Gnats or Fruit Flies, how to get rid of them? Medium = Dirt
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Jefferstone
Well-Known Member
I have a great way to get rid of nats, it take 3-4 days but over the days you'll see the numbers decrease.
Step #1
Get a small glass or mug (clear seems to catch more i have no idea why!!)
Step #2
Pour some vinegar (apple cider vinegar I use) into the mug about 1/3 full is good maybe a little less.
Step #3
Drop a few drops of dishsoap into the mug (to add a little zest)
Step #4
Put the mug into the area with the most gnats (you can put mugs/glasses in different rooms if they are in those as well
Step #5
Let the mug do its magic
I get gnats a few times a year due to where I live, I started doing that a couple years ago and have done it since. It does smell a little but not to the point where you cant be in the room. For some reason they are attracted to it and go down for a drink, then they go sleepy
I know this one is a little old, but I used the forum search to find the best way to get rid of fungus gnats. I had just put in new soil so it wasn't an overwatering issue, well unless you count whoever dampened the soil before packing it. But Jeffdogg's suggestion worked miracles.
I went ahead and put paving sand down, about 1/4" deep first, then made the "gnat death mix"
Some Gnat Notes:
I don't think mug color matters, but I went with a dark one to make it more like soil. I have no idea whether or not these little fuckers even see in color, but maybe the darker mug holds heat like darker soil.
I used wine vinegar, but I only had a little so I added about a quarter cup of beer.
The dishwashing liquid is to break the surface tension of the water so the gnats can't land on it, they just sink.
And as an added benefit, the vinegar seems to have cut the skunk scent when I stick my head into the tent. Is this possible?
Anyway, scorecard after one evening Number of Flying Gnats 0 Number dead in the mug 6 (more or less)
Thanks Jeffdogg + rep
RawBudzski
Well-Known Member
just purchase a Chameleon to live on your plant, it will eat all the flies and gnats & help promote stong branches.. .
Nullis
Moderator
Gnats are probably the least detrimental pest; they're not likely to cause any real harm to a mature plant or its roots. What they are is extremely annoying and opportunistic. Over watering is certainly not the cause of a fungus gnat problem, although it may exacerbate it. It irks me when somebody seeks advice about a gnat problem and the response they get is "well you must be over watering". Starving your plants of water probably isn't going to solve the problem. I've witnessed gnats lay their eggs and hover above bone dry soil that had been left in the open for several days.
The worst part about gnats is that they are likely to get themselves stuck on the sugar-leaves or in the buds. If you don't already have gnats or you only notice a few of them then it is better to take preventative measures while you can. Sticky traps are good for catching some of the adults and gauging how bad the problem is, but I personally don't like to put sand, diatomaceous earth or anything like that on top of my soil as it gets all nasty and contribute to poor drainage. Biological controls like bacillus thuringiensis israelensis are especially good preventative and control measures. Bti was sold under the brand name Gnatrol but that particular product has apparently been discontinued. Mosquito Dunks is another commonly available product containing Bti.
I've used pyrethrin spray on the soil surface to kill the adults, along with the Bti and that kept the problem under control for a good while. The Bti needs to be re-applied every other week or so for optimum results and I've run out of Mosquito Dunks. Thinking about incorporating another biological control for every house plant and soil container in the house...
Beneficial nematodes, which are also supposed to be excellent as they parasitize hundreds of species of pests including gnats. That is what I'll be going for next along with the Bti.
Vacuuming can also help substantially if you have kind of a bad infestation, just don't snag any part of the plants with the vacuum.
The worst part about gnats is that they are likely to get themselves stuck on the sugar-leaves or in the buds. If you don't already have gnats or you only notice a few of them then it is better to take preventative measures while you can. Sticky traps are good for catching some of the adults and gauging how bad the problem is, but I personally don't like to put sand, diatomaceous earth or anything like that on top of my soil as it gets all nasty and contribute to poor drainage. Biological controls like bacillus thuringiensis israelensis are especially good preventative and control measures. Bti was sold under the brand name Gnatrol but that particular product has apparently been discontinued. Mosquito Dunks is another commonly available product containing Bti.
I've used pyrethrin spray on the soil surface to kill the adults, along with the Bti and that kept the problem under control for a good while. The Bti needs to be re-applied every other week or so for optimum results and I've run out of Mosquito Dunks. Thinking about incorporating another biological control for every house plant and soil container in the house...
Beneficial nematodes, which are also supposed to be excellent as they parasitize hundreds of species of pests including gnats. That is what I'll be going for next along with the Bti.
Vacuuming can also help substantially if you have kind of a bad infestation, just don't snag any part of the plants with the vacuum.
rambler420
Well-Known Member
Just for the record for the pet owners on here, the cup of vinegar and dishsoap is a good trap for fleas, too. Put the cup/bowl under a nighlight and the little effers just jump right in. We've had a rough season controlling fleas this year and I've googled in-house solutions. This same solution popped up on all the home remedy sites.
Jeffdogg
Well-Known Member
Awesome I have 3 dogs and 3 cats ( 1 cat happens to be allergic to flea's). I didnt even think of trying it out for those +rep mate
Brick Top
New Member
Did you try it? Did it work? It didn't work for me.
I have seen the same remedy, and one with just water and dish-washing soap, and I tried both ... neither worked very well. Heat will attract fleas but it is vibration, motion that causes them to jump onto, or into, something. You can leave a small light burning above the liquid 24-hours a day and hardly any fleas will jump into it. If you stand nearby and blow on the area or tap on the area with something like a baseball bat they will leap in like mad. The heat attracts them but without vibration telling them some food source is walking by very few will ever jump towards the heat source.
10 female fleas in your carpet can become 250,000 in 30 days, under good conditions. They can go from egg stage to larva to adult stage all while still in their egg and can lat dormant for as much as a year and when they sense vibration they pop out and leap on whatever is passing by.
If you want to rid yourself of fleas ... you need to bomb. If you purchase things like Raid or Black Flag you need to use about twice as many cans as the directions say you will need for the square footage or in a few days you will have fleas again.
Brick Top
New Member
I have a great way to get rid of nats, it take 3-4 days but over the days you'll see the numbers decrease.
Step #1
Get a small glass or mug (clear seems to catch more i have no idea why!!)
Step #2
Pour some vinegar (apple cider vinegar I use) into the mug about 1/3 full is good maybe a little less.
Step #3
Drop a few drops of dishsoap into the mug (to add a little zest
Step #4
Put the mug into the area with the most gnats (you can put mugs/glasses in different rooms if they are in those as well)
Step #5
Let the mug do its magic
I get gnats a few times a year due to where I live, I started doing that a couple years ago and have done it since. It does smell a little but not to the point where you cant be in the room. For some reason they are attracted to it and go down for a drink, then they go sleepy
I tried that ... I didn't catch a single fungus gnat.
rambler420
Well-Known Member
I tried it and it worked for me. It didn't completely solve the problem in my house, but every day there were little dead effers taking a Palmolive swim. Every day there were less and less and my dog got happier and happier. Keep in I was also giving her flea treatments, but it does help lower their numbers.
Brick Top
New Member
If you have fungus gnats you have to break the breeding cycle. If you used a bug bomb, which I would NEVER suggest, you could kill every living fungus gnat in your entire home, but soon you would have more because there will be eggs that will hatch.
You have to deny them breeding grounds one way or another. Put as thick of a layer of sand on top of your soil as you have room for and that will keep them from using your moist soil to lay their eggs in. It will dry out fairly soon after watering and fungus gnats need moist areas to lay their eggs in. Second is to offer them an attractive and easy place to breed, like an old margarine container with a moist paper towel or even a potato cut in half and placed in the bottom. That will draw them to it to lay their eggs and then every few days you cover it, toss it and replace it with another easy egg laying trap/location. When you cover it you will likely capture some number of egg laying adults and you of course trap all the laid eggs that will then never hatch and escape to join the rest of the adults and breed more of the little buggers. Add some non-toxic glue strips to your grow room and any areas of the house where they may have spread too, I believe Black Flag makes some. That will catch a number of adults and that will help t reduce the breeding population. That is the best advice I can give you.
Oh .. if they have spread to other areas of your house damp/moist garbage is another prime breeding ground that you have to deprive them of. Seldom used sinks are another. The water in the elbows/traps give them a good moist breeding ground just above the water itself to lay eggs. If you are like me and have several seldom, if ever, used bathrooms pour boiling water down the drains now and then until the fungus gnats are gone. That will kill any eggs already laid and wash them down the drain. If you have tightly sealed stoppers for your drains, use them so no new eggs can be laid there. Do not allow any moist/damp/wet trash to built up in kitchen trash cans, or elsewhere inside. Pour boiling water down garbage disposals, while they are running, because that is another favored location if the disposal is not run virtually daily.
You have to break the breeding cycle or else you will never fully rid your home of them. Every time you think you got it licked because you only see one or three in a day, a few days or so later there will be another hatch and they will be back with a vengeance.
You have to deny them breeding grounds one way or another. Put as thick of a layer of sand on top of your soil as you have room for and that will keep them from using your moist soil to lay their eggs in. It will dry out fairly soon after watering and fungus gnats need moist areas to lay their eggs in. Second is to offer them an attractive and easy place to breed, like an old margarine container with a moist paper towel or even a potato cut in half and placed in the bottom. That will draw them to it to lay their eggs and then every few days you cover it, toss it and replace it with another easy egg laying trap/location. When you cover it you will likely capture some number of egg laying adults and you of course trap all the laid eggs that will then never hatch and escape to join the rest of the adults and breed more of the little buggers. Add some non-toxic glue strips to your grow room and any areas of the house where they may have spread too, I believe Black Flag makes some. That will catch a number of adults and that will help t reduce the breeding population. That is the best advice I can give you.
Oh .. if they have spread to other areas of your house damp/moist garbage is another prime breeding ground that you have to deprive them of. Seldom used sinks are another. The water in the elbows/traps give them a good moist breeding ground just above the water itself to lay eggs. If you are like me and have several seldom, if ever, used bathrooms pour boiling water down the drains now and then until the fungus gnats are gone. That will kill any eggs already laid and wash them down the drain. If you have tightly sealed stoppers for your drains, use them so no new eggs can be laid there. Do not allow any moist/damp/wet trash to built up in kitchen trash cans, or elsewhere inside. Pour boiling water down garbage disposals, while they are running, because that is another favored location if the disposal is not run virtually daily.
You have to break the breeding cycle or else you will never fully rid your home of them. Every time you think you got it licked because you only see one or three in a day, a few days or so later there will be another hatch and they will be back with a vengeance.
Brick Top
New Member
Keep this in mind when you say how every day there were a few more fleas who took the swim.
They can go from egg stage to larva to adult stage all while still in their egg and can lat dormant for as much as a year and when they sense vibration they pop out and leap on whatever is passing by.
Right now I have three dogs, one is a 135 pound malamute, and one cat. I live on a lake ringed with woods and they 'play hunt' all the time. Besides the dead animals they bring home they kill a fair number of others and they all have fleas on them.
I keep fleas and tick solutions on them on a regular basis. The thing with that is not every flea will bite a dog or cat before it is scratched off inside. Fleas are made to be able to cling to hair but their eggs and flea 'poop' are designed to fall off easily. They fall off inside and the larva live off the flea 'poop' until they become adults and turn into mini-vampires.
Once they have a beachhead in your home no home remedy will rid you of them and no home remedy will even keep up with their rate of breeding. Again, 10 female fleas in your carpet can become 250,000 in 30 days, under good conditions.
Over the decades I have had dozens of dogs and almost as many cats and even with heavy use of flea and tick solutions plus flea and tick powder also used and bathing them often with flea and tick shampoo, almost every year I eventually have a flea problem and bombing is the only sure way to rid your home of fleas ... and when I say bombing I mean a bombing that would make a Hiroshima or Nagasaki type of bombing look like a ladyfinger or black cat firecracker being set off.
Fleas, and ticks too, are becoming resistant to the over the counter Raid and Black Flag and Hot Spot type flea and tick bombs. If a can of flea bomb says it is good for 'X' number of square feet, use two cans for the same number of square feet. If the can says wait two hours before entering the house again and airing it out, wait three to four hours before entering the house and airing it out.
If not, in about 2 or 3 days you will have fleas all over you again.
rambler420
Well-Known Member
yep, I'm quickly starting to hate Hate HATE those little bastards. This has been a long, painful process.
The only thing keeping me from bombing is the grow room. The animals never go in there so I don't think that room has been exposed, but still, when you bomb the house, it goes through air ducts. How do the plants react to the bomb? I'd assume not well. I have to brainstorm a way to block off the ventilation to that room from the rest of the house so I can do my thing without endangering the green babies. Goody.
The only thing keeping me from bombing is the grow room. The animals never go in there so I don't think that room has been exposed, but still, when you bomb the house, it goes through air ducts. How do the plants react to the bomb? I'd assume not well. I have to brainstorm a way to block off the ventilation to that room from the rest of the house so I can do my thing without endangering the green babies. Goody.
Canon
Well-Known Member
Brick Top-
I hate to go off-topic, but on the dogs;
I used to use Advantixe and Frontline but one of my Lads has a nasty reaction to it. After looking futher into it,, figured something must be better (healthier).
I've been using Bug-off Garlic for about a year now. I get the larger (horse) container size. Takes awhile to build in the system I guess because it seemed to take a month or so to become effective. Also, in the worst part of the season I'll add some Neem to my hands and rub my hands together before "petting" the dogs. Together it seems quite effective. At least for the breeds of ticks, fleas, and skeetos I have here.
I've recently taken to growing a couple cloves of garlic in with my plant's pots. Since I don't have a bug prob, I'm not honestly sure if it works or not. Figure it can't hurt though. But the greens are good in a saled.
(and no my smoke does not smell taste like garlic from this - why not? I don't know
)
I hate to go off-topic, but on the dogs;
I used to use Advantixe and Frontline but one of my Lads has a nasty reaction to it. After looking futher into it,, figured something must be better (healthier).
I've been using Bug-off Garlic for about a year now. I get the larger (horse) container size. Takes awhile to build in the system I guess because it seemed to take a month or so to become effective. Also, in the worst part of the season I'll add some Neem to my hands and rub my hands together before "petting" the dogs. Together it seems quite effective. At least for the breeds of ticks, fleas, and skeetos I have here.
I've recently taken to growing a couple cloves of garlic in with my plant's pots. Since I don't have a bug prob, I'm not honestly sure if it works or not. Figure it can't hurt though. But the greens are good in a saled.
(and no my smoke does not smell taste like garlic from this - why not? I don't know)
jstro420
Member
It worked for me. You can even dilute the vinegar with water some but you must use couple drops of dish soap it makes the water "wet'er" and they sink.