Fungus gnats in coco

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Herb potman

Well-Known Member
What’s
Cvntcrusher said:
Don't use fabric pots. Otherwise you're using peroxide every week or two to kill larvae and using sticky traps once a week to catch the gnats.

Or keep the fab pots clean but thats hard to do when you scrog since you can't turn the pots.
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What pots u suggest. Old school plastic pots ? Those will keep coco saturated longer too prolly
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bEelzeBosS

bEelzeBosS

Well-Known Member
If you're growing indoors 3 gallon pots are the biggest you could possibly need using coco. It requires way less medium than soil. I grow in one gallon fabric pots and my plants still fill up my 8' tall tent.
 
bEelzeBosS

bEelzeBosS

Well-Known Member
It is true if you use plastic pots you wont have to water as often, but I prefer fabric because I've always gotten a lot better root ball with them.
 
bEelzeBosS

bEelzeBosS

Well-Known Member
Cvntcrusher said:
Lucky mf
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I guess? I keep them on elevators and keep my grow area clean, maybe that helps. I said it earlier, I honestly didn't even know it was possible to get them in coco. That was the whole reason I switched from soil years ago, I could never get rid of them completely with soil and someone on a different forum suggested the coco switch.
 
H

Herb potman

Well-Known Member
solakani said:
Hanging sticky paper and top dress with food grade diatomaceous earth to get rid of fungus gnat works for me.
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Do u topdress with earth product to prevent or do u only use it if u GET gnats ? And I may have already asked him but what amounts u used to how much coco
 
bEelzeBosS

bEelzeBosS

Well-Known Member
I Use Canna Coco A+B along with their Cannazym and Boost in flower. My fabric pots always end up with salt build-up on the outside after a month or so but its never caused me any issues. As long as the salt doesn't build up inside you should be fine, and the key to that is watering until there's a decent runoff every time.
 
Cvntcrusher

Cvntcrusher

Well-Known Member
bEelzeBosS said:
I guess? I keep them on elevators and keep my grow area clean, maybe that helps. I said it earlier, I honestly didn't even know it was possible to get them in coco. That was the whole reason I switched from soil years ago, I could never get rid of them completely with soil and someone on a different forum suggested the coco switch.
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Brutal. That's also why I switched from soil to coco. My father in law lives in the basement and he's nasty. So there's always house gnats and they make it up here into my grow.

But I have 4 x 14" saucers, 13" elevators and 3gal fabric pots in a 4x4. I always use my shop vac to remove whatever buildup I can but I cant get it all because of my scrog. (Can't turn plants)
Herb potman said:
Mayb

May I ask which nute line u use for your coco and have u used another kind before that gave I the same salt on fabric pots ?
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I am using Big blooms & buds organic liquid nutrients on 3 of 4 plants. And fox farms trio chemical liquid nutrients on 1 of 4.

They all get the same buildup. That is why I am switching back to plastic but keeping coco.
 
H

Herb potman

Well-Known Member
This
Cvntcrusher said:
Brutal. That's also why I switched from soil to coco. My father in law lives in the basement and he's nasty. So there's always house gnats and they make it up here into my grow.

But I have 4 x 14" saucers, 13" elevators and 3gal fabric pots in a 4x4. I always use my shop vac to remove whatever buildup I can but I cant get it all because of my scrog. (Can't turn plants)

I am using Big blooms & buds organic liquid nutrients on 3 of 4 plants. And fox farms trio chemical liquid nutrients on 1 of 4.

They all get the same buildup. That is why I am switching back to plastic but keeping coco.
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this
is what you wanna do aswell is that the only reason for the switch or can u share more detail with a rookie like myself.
 
H

Herb potman

Well-Known Member
Hey was
bEelzeBosS said:
I Use Canna Coco A+B along with their Cannazym and Boost in flower. My fabric pots always end up with salt build-up on the outside after a month or so but its never caused me any issues. As long as the salt doesn't build up inside you should be fine, and the key to that is watering until there's a decent runoff every time.
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I was thinking of using a and b and that’s it for my first coco grow. Also straight coco no perlite. Any advice
 
bEelzeBosS

bEelzeBosS

Well-Known Member
Herb potman said:
Hey was

I was thinking of using a and b and that’s it for my first coco grow. Also straight coco no perlite. Any advice
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My advice can only be what has worked successfully for me. Fabric pots 3 gallon size max ( I use 1 gallon, occasionally 2), no perlite except maybe in the very bottom for drainage, keep them elevated so they do not sit in their own runoff, keep coco wet at all times, water (with food) at least once/day (twice preferably) until a decent runoff starts. For clones and seedlings no more than 4-6ml/gallon (of a and b) and pH to 5.8. Once they develop a few nodes you can crank it up to 8-10ml/gallon and after flowers fully develop 10-12 ml/gallon. This can all vary slightly depending on strain. Another small thing I started doing a few years ago that helped overall plant health a lot was using an airstone to bubble my tap water for a few days before I add my nutes. I also use silica, if you decide to make sure it is added and ph'ed back down BEFORE adding your nutes.

All of this is up for debate, others may disagree with some of it but it is what has worked for me the best after several grows of trial and error.
 
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Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
This has been an interesting thread. I went with coco to lessen the chance of pests. Not sure where coco growers are picking up fungus gnats as the larva normally come from soil where they were put by adults previously. I suppose it is possible to track them in from outside but you are defiantly less likely to see them with coco. I run coco in 5 gallon pots with a 70/30 coco/perlite mix. Never seen a gnat. I do get the salt buildup on my pots but gnats don't grow from salt. One piece of advice if you do get them is to cover the tops of your pots with steel wool and leave it there for approx. 4 weeks. Any gnats trying to get to the soil, or in this case coco, would be shredded before they get to it. It also kills any of the larva emerging. After around 4 weeks all the bugs in your medium should be gone and so should all the adults trying to procreate. Remove the steel wool and top layer of medium and carry on. I really don't think the brand of nutes you use would have any effect one way or another with regards to gnats.
 
farmingfisherman

farmingfisherman

Well-Known Member
Doug Dawson said:
This has been an interesting thread. I went with coco to lessen the chance of pests. Not sure where coco growers are picking up fungus gnats as the larva normally come from soil where they were put by adults previously. I suppose it is possible to track them in from outside but you are defiantly less likely to see them with coco. I run coco in 5 gallon pots with a 70/30 coco/perlite mix. Never seen a gnat. I do get the salt buildup on my pots but gnats don't grow from salt. One piece of advice if you do get them is to cover the tops of your pots with steel wool and leave it there for approx. 4 weeks. Any gnats trying to get to the soil, or in this case coco, would be shredded before they get to it. It also kills any of the larva emerging. After around 4 weeks all the bugs in your medium should be gone and so should all the adults trying to procreate. Remove the steel wool and top layer of medium and carry on. I really don't think the brand of nutes you use would have any effect one way or another with regards to gnats.
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Yet another fact learned from stalking the rooms of RIU! How is the garden? @Doug Dawson
 
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