Fungus gnat experiment #569

5 gallons was enough to soak 5 gallons coco its just been a while since I done this but ya. Just soaking for an hour and then refresh with calmag solution then mix with pearlite.. Just let it sit in a closed tub as I pull coco out of it till its gone like now.
 
I was over thinking it and on a time crunch. Its clearly for general purpose sprays and the drench is for plants in medium. Simply same thing if you were going to soak the medium instead and up to you how long.

Im doing one hr that should be enough for something that kills on contact. Maybe longer next time but I got clones ready to plant.
 
Pasteurizers for steaming bulk amounts of coco medium/substrate don't have to be all that fancy or expensive, like the more complex ones with heating elements and PID controllers, etc.

You can DIY a small scale version with parts you might already have laying around.

Simply hook up a tube from a pressure cooker directly into a plastic storage bin (large insulated cooler would be even better!), and toss the coco right into the fabric grow pots. Then set them down in the bin on an elevated rack, and let it rip. Monitor temps with a large meat thermometer. EZ!

Can also use an electric wallpaper steamer unit along with a digital temp controller, or an automated instant pot to generate your steam.




 
Feels good to just be on my A game with ipm. Its not as hard as I thought. Try thrips lol or spider mites. Its two months later those panty plants have zero bugs. Just making effort helped and the new pot idea I think is just gonna really blow up my ipm game.

Panty not all that great I think you risk one getting in but if it takes thousands to see one escape.. Maybe they work to some degree. The new pot idea is a bit easier to do thought. The double panty layer for sure is double the protection.

Im even gonna wrap garbage bags around the stem and drainaway output. Panty hose the pvc that dumps runoff and now its a closed system. Im confident I just solved my issue.

PM and bud rot was pretty easy to beat though can always happen but the bugs were my other issue. I have one plant left infested 3 more wks and chop. Then all new garden with double down ipm game and soon will be all sealed fabric pots vs panty.

Things going pretty good hope my efforts help others in similar grow methods. Im dtw coco. I treated coco with athena ipm too omg its just ipm measures everywhere.
 
medidedicated said:
Feels good to just be on my A game with ipm. Its not as hard as I thought. Try thrips lol or spider mites. Its two months later those panty plants have zero bugs. Just making effort helped and the new pot idea I think is just gonna really blow up my ipm game.

Panty not all that great I think you risk one getting in but if it takes thousands to see one escape.. Maybe they work to some degree. The new pot idea is a bit easier to do thought. The double panty layer for sure is double the protection.

Im even gonna wrap garbage bags around the stem and drainaway output. Panty hose the pvc that dumps runoff and now its a closed system. Im confident I just solved my issue.

PM and bud rot was pretty easy to beat though can always happen but the bugs were my other issue. I have one plant left infested 3 more wks and chop. Then all new garden with double down ipm game and soon will be all sealed fabric pots vs panty.

Things going pretty good hope my efforts help others in similar grow methods. Im dtw coco. I treated coco with athena ipm too omg its just ipm measures everywhere.
Click to expand...
Yes these fkrs are a pushover compared with Spider Mites. I won't enter my growspace in warm weather without changing and showering first. I got the 2 spotted ones on my grow a couple years ago. Capt. Jack's saved 1.5 plants and I had to wash the buds of chemicals and dead insects. I'm really not seeing anymore gnats. They're finally gone. Hopefully can get 2 more runs in before gnat weather returns.
 
CarolinaPotheadsNew said:
I haven't seen any gnats in a couple weeks now and the plants are much healthier. Now, they still are recovering, this time from the 1700 PPFD I had blasting them. I'm a worse plague than the gnats lol. Always check PPFD when you switch lights... But, no gnats....
Click to expand...
My gnats are gone too. I use BTi every time I water. Only thing I don't like is the container the stuff comes in. I need a squeeze bottle where I can drop 5 drops per gallon lickety split. I hand water using gallon containers. The other good news for me is the water crisis here fixed the pH of the water here! It's 7.5 now exactly where I want it and the mineral salt content is down some. No more water runs. Hallelujah!
 
So yea the trash bag idea worked. Double barrier with the panty hose tied over the drain pvc so its completely closed. Helps with dryback too probably, with my boxfans and 28rh. No more panty hose pots theyre all flowering which I saw not a single bug. This rootball is cleannn.

Anyway so how the hell am I going to do seeds? Well no issue I only do clones except I did a shopping spree of beans so I thought of something quick. Seed germinating now.

So I will do what I been doing with fabric pots staple shut with bug jell on seams. Il use 18” stakes around the inside of pots with drippers tied to stake temporary. 100u 20gal wash bag around the plant, stakes will keep it opened up for plant growth.

Drawstring end of wash bag tied shut around the drippers basically upside down wash bag. Air flows good infact I knew I was right, when I said I use press bags. Panty hose is no where near 120u. My 120u bags are waay finer. I got 100u to be safe.

Just defol/prune as needed its literally just to get it into a rooted clone size plant. So I can treat it the same way dtw coco just staple fabric pot shut around stem/drippers with bug jell on seams.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9072.jpeg
    IMG_9072.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 8
  • IMG_9047.jpeg
    IMG_9047.jpeg
    2.1 MB · Views: 9
medidedicated said:
So yea the trash bag idea worked. Double barrier with the panty hose tied over the drain pvc so its in.completely closed. Helps with dryback too probably, with my boxfans and 28rh. No more panty hose pots theyre all flowering which I saw not a single bug. This rootball is cleannn.

Anyway so how the hell am I going to do seeds? Well no issue I only do clones except I did a shopping spree of beans so I thought of something quick. Seed germinating now.

So I will do what I been doing with fabric pots staple shut with bug jell on seams. Il use 18” stakes around the inside of pots with drippers tied to stake temporary. 100u 20gal wash bag around the plant, stakes will keep it opened up for plant growth.

Drawstring end of wash bag tied shut around the drippers basically upside down wash bag. Air flows good infact I knew I was right, when I said I use press bags. Panty hose is no where near 120u. My 120u bags are waay finer. I got 100u to be safe.

Just defol/prune as needed its literally just to get it into a rooted clone size plant. So I can treat it the same way dtw coco just staple fabric pot shut around stem/drippers with bug jell on seams.
Click to expand...
My buddies also buys a hand held bug zapper and swats all the adults. Also uses a plug in bug zapper from Amazon. I've been looking at this mini one that has a fan also to suck them in.
 
I finally switched mediums. The local hardware store had bales of Pro-Mix for $40. That's less than half what Amazon charges. They wanted $65 for the HP, so I bought a $5 bag of perlite. It says ,"Suppresses Fungus gnats and Thrips" so I hope it does.
 

Attachments

  • 20250222_110753.jpg
    20250222_110753.jpg
    1,009.6 KB · Views: 5
Bad news it blocks light good news I can use my ac infinity bar lights and somehow get it over the seedling inside the wash bag. Aside from that its working. Air dont move right through it but doesnt mean air isnt being moved around in there. Theres a freshly planted seedling in there.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9102.jpeg
    IMG_9102.jpeg
    2.6 MB · Views: 6
Ok works now. Should of added cross support, will next time. Its better than a humidity dome. I dont do nothing for PM in domes and have been fine. Not the best air flow but you cant always feel the air moving.

I was thinking when air blows past it, it draws air out idk.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_9103.jpeg
    IMG_9103.jpeg
    1.7 MB · Views: 7
  • IMG_9104.jpeg
    IMG_9104.jpeg
    1.3 MB · Views: 7
IMG_20250227_000001.jpgI take my liquid BTi and put it in a condiment bottle. Now it is so easy to add a few drops per gallon. Fungus gnats come in with fresh amended Pro-mix, but they can't get past the BTi. The BTi is nasty stuff. This condiment bottle idea is gold. It doesn't hurt the plants at all that I've seen. It only has a positive effect as there are no larvae eating my roots.
 
skink#1 said:
View attachment 5454372I take my liquid BTi and put it in a condiment bottle. Now it is so easy to add a few drops per gallon. Fungus gnats come in with fresh amended Pro-mix, but they can't get past the BTi. The BTi is nasty stuff. This condiment bottle idea is gold. It doesn't hurt the plants at all that I've seen. It only has a positive effect as there are no larvae eating my roots.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip and the photo showing the brand you use. I've had so-so results from crushed Mosquito dunk BTi, but I know your stuff is stronger. Most growers try to say that it's just overwatering that causes them but they obviously don't live near me. They are a plague here. Even bottom watering with fabric bags doesn't stop them. They've gotten much worse the past couple years.
 
I dont see people bottom feed in soil often but thats cool, if its ok then my methods would work for soil too. Just staple fabric pots shut and bug jell the seam. Then bottom feed.

Would work best on tall pots with that slack and to my knowledge microbes live towards the bottom of pot so Id think thats a good thing.
 
Well until you need to top dress lol. I guess I just have it a bit easier being dtw coco. Im sure someone can improvise but yea I moved on, no more gnats aphids etc here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
GNATS? and peat pellet/soil issue.. Please help
Replies
15
Views
695
FatherNelson
FatherNelson
R
Autopot issues, problems, solutions, and fixes
2
Replies
20
Views
6K
Tomatoesonly
T
D
New autoflower grow , speedrun seeds / co2 . New system “for the most part “
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
3K
DoubleD5374
D
E
Fungus gnat larvae and bti/nematodes
Replies
2
Views
703
Ez_deezy
E
JeffWix
So...last night
Replies
6
Views
859
JeffWix
JeffWix
Back
Top