Getting rid of fungus gnats

[JustBlazin]

posted this in a thread where someone was asking how to get rid of fungus gnats, so i figured id post my response in this section, hopefully it will help someone trying to battle these little fuckers.
i have battled fungus gnats for over a year...was hard fought battle and i used alot of different weapons DE,dunks,Einstein oil,sticky traps, lost coast plant therapy,perlite on the tops couple inches of my pots. Some worked better than others but i still found myself battling these little fuckers, always keep a sprayer bottle of the lost coast mixed up in case i see any fliers wich works pretty good. When i was reading a huge thread on blumats this issue came up and the guy who pretty much introduced blumats to indoor gardening(Sunnydog) chimed in with a easy fix, top dress 2-3 inches of regular unamended promix.
wich i tried about three weeks ago and I've seen 1 fly in that time unfortunately caught me so of guard I couldn't get to my spray fast enough and was unable to kill it. I guess this is the same idea as the perlite but when you water the perlite it washes all over and ends up all mixed with the dirt underneath

 

[MickFoster]

Yellow stickies for the adult flyers and 3 drenches with Gnatrol for the larvae..........works every time.

 

[JustBlazin]

i use sticky traps they work ok for the flyers but it's not going to actually do much for stopping your infestation. Also used mosquito dunks for almost a year with every watering did not take care of the problem like i thought it should have considering they got a drenched with bti everytime i watered, pretty sure that's the same stuff that's in gnatrol(gnatrol is not available in canada)...... But the gnats were still there not as bad as they had been but still enough that i wanted to get rid of them.sucks trimming and finding a gnat stuck in your bud.
about six months to a year ago i even got myself a few carnivores plants to eat the gnats

but nothing has worked like the 2-3 inches of unamended promix it almost eradicated them

 

[PadawanWarrior]

posted this in a thread where someone was asking how to get rid of fungus gnats, so i figured id post my response in this section, hopefully it will help someone trying to battle these little fuckers.
i have battled fungus gnats for over a year...was hard fought battle and i used alot of different weapons DE,dunks,Einstein oil,sticky traps, lost coast plant therapy,perlite on the tops couple inches of my pots. Some worked better than others but i still found myself battling these little fuckers, always keep a sprayer bottle of the lost coast mixed up in case i see any fliers wich works pretty good. When i was reading a huge thread on blumats this issue came up and the guy who pretty much introduced blumats to indoor gardening(Sunnydog) chimed in with a easy fix, top dress 2-3 inches of regular unamended promix.
wich i tried about three weeks ago and I've seen 1 fly in that time unfortunately caught me so of guard I couldn't get to my spray fast enough and was unable to kill it. I guess this is the same idea as the perlite but when you water the perlite it washes all over and ends up all mixed with the dirt underneath

Hypoaspis miles. Mine came from EWC but you can but them separately too, and I haven't seen a gnat in almost 2 years now. I'm still using the same soil.

I just top dressed with EWC and threw a few yellow sticky traps around to catch the fliers. I'd mix some pumice in it too, but you don't need to. It just helps keep the EWC a little lighter.

 

[Jimbo the Gael]

2 cm of horticultural sand, mixed with bottom watering. Haven't seen a gnat since. Then I moved to outdoor growing.

 

[myke]

I figure 3 20" fans on full blast for a few days will take care of the fliers.The sand sounds like a good idea,bottom feed with bti as thats where theyll go.

 

[myke]

Whats in the promix that makes it work?

 

[JustBlazin]

Hypoaspis miles. Mine came from EWC but you can but them separately too, and I haven't seen a gnat in almost 2 years now. I'm still using the same soil.

I just top dressed with EWC and threw a few yellow sticky traps around to catch the fliers. I'd mix some pumice in it too, but you don't need to. It just helps keep the EWC a little lighter.

i thought of getting mites but i am just starting to re use my soil and was under the impression that if i remix all my pots together when i re amend my soil the mites would not survive and I would lose the population. I have also heard of just using the same pots just cut out the stem and room for you plant to put in and just e amend with top dressing Do you use beds? or do you buy new mites every cycle?

 

[pilto]

I fill the tops of my pots with a couple inches of playground sand. Has worked a charm.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

i thought of getting mites but i am just starting to re use my soil and was under the impression that if i remix all my pots together when i re amend my soil the mites would not survive and I would lose the population. I have also heard of just using the same pots just cut out the stem and room for you plant to put in and just e amend with top dressing Do you use beds? or do you buy new mites every cycle?

I started with straight FFOF and just treated it like no-till. Then after a few rounds, I added a bunch of stuff to turn it into a more proper no-till, with worms and stuff.

I just put EWC on top of the FFOF. I also would add a little dry fert after each round. I prefer to add pumice to the EWC now though to prevent compaction.

I cut the stem close to the bottom, and just keep the soil moist. The microbes breakdown the old rootball, and after a few weeks or so, the remaining stem the you chopped will just pull right off. Then replant a new plant.

Easy, Peasy, Beautiful.

 

[JustBlazin]

Whats in the promix that makes it work?

it's the same idea as the sand and ewc it doesn't have any stuff for it to eat so they don't survive in it is my guess.
i use pro mix that I amend and they love that shit. Got these as soon as i started going organic, fist I used living soil In a bag and that's where they first came from. Seems they thrive in anything with organic amendments in it. That user sunnydog mentioned it in his blumat thread, think he used same as me with amended pro mix and said to someone he just told all his plants with 2-3 inches of pro mix and bam problem solved. I tried it like three weeks ago and it seems to be working pretty good so far. I'm sure anything on the top 2-3 inches of the pot will do it but De gets all fucked up when you water plus if it stays dry who wants that shit getting blown around your room same with sand on top, perlite washes around and soil ends up at the top again after a few waterings

 

[myke]

it's the same idea as the sand and ewc it doesn't have any stuff for it to eat so they don't survive in it is my guess.
i use pro mix that I amend and they love that shit. Got these as soon as i started going organic, fist I used living soil In a bag and that's where they first came from. Seems they thrive in anything with organic amendments in it. That user sunnydog mentioned it in his blumat thread, think he used same as me with amended pro mix and said to someone he just told all his plants with 2-3 inches of pro mix and bam problem solved. I tried it like three weeks ago and it seems to be working pretty good so far. I'm sure anything on the top 2-3 inches of the pot will do it but De gets all fucked up when you water plus if it stays dry who wants that shit getting blown around your room same with sand on top, perlite washes around and soil ends up at the top again after a few waterings

Yeah they love my amended peat,Gonna try this with straight peat no perlight see what happens.thx

 

[JustBlazin]

Yeah they love my amended peat,Gonna try this with straight peat no perlight see what happens.thx

if you got it i would mix in some perlite for aeration and compaction like Padawan said with his ewc. promix has perlite in it

 

[PadawanWarrior]

if you got it i would mix in some perlite for aeration and compaction like Padawan said with his ewc. promix has perlite in it

I actually said pumice, but perlite will work. I use pumice and lava rock now instead of perlite. Perlite's fine, it just breaks down, and it floats.

 

[SheeshM]

Sticky traps, gnatrol (any bti), I bottom fed every other watering. Try wacking your pots with one hand with a shop vac in the other. The gnats will fly when you wack the side of the pot, then suck them up with the vac.

 

[JustBlazin]

I started with straight FFOF and just treated it like no-till. Then after a few rounds, I added a bunch of stuff to turn it into a more proper no-till, with worms and stuff.

I just put EWC on top of the FFOF. I also would add a little dry fert after each round. I prefer to add pumice to the EWC now though to prevent compaction.

I cut the stem close to the bottom, and just keep the soil moist. The microbes breakdown the old rootball, and after a few weeks or so, the remaining stem the you chopped will just pull right off. Then replant a new plant.

Easy, Peasy, Beautiful.

been contemplating going this route with same pots same soil, was just u sure on how to amend each pot as i use blumats so only a small part of the top of the soil is moist from the drip point, right now i just plop some dry amendments mixed with ewc right under the drip point when i want to top dress, before i would top dress the hole top of the pot with it and water it in.

funny what you say about keeping them moist after harvest a few weeks. I am re amending for first time a week or so ago and when i harvested i had left some blumats still running keeping them moist and shut some off, boy was it easy to pull out the stock and just a tiny bit of roots with the moist ones compared to the dry ones that were a bitch to get out not to mention the roots were already being broken down in the wet ones.
do you go from like a beer cup type pot to your finishing pot? If so is it ever to hot for them?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

been contemplating going this route with same pots same soil, was just u sure on how to amend each pot as i use blumats so only a small part of the top of the soil is moist from the drip point, right now i just plop some dry amendments mixed with ewc right under the drip point when i want to top dress, before i would top dress the hole top of the pot with it and water it in.

funny what you say about keeping them moist after harvest a few weeks. I am re amending for first time a week or so ago and when i harvested i had left some blumats still running keeping them moist and shut some off, boy was it easy to pull out the stock and just a tiny bit of roots with the moist ones compared to the dry ones that were a bitch to get out not to mention the roots were already being broken down in the wet ones.
do you go from like a beer cup type pot to your finishing pot? If so is it ever to hot for them?

I usually start clones in 1/2 gal of my extra mix, then put them straight into 15's, but some times I'll put them in 3 gal pots if I'm outta room. I prefer to just go from 1/2 to 15 though. I'm lazy, and then I disturb the soil less.

 

[JustBlazin]

I usually start clones in 1/2 gal of my extra mix, then put them straight into 15's, but some times I'll put them in 3 gal pots if I'm outta room. I prefer to just go from 1/2 to 15 though. I'm lazy, and then I disturb the soil less.

Jesus 15 gallons what are you growing a redwood.....lol
i just use anywhere from 1-5 gal pots usually 3-5 gal for big ones and 1-2 gal for smaller plants. I'm thinking if i try this i might just go from beer cup to final pots.
if you constantly top dress does it gradually fill your pot all the way to the top? Or does it just keep compacting?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Jesus 15 gallons what are you growing a redwood.....lol
i just use anywhere from 1-5 gal pots usually 3-5 gal for big ones and 1-2 gal for smaller plants. I'm thinking if i try this i might just go from beer cup to final pots.
if you constantly top dress does it gradually fill your pot all the way to the top? Or does it just keep compacting?

It's really like the smallest size you're supposed to use with no-till.

I start the pots a little underfilled, then when I top dress I don't usually add much besides dry amendments. I'll mix a handful of EWC in there too with a little pumice most of the time just to be a little gentler on the worms. If it gets too full, I could take a layer off the top. I also use rice hulls as a mulch.

 

[JustBlazin]

It's really like the smallest size you're supposed to use with no-till.

I start the pots a little underfilled, then when I top dress I don't usually add much besides dry amendments. I'll mix a handful of EWC in there too with a little pumice most of the time just to be a little gentler on the worms. If it gets too full, I could take a layer off the top. I also use rice hulls as a mulch.

you cant do no till in small containers? That stinks
if you took the top layer off wouldn't that take away your predatory mites?