Fungus Gnat Predators/ Control. They work?

Im looking at getting a predator for fungus gnats but I want one that will establish itself. Looking at Atheta beetles or maybe the Hypoasis mites. The beetles sound like theyre better/establish more permanently?

Ive tried alot to get rid of these bastards. Sticky traps. The BT only kills for a few days they say, and trying to use it more then once a week makes the problem worse, cus of all the watering. I try to use big pots to let my plants grow to potential, but then they dont need much water. Next grow Im gonna do a SCROG, so they will need more water Im sure, theyll be much more plant there. That might fix the problem, but Im doing different strains under my little 250 hps, so its kinda continual, some plants will be SCROG soon, Im sure I can BT those more. But some will still be from this batch that doesnt need much water....

I stooped to the level of a no pest strip. That helped alot for a few weeks at most, now Im getting flushes of gnats again. And Im once a week at the most. I put down some sand, but of course now it does look like theyre using the drainage holes. Now I put a DIY trap with some fruit at the bottom of a can and an paper funnel so they can get in the top but not out. See if it works...

best thing I've seen are the yellow sticky strips ( gnats are attracted to yellow ) also let your soil dry because wet soils that is not allowed to dry all the way seem to always get gnats. hope this helps m8

also I'd get rid of the fruit u left for them as a trap...they will lay there eggs in there.

just let your pots dry out i had a room full and drying killed 99% and fly tape took down the rest

or you could just cover the soil with a plate
this works 100%

That 5hit said:

or you could just cover the soil with a plate
this works 100%

Click to expand...

plate nice i also used sand and perlite both work well also

If your not using any microbs, i'd use a tblspn of peroxide/gal every water.........skim the top 2-3" off your soil and replace it "eggs"...............plus try to keep a gap between your plant bottoms and the floor if can, cause airflow......also keep your room temps down and humidity between 47-49%........and lots of airflow around the tops of your buckets...............

The trap I will empty and clean every few days so eggs cant hatch, and they are supposed to not be able to escape. I have been letting soil dry as much as I can, like a week or more. I hear that encourages them to go into the main roots to find moisture! The sand made it real hard to tell how moist it is. Anayways I noticed the roots look good that I can see. But today Im noticing some tiny beige colored aphid or almost mite looking things. Ive been worried about the infamous root aphids. On previous crops that had the same symptoms I never noticed the waxy junk in my soil or on roots though. Ill have to look better when these are done.

My pots are homemade and would be hard to cover with a plate. But they do have sand now. I saw an empty pupea casing in a drain hole of my pots today. First time I saw any sign of larvea. Wouldnt they crawl in thru the bottom or around the stem with a plate?

Paper plate gig is a decent one.....put hole in middle of plate first and then cut it half way.......but i'd still use peroxide...it's only 2 dollars a month......save yourself a big hassle..............Myself i run boiling hot water thru my promix before i use it.....never use outside dirt without doing some kind of killing process of critters................

Oh believe it or not, get yourself 3 or 4 of those little lizards.....don't get any that grow over 3" cause they tend to brake shit any bigger than that..............If you live in the south or west their free yr round............

you think peroxide works bettre then bt?

sickstoner said:

just let your pots dry out i had a room full and drying killed 99% and fly tape took down the rest

Click to expand...

Quit overwatering and perhaps add more perlite to your soil to lighten it up.

I've been using a homemade peat based mix (think ProMix), for better than 30 years and have never had fungus gnats .... ever.

Plenty of perlite and learn how to set the watering can down.

Or,kiss-ass with the gnats.

You may also consider getting rid of those homemade pots in favor of something with decent drainage holes.

Wet

Try Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits. They contain a bacillum that attacks the gnat larvae that eat the roots of the plants- no larvae, no gnats. I sprinkle them around the dirt and keep some in the H2O I use for watering.

dude trust me
just cover the soil or the medium being use (rockwool, soil, perlite )
around the base of the stem place a paper plate (the foam kind) or any type of
plastic covered cardboard, as long as you cover the medium completely blocking light and moisture

predatory nematodes

You dont think theyll get in the bottom holes That5hit? Maybe I can do some cardboard or just tape some newspaper over it. Im afraid I might have root aphids. I dont know, its been way better since I put in the no pest strip and sand. And held back alot on watering. My fan leaves were prematurely falling from bottom up, its always about half way into flower. Some turn yellow, some necrotic, some fry, some fall off green. Ive ruled out nutes and water causing it.

My pots do suck, theyre shaped like a capital I kinda. Its a 2.5 gallon drinking water jug on end. They have lots of space where the soil pulls away from the side of pot, Im sure plenty of moisture lower in the pot for the gnat babies. But I wanted big pots that would fit in my small cabinet. Its just a little small for the 2 gal square pots. These are tall and skinny, so I thought itd be golden.

That 5hit said:

this is all you need
its a paper plate
cut to size and remove to water

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do this maybe with some sticky traps 2-4 says later
ALL GONE

it traps them in and keeps them out
you would think that they would just crawl arond the lid, its not like its a seal . but there not that smart

sickstoner said:

plate nice i also used sand and perlite both work well also

Click to expand...

I use sand when they crop up in my garden. Always does the trick.

Covering, as That5hit has pointed out, is the same concept and probably easier to deal with than the sand.

I also don't agree with letting your pot dry out excessively...proper irrigation is more important than removing a few gnats. Don't water until your pot gets nice and light, but don't let the plant get droopy!

Wetdog said:

Quit overwatering and perhaps add more perlite to your soil to lighten it up.

I've been using a homemade peat based mix (think ProMix), for better than 30 years and have never had fungus gnats .... ever.

Plenty of perlite and learn how to set the watering can down.

Or,kiss-ass with the gnats.

You may also consider getting rid of those homemade pots in favor of something with decent drainage holes.

Wet

Click to expand...

Ive gotten gnats right out of the bag in soil, I loaded up on soil at the end of last summer and EVERY bag had gnats.

I let my pots completely dry out, hung a couple yellow tapes and put a thin layer of sand on top of my soil.
All my gnats were dead and gone in 3 days.

I now open all my soil and dry it out completely before I use it.

Maybe its all in my damn pots, and I think now the sand is making it stay wet forever. So they have plenty of moisture however theyre getting in and out of the pots. Does the damage I described sound about right from them? The worst plant is also my most productive. It still has the upper fan leaves, but all yellow, and the buds are less green then Id like. Still flowering like crazy, about 7 weeks in I think.