Fungus Nats

[B00st3d]

I have had these before but this time I have a lil more then I've seen before. Theres prolly 15-20 of them total in my garden. When I water the plants I can see the nats flyin to get out of the way of the water, then they settle right back down in the buckets after I water. What kinda harm can they do? How fast can they multiply? I know they arent eating any live plant matter as of yet but are they spreading germs? Should I be concerned and what should I do ? Im growin in a mix of CocoCan and perlite in 5 gallon buckets that I hand water. Thanks in advance.

 

[stretchpup]

Interesting. I just bought a bag of Coco-Can that came infested with more gnat larvae than I've ever come across to date. Fucked my whole room, still battling them. Spead from veg into flower. I've used this brand in the past and not had this problem. Now here you are posting about it too..

This may be the last time I buy pre-washed bags of coco instead of dry bricks for this very reason.

They spread like wildfire. The larvae that hatch out of the eggs the adult lays eat your fresh roots. You will see your plants and their leaves start to suffer as a result. I'm too confined and on schedule for this BS.

Here's the problem in coco. Coco likes to be moist and gnat larvae LOVE THAT. You need to start letting it dry out more, completely till limp I recommend, specifically for battling gnats. A bacteria that is found in Gnatrol the liquid bottle, and mosquito dunks. BTI.

http://www.marchbiological.com/L/mosquito_control.html

I've broken up the dunks and treated all my mixed soils and coco in the storage bins, and wet with gnatrol. Sprinkled the broken up dunks over the tops of my pots.

As well as feeding with gnatrol every feed for about a week now.

Still battling them, I know it takes time. The adults lay eggs which never hatch because of the BTI, and then the adults die off. It's not overnight.

Another week of this annoyance and I'll probably start with Neem Drenches, and it that doesn't work, chemicals. I know this was a super infestation because I've had them light in the past, and a little bit of Gnatrol did the trick quickly.

This time around it's not the case. But I use more coco now that I did in the past, hmm. Seems to me like they breed quicker and faster in coco than peat but then again I'm aggravated.

Good luck.

 

[noodleman]

Gnatrol provides good control. You can order it online. It's a biological control containing a bacteria I think that kills the larvae.

 

[B00st3d]

oh shit . I noticed one of the bags of cococan had sum weird lookin stuff in it but I used it anyways thinkin I was just bein picky. I wonder if it was larvae. This isnt good as Im dependin on this harv to pay my bills, if this doesnt come thru then Im most certainly fucked. What does the larvae look like? Any pics of the cococan you got when it had the larvae in it ?

 

[stretchpup]

Nah boosted, I don't actually see the larvae. This coco is mixed with castings so it's pretty much all dark and black ya know? Very happy with it for a couple years now, but this experience has turned me off totally.

Looked fine, saw nothing. Planted in it, and the next day holy infestation batman. It's like it took a day to dry up a little and the buggers hatch.

Get yourself some dunks (Depot), gnatrol (Dro shop) and neem, and prepare.

Some people may actually grow with these bugs, but I can't be havin that.

"Enhanced with Fungus Gnat Larvae"

 

[00420]

u can try sm-90 it dont kill the gnats but it wipes out the larva and kills there breeding ground.....

 

[B00st3d]

ok I did sum checkin and Gnatrol has been discontinued since last year so now what do i do ? Just get the Dunks? Im startin to notice more and more of these gnats, more then I realized I had.

 

[Barnt]

You basically just need a dry barrier between the coco (or soil) and the nats. Something like 1/2 to 1" of sand or perlite on the top of the coco should do the trick. I used perlite before and the top would dry out rather quickly after watering preventing the nats from laying their eggs.

 

[Weedninja]

Bti will knock 'em back a little. I've been hearing good stuff about putting a 1 inch layer of sand on top of the soil and watering from the bottom.

I'm about to try some predatory nematodes. They're supposed to hunt down and kill gnats.

If you really want to see the larvae, put a piece of potato on top of your soil and check the bottom after a couple of days. They're about 1/4 the size of a grain of rice.

 

[stretchpup]

420, thanks, SM90 dur. I should have tried. Also heard from another friend that diatomaceous earth works well mixed into you medium, or top dressed in a jam.


I've heard that too about perlite/sand but I believe it to be an old hippie tale when there were no better, cleaner, and safer solutions besides dumping chemicals.

JUST POUR SOME SAND/PERLITE/WHATEVER ON HER

I do agree they hate it dry... but that is not a realistic solution, just a band-aid on a wound that won't heal.

Maybe it depends on what stage of the infestation you catch them in?

They were still there for me with 2" of perlite added while I was continuing treatments. So I can't say it helped at all. For me it did not.








Really not trying to be negative either, just honest.

 

[stretchpup]

Yes, I've been down this road before. Hehe. BTi worked well in the past, but is not now, so I'm posting.

I'm applying a neem medium drench tonight and will monitor results. Picking up SM90 and possibly diatomaceous earth tomorrow afternoon, depending on how the girls look in the morning after the drench.

 

[B00st3d]

Ok well the gnatrol is only available thru shadey online hydro stores so thats a no go for me. There is one local hydro store to me tho, the same one I got the cococan and they sell a product called GoGnats. Talkin to the shop owner a few mins ago and he says it really works. So Im gonna go tommorow and get a bottle and see how it does. I dont wanna have to put sand on top if it means hand watering from the top is gonna be a bitch. I dont have the means to bottom feed them as I have no trays big enough. Plus its not the adults Im as much worried about , its the larvae which is what does all the damage. Has anyone used GoGnats with success? Any tips on using it? Im also gonna get the dunks and use them in conjunction with the GoGnats and hope it works. Some sticky traps will help me catch the pesky adults as well.

I have to admit that I am guilty of not keepin my place as clean as I should. Theres still old soil and old cococan from previous harvs from last year still sittin around in storage bins so Im willing to bet thats makin it worse. Im gonna go on a mass cleaning spree, vaccuum real well and start treatment tommorow. Lesson learned on my part, keep everything spotless. I can only speculate on where these gnats came from, if they were in the bags of cococan or if they were already here, not sure. I did buy a bag of FF big chunky perlite from a local shop that kept it outside under a tarp on pallets, but would the larvae be in perlite, I doubt it.

 

[Weedninja]

I agree about the sand not being practical for most growers, myself included. It's very unlikely that they would live in perlite, they feed on organic matter.

 

[Lilly456]

I've used a perlite barrier with a dripper pushed underneath to no avail.Sand I used as well.Neem oil and mosquito dunks ground up and added to my nutrient solution works a wee bit but does not eradicate.Blue no pest strips catch some of the adults but they are still around.It seems like whatever route I choose I can always find some adults flying in my garden.It's frustrating but I guess I'm going to use some of the chemicals listed above because not much is really that effective. I hate these gnats and I've always stayed away from any type of insect control apart from biological ones, but its time to play hardball....Chaco.

 

[farmer jay]

I have these little bastards too. ive had them for a while now. I was always told that as long as they are under control, plants will be fine. I never had an outbreak like that but maybe these things are part of the cause of my plant health issues? NE wayz, went down to my hobby shop and picked up some GO GNATS. Go Get Some. this stuff keeps the population down.

 

[sense]

BGhydro still has gnatrol in the liquid. I just ordered some last week and got it in 3 days. It is the only thing that has worked for me.

 

[B00st3d]

Ok Farmer Jay Im glad to finally hear someone who has had success with GoGnats. And like I said sense. I will NOT order from online hydro stores especailly a place like BGhydro and esp on a tip from someone with 2 posts, thanks.

 

[Buffoonman]

Theres a product called Gnat off (available on the net (ebay))that claims to eradicate them. I to have these little buggers.

 

[hydroclops]

I can tell you from expireance that sand is the cheepest and best stuff to use.
I had them real bad and spent close to $100.00
on natrol and predator bugs and nothing worked.
1/4 inch of sand and a yellow pest strip to get the ones flying around
and they will disapear.

So please before you spend anything try the sand for $3.00 dollars.



Stay safe and high.
........HYDRO........

 

[RubbaDub]

I recently had a bad fungus gnat infestation. Lost 2 flowering plants and almost a 3rd. I tried gnatrol and yellow sticky traps, but that didn't help much. What fixed the problem for me was to put a layer of paver sand (the fine sand used below the bricks/pavers used in patios) on top of the soil and blocking the exits at the bottom of the pots... I realized that you don't want to block the drain holes, so I started switching my plastic pots and grow bags to smart pots. They're made of some sort of fabric that allows the water to drain out, but keeps the bugs from crawling in or out. Ultimately, the paver sand on top was the silver bullet. I still add gnatrol when I water, but only as a superstitious measure.