Bug Spray

stony_420

stony_420

Active Member
can anbody suggest what kind of bug spray to use to kill those little knats that wont hurt the plants
 
VictorVIcious

VictorVIcious

Well-Known Member
I use neem oil, water and a little dish soap. Many of the ready made product use neem oil. If you read the ingredients it often lists 3% or less active ingredient, with neem oil being the active ingredient. I paid $7or $8 for a small spray bottle used up in one application. Then I bought a pint of neem oil for like $16, a bottle of dish soap for $2. 1tblp of each in a gallon of water. That was a couple of months ago. Still haven't used 1/2 the neem.
Make sure you label any spray bottles you put insecticides in so they won't be used for anything else.
The damage done by fungus knats isn't to the green part of the plant. Its done at the roots. They lay their eggs in the medium your using to grow with(coco-coir is one of thier favorites) and the larvae feed on the root hairs and nutreints in the medium. My hydro shop recommended Mosquito Dunks. little round circle of 'stuff' you put in your resevoir. I had to read the package before I would take such a drastic step. When I did I found that the water with the Mosquito dunk in it would still be safe for animals to drink so I tried them. Only need 1/4 of a dunk per resevoir, and they will last thru at least 2 changes. Kills the larvae in the medium.
If you are using soil and not hydro, you could put (sp) diatomacious earth on top of the soil. This stuff cuts thier little bodies as they try to crawl through it. SM90 was recommended by GK as a remedy also.
I use the neem oil, because it controls spider mites as well, along with the mosquito dunks. Hope this helps. VV
 
pjboy31

pjboy31

Well-Known Member
I use an organic spray called Bug off I can show a pic , but anyways it works well and you can spray the plants directly. It only costs me about 10 dollors and it has been lasting


good luck~
 
beenthere donethat

beenthere donethat

Well-Known Member
The dunks are the way to go. No chemicals..all natural. Fugs em up but GOOD! If you are a soil grower simply drop a dunk in a 5 gal bucket..let it sit for 24 hours..scoop off 1/2 of the water and add it to your irrigation water and refill the bucket with the dunk in it. Water with this water for 3 weeks..if not ALL THE TIME....and they will be gone.

"Gnatrol" contains the same bacillus fungi and is ready-to-use if you can find a bottle of that at a hydro shop..etc.

good luck.

bt dt
 
pjboy31

pjboy31

Well-Known Member
I also seal off the room and c02 it for like 4 hours and that kills any pests.............................
 
C

CriticalEater

Member
VictorVIcious said:
I use neem oil, water and a little dish soap. Many of the ready made product use neem oil. If you read the ingredients it often lists 3% or less active ingredient, with neem oil being the active ingredient. I paid $7or $8 for a small spray bottle used up in one application. Then I bought a pint of neem oil for like $16, a bottle of dish soap for $2. 1tblp of each in a gallon of water. That was a couple of months ago. Still haven't used 1/2 the neem.
Make sure you label any spray bottles you put insecticides in so they won't be used for anything else.
The damage done by fungus knats isn't to the green part of the plant. Its done at the roots. They lay their eggs in the medium your using to grow with(coco-coir is one of thier favorites) and the larvae feed on the root hairs and nutreints in the medium. My hydro shop recommended Mosquito Dunks. little round circle of 'stuff' you put in your resevoir. I had to read the package before I would take such a drastic step. When I did I found that the water with the Mosquito dunk in it would still be safe for animals to drink so I tried them. Only need 1/4 of a dunk per resevoir, and they will last thru at least 2 changes. Kills the larvae in the medium.
If you are using soil and not hydro, you could put (sp) diatomacious earth on top of the soil. This stuff cuts thier little bodies as they try to crawl through it. SM90 was recommended by GK as a remedy also.
I use the neem oil, because it controls spider mites as well, along with the mosquito dunks. Hope this helps. VV
Click to expand...
Neem oil and dish soap will make your crop taste like shit, and smell even worse. Azramax applied as a soil soak when your plants are about 8-10 inches tall will prevent any bug attacks for most of the plants lifetime without affecting the taste or smell. It's actually made from a neem extract, but without the nasty taste and smell. You can knock them down with a pyrithrin bug bomb (safe for even budding plants - just be careful not to use too much and burn them) first, then do the soil soak.
 
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