Fungus Gnat's 13!

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
Your Bayer product is not organic, Garden safe brands are...although Bayer just jumped into the organic craze with new products.

DM helps, but it won't resolve your problem alone. Garden safe also makes a spray, and other organic brands can be used as a soil drench for larvae by simply diluting in water.

Many of these contain rosemary, neem oil etc. I recommend the spray along with a soil drench...plus those fly sticky traps.

As a last resort on gnats, use a one shot soil drench containing permethrin or pyrethrin.
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
Well I'm in veg now, first signs of unforced sexing happing today. I'd like to wipe them out before the females go into 7 gal pots. I put sticky traps in the pots, rip up fly strips n put on playing cards. I don't get many gnats. When I grab a pot I might see a few fly if the pot is further away from air circulation. Keep my ambient temp at about 70 for veg, 64ish at night. Last feed I waited till a few plants started to look over watered before actually giving them a good feed. Also put a little coating of cinnamon on the soil about a week ago... Hear it kills off some of the food source for the adult gnats. But Im a expect the worst type person. I want em gone, as quick and stressless as possible.
 

gkf109

Member
I had a problem with fungus gnats and what I did to get rid of them is cover the tops of all my pots with coarse sand, The larvae will not be able to get through the sand and they will dye, you can also use pea gravel or anything like that.
 

TwooDeff425

Well-Known Member
D.E is all you need my friend...top layer the soil and apply 1tbls to 1gal h2o....do this every day for 5 days... Ull be gnat free


Cheers n happy growing
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
This was shared with me on the other forums I participate in, thought it was worth sharing....


Originally Posted by 2easy
good advice on the sticky traps as the bacteria in gnatrol wont kill adults this is true. it kills the larvae. so while you might see the odd adult they are harmless and the sticky traps will help with them but you wont get a full blown infestation and the larvae which damage the roots wont survive.

also gnatrol probably dont mention it on the bottle because then you wouldnt uses as much but one application should be enough. once the bacteria are in your medium (coco or soil) they will live and grow in there, you shouldnt really need to apply again. but yes you will probably see the odd gnat flying around but you can rest assured the little bacillus soldiers have it under control underground.

that said i dont use gnatrol i source the same bacteria elsewhere. as an example though the green bio i use comes in granular form and i just throw a couple of tiny grains in my pot when i upcan. thats all it takes to protect me for a whole grow. the bacteria spread throughout the medium all by themselves.


Originally Posted by 2easy
gnatrol is just bacillus bacteria

find a good quality source of bacillus bacteria, whether it be gnatrol or some other beneficial bacteria additive but make sure it contains many strains of bacillus. all the mycho's and everything else are awesome as well but its the bacillus bacteria that fight of pest and disease in your root zone. there like little super soldiers.

in fact if you want to get specific, this is the exact bacteria in gnatrol (Bacillus thuringiesis, subsp. israelensis)

they do work.
i use Olsens Green BIO available at bunnings if your in australia but maybe not available elsewhere. it is part of my beneficial bacteria and fungus campaign for healthy roots
 

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
I had a problem with fungus gnats and what I did to get rid of them is cover the tops of all my pots with coarse sand, The larvae will not be able to get through the sand and they will dye, you can also use pea gravel or anything like that.
Doesn't work, look closely and you will see them going into the container drainage holes.
 

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
D.E is all you need my friend...top layer the soil and apply 1tbls to 1gal h2o....do this every day for 5 days... Ull be gnat free


Cheers n happy growing
You sure about this?...I tried DM alone a few months back.

Great for root aphids, but not so much gnats...wound up using permethrin in the end.
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
You sure about this?...I tried DM alone a few months back.

Great for root aphids, but not so much gnats...wound up using permethrin in the end.
Permethrin powder 3 parts, food grade d.e. 5 parts. Mixed in a ziplock bag. Poured into salt shaker. Thin coating applied to cover soil. Sprinkled a little around the run off containers as well. dropped a 16th of a misquito dunk into each pot. About a hr later I watered with water i crushed and disolved half a misquito dunk in to about 20% run off. Collected run off with a turkey baster. No gnats since. Was going to dust my plants with the powder mix but seems unnecessary
 

ProPheT 216

Well-Known Member
Note: make sure you understand the time frame chemicals will remain on or in your plans. Always avoid harsh chemicals once in flowing.
 

Sunbiz1

Well-Known Member
Permethrin powder 3 parts, food grade d.e. 5 parts. Mixed in a ziplock bag. Poured into salt shaker. Thin coating applied to cover soil. Sprinkled a little around the run off containers as well. dropped a 16th of a misquito dunk into each pot. About a hr later I watered with water i crushed and disolved half a misquito dunk in to about 20% run off. Collected run off with a turkey baster. No gnats since. Was going to dust my plants with the powder mix but seems unnecessary
Liquid permethrin diluted in water as a soil drench I have found to also be very effective.
 

growinman

Well-Known Member
Mosquito Bits....ftw! At least in coco/soil. Have you guys not used these, or is something not 'kosher' in them?? $12 @HD or Lowes. peace, gman
 

Lo Budget

Well-Known Member
A few drops of dish soap in water worked great for me. I sprayed a bit on the leaves and then sprayed the soil until it was drenched.
The spray keeps the adults from flying off only to return later. You may have to do this a few times to get all the bastards.
 

Spaceinvaderx

New Member
I had a problem with fungus gnats and what I did to get rid of them is cover the tops of all my pots with coarse sand, The larvae will not be able to get through the sand and they will dye, you can also use pea gravel or anything like that.
Doesn't work, look closely and you will see them going into the container drainage holes.
I have to agree with gfk109. A few years ago I had problem with gnats and the best solution was to use sand to cover the tops of my soil; it works. Yes, a few will get in through the drainage holes, but they will be few and far between. I add "Great White" beneficial bacteria to my soil as well, so that helps too. I stopped using sprays like Azamax because the sand does such a good job. Most of the gnats I see now are dead on my floor, so I just have to sweep them up every once in a while. Keeping a clean garden also helps...:mrgreen:
 

grasscropper

Well-Known Member
Well I just picked up some DE which was a power for use on ants. I would think DE is the same regardless and that was the main ingredient. So sprinkled on top of the soil. Will water next time with some of the power mixed in with the water and see how that goes. Cause the little bastards drive me apeshit.
 
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