The Fungus Gnat Fight, Whats Your Weapon of Choice

Farmers put dunks into their animals troughs to keep mosquitos and other bugs from hatching in the water, it's also used in bird baths, gardens, ect, pretty much anywhere there is standing water.

I just took in about 10 cuts from a buddy the other day, shit loads of gnats and probably aphids were flying out from the cups. Wouldn't doubt if he has some mite action either by the look of the leaves and stems.

I took em to the bath tub shook the plants and killed all the fliers, then I waited about 10 minutes came back in and got the remaining flyers, then I hammered all the cups with "once and done" and sprayed with Avid. I'll spray with Avid a few more times about 3-4 days apart.

I'll be pest free, I've done this same method half dozen times now knowing what I'm taking in has pests.
 
I've used (up, dammit) the Microbe-Lift BTI product many times and think it is the best bang for the buck. Mosquito dunks come in a close 2nd cus Casa De Pot and Blow's usually stock them...at least seasonally. Gotta use the stiiicky traps too to get the flyers/adults.

In small pots/solo cups/early infestations you can sometimes fuck em up just using warm to slightly hot water.

Would be nice of the soil companies could somehow place some bti/in their mixes. (they prolly own the place where the bti comes from tho...LOL)

best of luck to the infested
 
I just read about a new approach for safe eradication of Fungus Gnats. First to be sure they're fungus gnats, place a few slices of potato on top of your medium, overnight or at least for 5 hours. The larvae will be attracted to the moisture of the potato, and migrate towards the underside of them. Remove, and observe the larvae under a microscope. Go online, and see what the larvae look like, and if you have a match. Pick up a tub of Tanglefoot, and a pack of yellow card stock, or yellow construction paper. Smear several pieces of the yellow paper with tanglefoot. Place the tanglefoot cards on every pot. As many as you want. They're attracted to the color yellow. So this is going to be your adult eradication method. Of course you can buy fly paper instead, but it's more expensive.

Allow your soil to dry out on the surface for a couple of days. Mix Hydrogen Peroxide with water at a 1:4 ratio, and water as usual. This will have to be continued until the entire adult population is gone. H2O2 won't harm your roots, but it will kill the larvae. It would be a good idea to re-introduce beneficial bacteria, and fungi after you're sure your bug problem is gone.

I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to before it gets warmed up. I'm not particularly fond of having a halo of flies every time I go in my show.
 
straight up NPS here....nuke em....no messing around...

i use them for preventatives as periodic mass extinction devices....i think stuff will get immune and the NPS gets weaker everyday so bad combo for immunities or leaving in the room all the time but if you dose em....even during night cycle and vent before you enter.....do a few days and all will be dead....mites, thrips, gnats....what have you...dead...

then put em back in foil for next time(plastic bags degrade them)
 
mosquito dunks. worked for me. 10 bucks for a years worth. of course i had a 50 gallon rubber maid container i put my water in to allow the chlorine to out gas.

what i did was break up the dunk and put it in netting. otherwise you have a mess. that is exactly like styro foam beads all over the place. than i dropped it in the tank.

every time i watered i killed fungus gnats. problem solved.

not sure how i voted but i guess i did. looks like bti/mosquito dunks with almost 50% of the vote wins hands down. i could be mis remembering but.... i think that the bti also kills any other insect larva in the soil. mites. black flies fungus gnats white flies thrips etc.
 
Kendo said:
I use other.:nbf:
Click to expand...

BTI ROCKS, if used properly, I buy big jars of yelow granules from the fish/ koi shops for ponds and it lasts well, if sealed, dry. I then soak overnight, or for a day or so and water a few times, bing0! Soon no more bugs, all organic, doesn't seem to affect soil microbes/ or plants.

Backterium thuegensis isealensis = BTI....Good stuff! Peace, Brwin.
 
root aphids , gnats >>> other things living in the medium >>>
AT specific times of the plants life>>>to be sure any remains from it are gone by harvest>>>

Merit 75 kills everything living in medium<<<good and bad>>>
just re-innoculate micro after good soaking/ watering>>>
preventative use always works BEST<<<
when used for damage control<<<NOT GOOD>>>

2 cents

when your tired of trying everything else.
 
certain species shrug off merit75, the little little tiny aphids for me. GCH (Triazicide) from the Depot is effective against them, but only as a contact killer. it's not nearly as systemic as merit. also it won't slow down you veg like merit sometimes does.

ya gotta use bug bombs to kill all the fliers or they will come back quickly. i like to cut the time release tab on them, suit/mask up and hit the pots and trays directly with a fog. fliers hide under pots and in the corners of trays where dirt is leftover and there is less wind.
 
I am currently dealing with a FG problem and tried quite a few things over the past few months...now we seem to be turning the corner on the issue but there is still work to be done.
DE - I'm sure it works but after the first water, it turned to mud and pretty much became useless.
BTI - I have been using the dunks, gnatrol and microbe lift at varying rates and consistency and have seen results but not the "gone in a week or two" claims.
Yellow stickies - can't have enough of those in a room, for every adult flyer that is caught, I figure is a lot of larvae that will never be.
Oil drenches - used an root zone oil drench that I was testing out and all it did was keep the adults away for a few days(they filled up the sticky traps overnight) and damage the plants.
Just picked up and applied yesterday...
Nuke em - have used it before for a broad mite outbreak with great results. did a full soak on some solo cups and will see what results.
Montery once a year - was told that this is a strong product that does the job and keeps working for a few weeks as it is systemic. only to plants in veg that will not harvest for a few months. Put some in some one gallon pots to test for side effects...results to come.
I also have dropped some doctor doom bombs which will take down any flyers that come in contact.
I've heard some people say that they(FG) are more a nuisance than anything...tell that to all the cuts I've lost and the bottom shelf meds a finished plant will produce if left unchecked.
 
Essentria IC3 knocked down an infestation in a room of mine. Not 100% but it went from hundreds maybe thousands of fliers per table down to just a few. I drenched at 10ml/gal... gonna start spraying it on top of the coco after watering each day to keep em down.

^^ smells INTENSE, like Grizzly Wintergreen dip

Kontos is the next crazy pesticide I'm gonna try, I've heard great things.

I wish OGBiowar wasn't so expensive at full strength.
 
BTI and then follow-up to kill the soil borne larvae (I'm organic). Yellow sticky traps work well in conjunction.
Once they're gone, spread a coat of sand on top so the adults can't lay any more eggs that will burrow to your roots and feed. I think their cycle is every 3 days.
 
I'm sure everyone who's used those hanging fly paper gizmos can attest to how horribly miserable they are when they get them in their hair, or scalp!(whichever the case) Damn! I hate that shit! Especially when they're almost totally covered with adult FG's! :aaargh:
 
I'm no expert, but I have had some success with the use of predatory insects.

my favorite ones to use are Ladybugs and Praying Mantids

hope that helps
 
Spray with pyrethrum and then add hypoaspis miles (beneficial mites that live in the soil). I've completely eliminated them from several gardens this way. It takes a couple of weeks to get them all but they work fast and stay in the soil for a long time. I get mine from Evergreen Growers Supply and have always had good, healthy bugs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top