you're spraying it on the plant to treat whitefly?
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Oh, I wasn't talking about using it ON the plant. Tomato or otherwise.
You said you were putting it in the soil, which means it gets taken up by the plant.

Kind of the difference between washing your skin with soap, or drinking soap.

So, you're spraying it on the plant to treat whitefly?
You may wish to re-read my posts and my reference from Dr. Raymond A. Cloyd stating it is not a systemic.
 

HashBucket

Well-Known Member
I got a copy of his newest book, Greenhouse Pest Management (Contemporary Topics in Entomology)
I find it to be very good, but presented in a very basic manner. I know the guy is smart, but it's like he wrote the book for a bunch of high school kids in a 4F class in Kansas.
Easy to use as a reference however, thoroughly explaining the life cycle of many of virtually all of the pests we deal with on the west coast and common in greenhouse and indoor operations.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Oh, you want something RIGHT NOW.
Hell, just irradiate the damn thing with U238 - that'll fix the lil bastids RFN, or get yourself some Cloradane - that stuff will kill everything.

But, if you don't mind a little bit of root nibbling for a day or two till they hatch, it works. And, when they crawl out to fly away they get shredded and therefore don't lay any more eggs. Day or two, gone. And, you'll actually be able to safely consume your buds.

And, who says the medium has to be wet all the time? You never let your medium get dry? Never?
Prolly better to wait a week for your order of nemotoades to arrive from Canada or whatever. Or spend $45 on a pint of magic spray. LoL.
U238 is for folks fresh off the turnip truck. Your sophisticated weaponeer of mass varmint destruction opts for cesium-137.

Also your "cloradane" is correctly denoted as Chlordane, if you are daunted by calling it 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,8-octachloro-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-4,7-methanoindane. It is indeed as effective as orbital attack for eliminating arthropod opportunists. But the minor associated annoyance is vaporizing the entire county. Kind a damages yield.

The only time I let my medium dry out is when I am punishing/disciplining my ladies for growing too damn fast. It is a problem not many others here share or care about.

I would be very curious to see a link that details why food-grade DE is good but pool-grade is not. Something a bit more peer-reviewed than, say, a Youtube video with back-of-Walmart production values.

I won't even get started on your Biblical plague of nema"toads".
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
I got a copy of his newest book, Greenhouse Pest Management (Contemporary Topics in Entomology)
I find it to be very good, but presented in a very basic manner. I know the guy is smart, but it's like he wrote the book for a bunch of high school kids in a 4F class in Kansas.
Easy to use as a reference however, thoroughly explaining the life cycle of many of virtually all of the pests we deal with on the west coast and common in greenhouse and indoor operations.
Owning books is very nice.

Reading them is better. That way the knowledge contained in them gets to wiggle its butt a bit.

You might even find that the good Doctor was saying that permethrin is not systemic.

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HashBucket

Well-Known Member
The only time I let my medium dry out is when I am punishing/disciplining my ladies for growing too damn fast.
Yea, I do that then too. Especially the unruly teens. Sometimes they just get to going too fast and they need to wait a week or so for their assigned room to flip and I like to have them at about 18 inches at the start.
BUT, at least two or three times during a 60 day cycle, I let the medium dry (I use Coco Canna). I know, the common knowledge is that it is fatal to dry out a plant in Coco ... but, man they love it.

I would be very curious to see a link that details why food-grade DE is good but pool-grade is not.
I dunno why I believe that. Never been challenged before ... might look into it. But, I do believe it because I was told that by a very wise man once. Isn't that how most of us learn?

I won't even get started on your Biblical plague of nema"toads".
You gotta watch out for those damned nema-toads. The only one more dangerous is the feared under-toad. They actually pull you under to drown.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
~snip~ I dunno why I believe that. Never been challenged before ... might look into it. But, I do believe it because I was told that by a very wise man once. Isn't that how most of us learn?
Yes, most of us learn by way of an appeal to authority. I was eased out of that habit when they made me write a Ph.D. thesis. Then the ungrateful jerks actually read the turgid thing and provided advice on how to do it right. What a hassle. I liked basking in fallacy.
 
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