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Help - i got funguts gnats!

Clonex

Well-Known Member
enough w the, i told you so shit. sand isn't the answer, yet it can discourage adults and cut the larvae... I'd mix it with diatomaceous dirt too and primarily do this w younger veg. material. If you wait till your final repot w all that volume and in the 11th hour, well yeah it's kinda late to really help much. agreed, it is also harder to tell when to water. no biggie.

have noticed at least 3 ppl here say wte playsand sucks and im convinced that y'all missed the point. now pour a bottle o some shit on it.
My point was there is no point trying something and not following through to get the results you intended.
Its not shit is it.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
It's not that I don't think the sand was going to work, it's that it caused more a problem than it solved. I'm a newbie grower and I need to be able to see and feel my soil to know when it needs a drench. When I added a couple pounds of sand on top of my soil, I couldn't get a feel for it for shit either by pot weight or by touch and feel. I know there are plenty more experienced growers that know their plants take x amount of water x amount of days but I'm not quite there yet.

The DE seems like a better solution (albeit more costly) than the sand b/c it doesn't add any weight to the pot and you can still reach down to the soil for a nice touch 'n feel. Right now, I'm hanging my hat on the bug juice drench and the mosquito dunks...I may order some of those nematodes and give them a try but if the bug juice is successful 100% then next time around, I'll try the nematodes and other soil amendments that Rrog was talking about.

All in all this has been one of the most informative threads I've been through on RIU....just something that doesn't come up 'till you say O FUCK I GOT FUNGUS GNATS :) Good action here though....makes me want to give soil another try, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to delve into another bag of ocean forest anytime soon. I opened my bag that I had sitting wrapped up in the corner of my bedroom and all i saw was fucking gnats fly out when I opened it. Just awful shit they sell in those bags....but it's the nature of the organic beast I suppose.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
From my understanding, they're all gonna have larvae of some kind...it's the nature of composted organic soil is it not? It's like the perfect environment for pest fucking to happen in. You just have to be prepared to handle them when they occur. Just glad I don't have those nasty thrips or spidire mites.

My dro shop guy says to stick with promix or happy frog and bugs will never be a problem. It's just that those soils aren't hot with anything really in them so you have to be on a solid fert regimen. That, I'm okay with...
 

Clonex

Well-Known Member
Coco is the way unless your hydro.
Always battling summit in soil.
Growing should be entertaining not a nightmare,
You add your own feed and its cleaner by far.
I can't wait until my last few soil pots are finished.
Even the de will take time to show results.
Use the sticky pads to hold them back and be patient.
Good luck.
 

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
Absolutely NO sign of gnats today! Success...I do however agree with Clonex. I think I will stick with a soiless medium next time. Growth is faster and ya don't have to battle bugs. I'm very interested in this coco coir...seems like people have great results and it's cheap shit. Much better situation for an apt...I have not enjoyed mixing up soil and perlite in my bedroom. Hulling the shit out is a bitch and hauling it in is a bitch. Plus I gotta worry bout my neighbors scoping me out hauling 30 lbs of soil into an apt....

I'll either go perlite and vermiculite next time or coco...new experiences to come
 

Clonex

Well-Known Member
Perlite and vercumilte mix is cool but a lot of people struggle to keep the heavy plants standing upright and also because you need good air movement the stuff gets blown everywhere. It can also clog up exhaust and the dust from Perlite in your bedroom would be immense.
Have you considered mini rockwool cubes or the hydro pebbles ,?
At least your issue is fixed for now.
Keep the sticky strips up so you can see what's what.
 

Bud Brewer

Well-Known Member
They love rockwool, clay balls, perlite, coco promix or regular soil basically if it's wet with roots they will grow so it isn't the medium hydro can be the worst but they can come with bags of soil bake it in the oven at 220 for an hour or more if your you have a deep pan or microwave at half power for 15 min you can check it with a meat thermometer or the barbecue forks till well done 200-220 will not kill the beneficial bacteria.

Many times they are in the house because of fruit you buy or a open garbage can with rotting stuff get one with a lid they can come in from outside and live in a sink of dishes it is hard to totally avoid them I had lots of flyers in the summer in my kitchen before I got a lid on the garbage I got rid of the flyers with apple cider vinegar or wine juice with some dish soap to drown them put it in cans all over the place and used a tray with plastic wrap with a few holes in it to let them in but not out it got rid of them quick in the house I didn't have anything growing but some house plants they are still clean.

I did get two small plants that a friend put outside because he had extra clones he threw in his garden near the end of the season no chance to finish so I took them with the worms and bugs in the crappy heavy soil I get the vary rare flyer but the vinegar traps get them but it has me worried I have a month to go my last grow I had them bad they were eating roots and making some branches go a gold color and stunt growth.

I ended up killing the plant trying to kill the gnats I dunked them in safer soap wash but didn't flush it well if you flush them well it will be fine but the mosquito dunks are safe and effective I have read that hot tap water will work and not injure the roots.

Sand only works to keep them out of the top if an inch or more deep and infecting the medium but you need a fine screen to stop them from getting in the drain holes.
 

rooky1985

Active Member
Am I the only one who bakes their soil 350 for 30 min. I guess put upsome fly strips, maybe a glass of sugar water?
 

Clonex

Well-Known Member
I think the sugar water trap idea could just attract more, plus other stuff could be drawn in,
I find cocoa has better drainage than regular soil,
I have both soil and coco but the coco pots are free of bugs.
Coco will not come already infected like soil, but if coco is too wet also sure they will still breed there.
Drying out until foliage droop followed by an organic drench seems the best option.
 

rooky1985

Active Member
Yeah and it stinks.
I dont like my pies with grit in ha ha
It does stink but I like mud piesLOL. Your right about the sugar water i havnt been able to do battle with pest yet(I'm happy), but I keep a pretty sterile enviroment for a soil grow anyhow. Coco I would like to try this as I have studied it well soil has just been so forgiving to me.
 

NEEDMMASAP

Well-Known Member
jonnynobody , what you may be dealing with could be nits , there are no known chemical that will kill a nit , grandpa used to tell me about those critters in the days gone by , one thing that will work though is doubbleblock , grandpa had ordered it from a mail order house . He had actually ordered it because it was guaranteed to kill bedbugs and crabs , grandpa was known to whore around a good bit and had been bothered by those two critters . He had warned me that even though it would defiantly kill crabs it was not a good way to go , he said he had seriously injured himself trying to use the doubbleblock on crabs .
But anyway doubbleblock turned out to be 2 small blocks of wood , identified as block A and block B , you put a little sugar water on block A , that will attract the nits and then you crush them with block B , ( Very effective )
you may wonder where the nits come from , well a nit is a small critter that infests the nuts of gnats( grandpa just called them nats , I guess he didn’t know how to pronounce the silent “ g “ ) I hope this information will be helpful .
 

rooky1985

Active Member
jonnynobody , what you may be dealing with could be nits , there are no known chemical that will kill a nit , grandpa used to tell me about those critters in the days gone by , one thing that will work though is doubbleblock , grandpa had ordered it from a mail order house . He had actually ordered it because it was guaranteed to kill bedbugs and crabs , grandpa was known to whore around a good bit and had been bothered by those two critters . He had warned me that even though it would defiantly kill crabs it was not a good way to go , he said he had seriously injured himself trying to use the doubbleblock on crabs .
But anyway doubbleblock turned out to be 2 small blocks of wood , identified as block A and block B , you put a little sugar water on block A , that will attract the nits and then you crush them with block B , ( Very effective )
you may wonder where the nits come from , well a nit is a small critter that infests the nuts of gnats( grandpa just called them nats , I guess he didn’t know how to pronounce the silent “ g “ ) I hope this information will be helpful .
Also works for the clap (ghono)
 

Rrog

Well-Known Member
Baking soil kills the microherd.

Clonex has a good point about pre-mixed bagged soil. You have to mentally treat it as if it has larvae. Inoculate when you first mix.

Clonex has another good point in that real quality amendments like coco, sphagnum are going to be clean, or will be much more likely to be clean. All the more reason to make your own soil and amend yourself. My choice? 1/3 Sphagnum, 1/3 pumice, 1/3 EWC (earthworm compost).
 

Bud Brewer

Well-Known Member
I think the sugar water trap idea could just attract more, plus other stuff could be drawn in,
I find cocoa has better drainage than regular soil,
I have both soil and coco but the coco pots are free of bugs.
Coco will not come already infected like soil, but if coco is too wet also sure they will still breed there.
Drying out until foliage droop followed by an organic drench seems the best option.
The sugar water soap traps work very well they are attracted to it and will all drown the only way it could make things worse is if you have it by an open window even then they will be attracted to it and hover around till they drown in it making a paper funnel or plastic wrap with holes will contain them till they drown otherwise your letting the fliers breed more.

I keep two vinegar soap cans right on top of my coco mix I see a flyer once a week no more. I have eliminated bad infestations twice in the house using sugar traps it is the only way to get rid of fliers short of using a foger, sprays are kind limited there will always be some you miss the yellow sticky traps are almost useless.
 

Clonex

Well-Known Member
The sugar water soap traps work very well they are attracted to it and will all drown the only way it could make things worse is if you have it by an open window even then they will be attracted to it and hover around till they drown in it making a paper funnel or plastic wrap with holes will contain them till they drown otherwise your letting the fliers breed more.

I keep two vinegar soap cans right on top of my coco mix I see a flyer once a week no more. I have eliminated bad infestations twice in the house using sugar traps it is the only way to get rid of fliers short of using a foger, sprays are kind limited there will always be some you miss the yellow sticky traps are almost useless.
Ok two points.
Open window is not needed they can breed right there, come in on your clothes or indeed just evolve right in the soil.
I fail to see how yellow traps are useless because i have caught plenty of fliers as you call them(male adults)its not rocket science, they hit the glue and they can't move.
I have had to cut back on molasses feed because of them,
So how can a bowl of sugar not attract more as well as other nasties ??
 

Bud Brewer

Well-Known Member
If your windows are closed the other nasties are already in your garden the sugar doesn't make them but will drown them as long a you got some dish soap in it.
I have yellow pads have always had them sure some will get trapped but they will still be tons flying around I have used the sugar trap after having a half dozen sticky traps doing very little the sugar gets all the flyers just put a few around and by putting water sugar soap cans on your soil they will be much more likely to die in the can then breed in the soil because the vinegar is so much more attractive then the soil.

Hey do what you like I know how to get all the flyers from being frustrated with sticky traps doing almost nothing for weeks to stop the flyers the sugar water has worked twice a year apart.

Just put some drink of any kind with sugar add a few drops of dish soap I like apple cider vinegar in a bowl cover with plastic wrap poke a couple of holes in the middle they will flock to it you don't need the plastic it just helps but not necessary.
 
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