How bad are fungus gnats?

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Cookiezealous

Well-Known Member
I recently used a tea for my plants, Im in living soil and shortly after fungus gnat’s galore. Going to use some gnatrol to get them under control but and just wondering how much will they affect my grow? I’ve heard people say just ignore them and others say they are the devil. Anyone with experience using gnatrol in living soil and anyone with experience “living with gnats”?
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
Cookiezealous said:
I recently used a tea for my plants, Im in living soil and shortly after fungus gnat’s galore. Going to use some gnatrol to get them under control but and just wondering how much will they affect my grow? I’ve heard people say just ignore them and others say they are the devil. Anyone with experience using gnatrol in living soil and anyone with experience “living with gnats”?
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Theres better ways to get rid of them. First off, you may be watering too much. Second, get predator insects. Fungus Gnats aren't bad if you keep them in control. You don't want a hundred, but a few fliers aren't going to hurt anything. Everything in moderation.
 
FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
I use Gnatrol when they flare up in numbers and the yellow sticky traps too.The beneficial nematodes route is the a great way to go and I was hoping my store bought earth worm castings would have plenty but they don't seem to. I'm going to try and get some better castings next time. Unless you're seeing a lot of larvae for a prolonged period I wouldn't worry about injury to the plant. Just get them under control as soon as possible and you'll be good.
 
Horselover fat

Horselover fat

Well-Known Member
If you can keep the population in check the damage will not be huge. The larvae destroy roots while adults do nothing to the plants, but boy do they breed. The life cycle is about a month. So if you sticky trap all adults flying you will not see any for a while until the next batch is ready to be airborne.
 
G

Grow Monster

Well-Known Member
I did 3 things that cleared em out of my tents.
1st was make a solution of soap water sugar and apple cider vinegar. I sat that in the tent in a cup.
2nd I drenched soil with h202 (hydrogen peroxide) 1 to 4 ratio with water. To kill larvae in soil.
3rd I placed yellow sticky traps on or close to soil.
They disappeared fast. Address the issue before it gets out of hand and it will be alot easier to deal with.
But also I mix diatomaceous earth(de) in my soil as a deterrent. It's leaves the stuff on the outside of my fabric pots. Plus fan under canopy blowing rt above soil. They don't like it in there.
 
G

Grow Monster

Well-Known Member
But to answer your question No they are not that bad compared to alot of other things that can go wrong in a grow.
Spider mites, aphids, bud rot, sick girl just to name a few. I'd take gnats over any of those others mentioned.
 
LowRange

LowRange

Well-Known Member
I had them bad from a junk soil mix from a big box store. Tried everything from neem oil, yellow traps, peroxide to gnat granules on the soil, only thing that worked was mosquito bits.
 
420 Garden

420 Garden

Well-Known Member
Use your gnatrol, (I do). But put 1/2 inch play sand on your soil after you gnatrol. Let your pot be for 3 to 4 days. Then use gnatrol 1 tsp to a gallon for next 2 feed/water and you should be good. Check with new yellow traps. Happy growing!
 
Grojak

Grojak

Well-Known Member
I tend to get them annually in my veg where airflow and over watering probably play a part in harvesting them. When I first had them years ago I tried mosquito dunks but really didn’t seem to solve the problem as well as a couple yellow sticky traps did. Now I just leave 1 yellow sticky traps in veg permanently and pay attention to not over watering
 
I

inth3shadowz

Well-Known Member
Not the worst pest by far...but definitely causes damage if left untreated properly. I recently switched to regular dtw coco from hempy buckets due to always fighting those bastards. What I've found really attracts them mostly is sitting water and things like hempy buckets where theres water just sitting at the bottom of the container. Another theory I have is that over fertilizing which is very common, makes the plant suspectable to attracting bugs to it's roots.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
If you're doing a living soil you might want to think about using a little neem meal added on top. It's an organic pesticide and fertilizer all in one. It does have an NPK of around 6-1-2 so you need think about that before dumping a bunch on. But a small amount is fine to use and helps with the control of fungus gnats.
 
Noise_Guise

Noise_Guise

Active Member
My gnat problem actually started with a couple of house plants I bought that already were infested and I just didn’t notice (I’m way more aware nowadays). After tossing them out though, the problem moved into my grow room. I lived with those little fuckers for a good month before I had enough of it. Maybe it wasn’t just fungus gnats but I swear I’d spend all night itching. What I did (on top of the yellow sticky strips of course)…
1. Transplanted to fabric air pots.
2. Top dress with Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth
(Feed through a funnel)
Literally, 2 weeks later=what’s a gnat?
3. No houseplants ever!!!
D6A1A4D3-18AA-4B79-8B58-B9AC926FA6CA.jpeg
 
Budzbuddha

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Noise_Guise said:
My gnat problem actually started with a couple of house plants I bought that already were infested and I just didn’t notice (I’m way more aware nowadays). After tossing them out though, the problem moved into my grow room. I lived with those little fuckers for a good month before I had enough of it. Maybe it wasn’t just fungus gnats but I swear I’d spend all night itching. What I did (on top of the yellow sticky strips of course)…
1. Transplanted to fabric air pots.
2. Top dress with Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth
(Feed through a funnel)
Literally, 2 weeks later=what’s a gnat?
3. No houseplants ever!!!
View attachment 5205571
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You literally flushed that plant with DE … guarantee you did not use according label. Sadly , a simple top dress of Neem meal or citric acid spray / sticky boards would control instead of that slurry mess.
 
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