Fungus Gnats...Am i fucked or what?

ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl

ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl

Active Member
I have been fighting these little cocksuckers for like 3 weeks now. I have spent way to much money. I can kill all the gnats no prob but, apparently I cant kill the larvae because new ones keep hatching. I read that 3 treatments will kill everything. Well I have done 4 now.

I have used neem oil and pro-tekt 1 oz. per gallon each. I spray them with this solution as well as water with it. I also use dont bug me.

Do I have to clean out my whole op?

Someone please give me some good advice about something that works. I dont want to hear what your cousins brothers momma uses. I want to kno what worked for YOU. I do not want to keep buying shit doesnt work.

Thanks for your help.
 
sparkabowl

sparkabowl

Active Member
A pest strip will kill flying adults, leaving all the larvae to hatch and breed, some will get caught in the pest strip and this will work to a point, but there will always be those that don't go to the strip and continue to multiply.

The main thing to know is that they need a moist environment to lay their eggs. What I found through my research was to make sure you aren't over watering (let things dry out in between), and put a layer of dry sand about an inch thick on top of your soil. I didn't have any sand, but I did have a bag of perlite, so I put a layer on top of the soil, along with a pest strip in the cab to catch the fliers and after a few days they were gone for good.

I have also heard a layer of diatomaceous earth on the soil also works well because when they land in it looking for a place to lay eggs, the sharp edges of the diatomaceous earth punctures their shell and they die - just make sure not to breathe in the dust because it is supposed to irritate your lungs.
 
ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl

ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl

Active Member
I forgot to add that I have a HOT SHOT no pest strip. I let my soil get as dry as possible. I let the plant start to wilt before I water. I think I may have found the ticket. I went crazy with fox farm's dont bug me (2 bottles worth). I sprayed every nook and cranny and soaked the soil with it. I check for them just now and cant find any. I think I will do this again when I have to water. Its good to kno that someone has beaten them. I will be pissed if I have to get rid of my mommas.

Thanks for the helpfull suggestions
 
carokann

carokann

Active Member
hey my fungus gnats laughed at neem oil a few times. it did nothing to them but make them stronger. i put down a layer of DE, stuff is 3 bucks and works better than anything. DE pwns gnats.
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl said:
OK, I just googled that shit. I cant find a place to buy it locally. Do I have to order it? How much do you think I would use on a 5 gal pot?
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You just need to sprinkle it over the surface as a fine covering.

I personally use MONTERAY GARDEN INSECT SPRAY or otherwise known as SPINOSAD i live in the UK and have to order this from the US.

It works really well on all pests.

J
 
carokann

carokann

Active Member
de can u go the hydro store, home depot has wrong pool grade u need food grade. try asking a nursery. it cost 3 buks for 1 lb gos long way. trust me dont use spray fot gnats they laughed at it
 
corners

corners

Well-Known Member
ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl said:
I have been fighting these little cocksuckers for like 3 weeks now. I have spent way to much money. I can kill all the gnats no prob but, apparently I cant kill the larvae because new ones keep hatching. I read that 3 treatments will kill everything. Well I have done 4 now.

I have used neem oil and pro-tekt 1 oz. per gallon each. I spray them with this solution as well as water with it. I also use dont bug me.


Do I have to clean out my whole op?

Someone please give me some good advice about something that works. I dont want to hear what your cousins brothers momma uses. I want to kno what worked for YOU. I do not want to keep buying shit doesnt work.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
2-3 inches of sand as a topsoil. Get playsand, not the kind used for snow. This will prevent the juvinile larvae from surfacing. They cant seem to burrow thru the sand
 
corners

corners

Well-Known Member
carokann said:
hey my fungus gnats laughed at neem oil a few times. it did nothing to them but make them stronger. i put down a layer of DE, stuff is 3 bucks and works better than anything. DE pwns gnats.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it kills lots of insects actually.
 
oldschooltofu

oldschooltofu

Well-Known Member
i have been battling them for a few months. lost about 6 plants to very low yeild, had to just pull them early and put in with the trim. and got as much infected soil out of the room through transplanting and tossing low yeilders.

i have sand on top, DE in my soil mix, i let them dry out between waterings, and yellow sticky traps in veg and flower. i tried sm90, BTI, i put potato wedges on top of soil to extract the larve, and now gognats. mmm ceder smell. and added hygrozime to my reg too.
at most i have only seen 1-2 flying around, usually i dont see any but caught about 5 on the trap last 2 weeks. I just cleaned out all the dirt and debris and replaced the floor covering, for the second time (this needs to be done anyway every few months anyway)

my plants/roots are doing much better and i should be back up to 20+grams per plant on next harvest this week.
thinking of trying nematodes next if the gognat doesnt work and as a preventative and switching to coco. anyone know if nematodes can be used with BTI or gognats, if not how long do i have to wait between.
 
Dr Gruber

Dr Gruber

Well-Known Member
I asked the same question a few weeks ago and here is what Davecoulier responded to me.
I went from having way to many to count to only a handful in a few weeks. Check it out..... Oh by the way, this cost around $8 and it will last a long, long time.

DaveCoulier:
"Dr Gruber, go buy some mosquito dunks immediately. You can find them at any Lowes or Home Depot in the insecticide section. There are a couple of ways to use it.

Add a dunk to your reservoir, and keep it in there at all times. Just water like normal, and the bacteria in the dunks will put an end to the fungus gnats. It disrupts the larvae cycle preventing new adults from growing and laying eggs. If you dont have a reservoir to put it in, you can simple crush up the dunks and put a quarter of a teaspoon of it on top of your soil and just water like normal. It'll take 2 weeks to really see a drop in them, and by the end of 3 or 4 weeks your problem will be gone. You may see a lone gnat here and there, but since I have been using them my problem is gone.

Ive tried some of the things Riddleme said. Sand is better than perlite since its not as course and harder for them to get past, but it makes watering from above just about impossible, so be prepared to water from the bottom up if you go that route. Im not a fan of the drying out technique to try and kill the larvae. That just puts our plants under more stress, and it probably isn't highly effective.

Also, ditch the Neem Oil. Its useless for killing fungus gnats, ime. Its a pain in the ass to mix up, and stinks all to hell."
Last edited by DaveCoulier; 06-24-2010 at 08:36 AM.
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ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl

ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl

Active Member
Dr Gruber said:
I asked the same question a few weeks ago and here is what Davecoulier responded to me.
I went from having way to many to count to only a handful in a few weeks. Check it out..... Oh by the way, this cost around $8 and it will last a long, long time.

DaveCoulier:
"Dr Gruber, go buy some mosquito dunks immediately. You can find them at any Lowes or Home Depot in the insecticide section. There are a couple of ways to use it.

Add a dunk to your reservoir, and keep it in there at all times. Just water like normal, and the bacteria in the dunks will put an end to the fungus gnats. It disrupts the larvae cycle preventing new adults from growing and laying eggs. If you dont have a reservoir to put it in, you can simple crush up the dunks and put a quarter of a teaspoon of it on top of your soil and just water like normal. It'll take 2 weeks to really see a drop in them, and by the end of 3 or 4 weeks your problem will be gone. You may see a lone gnat here and there, but since I have been using them my problem is gone.

Ive tried some of the things Riddleme said. Sand is better than perlite since its not as course and harder for them to get past, but it makes watering from above just about impossible, so be prepared to water from the bottom up if you go that route. Im not a fan of the drying out technique to try and kill the larvae. That just puts our plants under more stress, and it probably isn't highly effective.

Also, ditch the Neem Oil. Its useless for killing fungus gnats, ime. Its a pain in the ass to mix up, and stinks all to hell."
Last edited by DaveCoulier; 06-24-2010 at 08:36 AM.
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Thank you. I will be getting some of these asap. I have been using azamax and FF dont bug me. It seems to be working but, I dont know if it is killing the larvae. Thanks again for the reply.
 
Dr Gruber

Dr Gruber

Well-Known Member
ToWeRdog and FloWeRGirl said:
Thank you. I will be getting some of these asap. I have been using azamax and FF dont bug me. It seems to be working but, I dont know if it is killing the larvae. Thanks again for the reply.
Click to expand...

You are welcome!

It's a pleasure to pass on info that someone was nice enough to pass on to me.....and it works.
 
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