Fungus gnats and over-waterers go hand in hand

[Owl Mirror]

Fungus gnats and over-waterers go hand in hand.
Is it true that detergents and the nicotine from tobacco brewed into a toxic tea can be used to control fungus gnats ?

http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/html/FungusGnats.htm

Signs of infection: Generally you won't see any plant damage just the little black flies buzzing around. Fungus gnats and over-waterers go hand in hand.

Control: Allow the potting media of your plant to dry out as much as possible without damaging the plant. Keep the plant as dry as possible for as long as possible. A Fungus gnats life cycle is less than 8 days If we can keep the plant dry for a couple of weeks we will in effect "burn them out" of their home.

~@~

I started seeing these little buggers in my closet, mainly around one particular plant. The composition of my soils differ from pot to pot as I've been experimenting with various mixes. I found that those that have HUMUS or any veg matter in the mix invite these buggers to infest the soil.

Anyone have anything they can add to this discussion ?

 

[bostondutchmast]

i had the same problem i was told Diatom powder from a friend and it worked really well i havent seen them since i used it. just sprinkle on top of soil

 

[indifferent]

They can be very damaging, they eat roots, I have been having an infestation of them this year, they killed a bunch of seedlings and have really ruined half a dozen flowering small plants in my current run. Impossible for me to keep my pots dry as I grow in coco. Sticky traps catch dozens of adults a day, Pyrethrin sprays don't seem to do much, I've topdressed my pots with diatomite and after a couple of weeks, don't seem to be seeing much reduction in the numbers of gnats.

 

[sns_stealth]

mosquito dunks, 1/4 teaspoon crumbled up on soil will clear em acording to lolagal. havent tried it yet. also, Nemotodes are microscopic bugs that eat fungas gnats and 200+ other baddies. here's a link, there are some reviews on the site specifically mentioning the gnats and how well it worked. 7 million of em for $20...lol.

http://www.amazon.com/Million-Live-Beneficial-Nematodes-Kills-over/dp/B000MRD5JO/ref=pd_bxgy_ol_text_b

 

[Owl Mirror]

mosquito dunks, 1/4 teaspoon crumbled up on soil will clear em acording to lolagal. havent tried it yet. also, Nemotodes are microscopic bugs that eat fungas gnats and 200+ other baddies. here's a link, there are some reviews on the site specifically mentioning the gnats and how well it worked. 7 million of em for $20...lol.

http://www.amazon.com/Million-Live-Beneficial-Nematodes-Kills-over/dp/B000MRD5JO/ref=pd_bxgy_ol_text_b

Thanks !

I tried the diluted dish soap and have seen a reduction but, not totally eliminated.
I roll my own cigarettes so, I'm going to take a big pinch of tobacco and soak it in water, then apply it to the soil.
I'll let you folks know if it is successful.

 

[Owl Mirror]

They can be very damaging, they eat roots, I have been having an infestation of them this year, they killed a bunch of seedlings and have really ruined half a dozen flowering small plants in my current run. Impossible for me to keep my pots dry as I grow in coco. Sticky traps catch dozens of adults a day, Pyrethrin sprays don't seem to do much, I've topdressed my pots with diatomite and after a couple of weeks, don't seem to be seeing much reduction in the numbers of gnats.

The link I provided claims they do NO damage, just annoying.
Could you have another bug ?
Can you describe the infestation for comparison ?

 

[habeeb]

I've heard never to get the nicotine on the soil. I've heard to only get it on the leaves.. not sure but that's what I remember

there are many things:

-top dressing , sand / DE perlite ...
-gnatrol / mosquito dunks / nematodes
-sticky paper / cup of water

remember to knock them out as fast as you can, they eat your baby roots. and remember they can get tot he bottom of the pot with a drain hole and breed there.. good luck

 

[Owl Mirror]

I've heard never to get the nicotine on the soil. I've heard to only get it on the leaves.. not sure but that's what I remember

there are many things:

-top dressing , sand / DE perlite ...
-gnatrol / mosquito dunks / nematodes
-sticky paper / cup of water

remember to knock them out as fast as you can, they eat your baby roots. and remember they can get tot he bottom of the pot with a drain hole and breed there.. good luck

"bottom of the pot with a drain hole and breed there"
That is actually where I first discovered the problem.
I noticed one fly a week but, when I moved the pots that have drain covers, I noticed a whole bunch of tiny white bugs crawling around in the bottom of the dish.
I poured the diluted dish soap mix in the drain cover, not the top of the soil.
Maybe I should do the same with the tobacco juice ?

 

[LolaGal]

crumble mosquito dunk on top of pot 1/4 teaspoon dry dunk.

problem solved, never to come back again... no kidding! good luck

 

[Owl Mirror]

crumble mosquito dunk on top of pot 1/4 teaspoon dry dunk.

problem solved, never to come back again... no kidding! good luck

Thanks !

Bacillus thuringienis israelensis
http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides//ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_006476.htm

 

[indifferent]

The link I provided claims they do NO damage, just annoying.
Could you have another bug ?
Can you describe the infestation for comparison ?

That link is wrong, they feed on plant roots. I definitely have gnats. Infestation as in there are always little black flies flying around and I catch lots of them on my sticky traps. Causes lots of problems rooting clones too as they will eat the roots as they form, I have pulled dead/dying cuts out of the cubes to find several larvae crawling on the stem, once I looked into the hole in the cube and there were like a dozen of them in there crawling about.

 

[Danknuggler]

I have let my coco in my veg room get BONE DRY which is a nono but it still didnt seem to make them go away.I use Gnatrol but was seeing if I could just get rid of them by drying out my medium real good but that DID NOT work for me.Those things really love coco because coco growers do usually water vewry frequently.Funny thing is in my flower room I have NONE and those pots are staying relatively moist all the time.I recently got them real bad @ 6 weeks flower and had hundred stuck inside of some of the buds it really sucked bad.Did someone say Diatomaceous Earth works good on em??

 

[ArcticBlast]

i couldn't figure out why i was having such shitty germ rates the past couple of months until i found these damn fungus gnats. I'd get seeds to germ, and then once i transplanted them to the soil, they'd just stop growing and die ... i finally inspected the crime scene and found tiny tiny bugs crawling all over the seedling's corpse, and gnats flying around the cups...

thanks for the advice, i'm going to try some mosquito dunks!
ArcticBlast