What's new
  • ICMag with help from Landrace Warden and The Vault is running a NEW contest in November! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!

Get Rid of Fungus Gnats For Good Using Mosquito Dunks

Mia

Mia

Active member
Jeeyah said:
I've had them for over 6 months. Dunks in res and crushed on top of pots. Sticky traps fill up quick.

You want to laugh. Today one flew in my ear. It got stuck. Couldn't get out buzzing every 4 seconds. Ran to the bathroom. After 4 q-tips I got it out. I was all baked. They have orgies on top of the dunks. Not kidding. I'm serious.

None of my local shops have ever heard of Gnatrol. If it's that much better, I'd consider ordering it.
Click to expand...

Gnatrol contains the same bacteria as dunks, just more concentrated, thus preferable. Get it out of your res it just gunks everything up! Mix two to three teaspoons in a gallon of water and water plants three or four feedings in a row say after giving them their nutes. You don't need to soak the medium and push your nutes out just a nice little watering. Consistency is the key. Should get rid of em.
There's also tanlin, which is chitlin, but it's expensive so I don't like to buy it.
You can get gnatrol off amazon or other places I'm sure if you can't source it locally.
If you're in soil, letting it dry out as much as possible will help in between waterings.
 
Jeeyah

Jeeyah

Active member
So hand water it in?

Just read chlorine kills bti? Hmm That could be a problem. Coco on drippers. I add bleach to the res.

Just read a thread on Microbelift BMC.
 
norcalkell

norcalkell

Member
Jeeyah said:
I've had them for over 6 months. Dunks in res and crushed on top of pots. Sticky traps fill up quick.

You want to laugh. Today one flew in my ear. It got stuck. Couldn't get out buzzing every 4 seconds. Ran to the bathroom. After 4 q-tips I got it out. I was all baked. They have orgies on top of the dunks. Not kidding. I'm serious.

None of my local shops have ever heard of Gnatrol. If it's that much better, I'd consider ordering it.
Click to expand...


OMG!! I'd freak.. I'm switching from gnatrol to azatrol.
 
V

Vampire

Did I miss mention of potatoe slices on the top of the soil draws the gnats to them? Something I read but haven't had to use it so far.
 
P

puff adder

Member
This has been my experiences with mosquito dunks. They have permanent residence in my resevoirs, usually 1/2 or 1 whole dunk floating in the res, ALWAYS, and the fungus gnats are not affected.

I also have gotten root aphids, and used Imidicloprid (Bayer Tree and Shrub, or ANNUAL Tree and Shrub) and this had a side effect of also getting rid of fungus gnats.

I usually find RA's right after seeing a population explosion of fungus gnats, for me, they go together.

For years, I only had fungus gnats, no big deal, always had a few, but once the RA's set in, I used the Imid, and got rid of the gnats as well.

Not sure if I'd use IMID to battle just the gnats if I didn't also have the RA's though. Imid is fairly nasty.


Jeeyah said:
I've had them for over 6 months. Dunks in res and crushed on top of pots. Sticky traps fill up quick.

You want to laugh. Today one flew in my ear. It got stuck. Couldn't get out buzzing every 4 seconds. Ran to the bathroom. After 4 q-tips I got it out. I was all baked. They have orgies on top of the dunks. Not kidding. I'm serious.

None of my local shops have ever heard of Gnatrol. If it's that much better, I'd consider ordering it.
Click to expand...
 
EclipseFour20

EclipseFour20

aka "Doc"
Veteran
No crushing required with the Mosquito Bits (made by the same people). Easy to add 1-2 tablespoons to a gallon of water.
 
D

dork

New member
got the bits. add 1-2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. how much should i add to top of 5 gal smart pots?
 
EclipseFour20

EclipseFour20

aka "Doc"
Veteran
dork said:
got the bits. add 1-2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. how much should i add to top of 5 gal smart pots?
Click to expand...

I transplant a few times...and each time I add the Bits at these rates.
1 qt 7.5 ml
1 gal 15 ml
3 gal 30-45 ml (depending on the "situation")
5 gal 30-45 ml (only increasing soil mass by 2 gallons)

Can't really have too much of this bacteria and at $14-20 my thinking is, now is the time NOT to be economic--but be frivolous like a drunken sailor! (My apologies to any drunken sailors that I may have offended!)

Where in the soil to mix the Bits? Now that is a good question....options?
1. Sprinkle it on the soil surface; rationale-each time plant is watered BTi is released---or conversely when the soil surface is dry--BTi also dries up.
2. Mix it in the top 2 inches; rationale-majority of the soil pests like fungus gnats reside in top 2 inches---or conversely what about the fungus gnats that come and go through the drain holes, they seemed to have missed the memo about residing in the top 2".
3. Mix it evenly throughout the soil; rationale-BTi will be everywhere---or conversely leaching my cause BTi to congregate towards the container's bottom--away from the soil's top 2".
4. Mix it with my dry fertilizer/nutes (what I do) and strategically place the charged mix in the top 2/3's of the container; rationale-Bits are located both in the top and middle part of the soil where all runoff will carry the BTi from the top & middle down to the plant bottom and out the drain holes.

BTW--I mix my own soil (promix base) and wait until I transplant before adding ANY & ALL fertilizers (better control imo). Here is what I do:

1. In a small cup I mix 30-45ml dry ferts, 5-7.5ml epsom salts, and 15-45 ml of Bits--(I do many transplants at one time and having all the ingredients measured and lined up in separate containers--like they do on cooking shows, is a good time saver!).
2. In a 6 liter bucket I add a scoop or 2 of the soil, then mix in the ingredients from the small cup (ferts, epsom salts and Bits)
3. At the very bottom new plant container, I add a mix of expanded clay pellets and crushed pumice, and a scoop or two of my basic mix before placing the transplant in the container. I then fill the top 2/3s of the container with the charged mix from the 6 liter bucket.
4. I add Bits every time I water/nutes at the rate of 15-30ml per gallon....again depending on the situation.
5. For nasty outbreak--nothing causes a quick knockdown like a pyrethrin & pbo cocktail; my favorite is Riptide--no oil!
Cheers!
 
M

MrQwerty

Member
I just dont understand guys, I have went through almost an entire pack (large red one) of mosquito dunks and even have one floating in the res.. I do not see a difference. I figured it was a misdiagnosis so I cut piece of my flytrap and asked a guy at a local nursery to identify & the man said without hesitation that it is infact fungus gnats. IDK what to do, they wont leave. My plants look great I just did a transplant and the roots are a nice white as well. please help me save my sugarmammas :)
 
gdup

gdup

Member
There are beneficial nematodes you can buy that hunt down and kill the fungus gnat larvae, I bought mine on Amazon. If you don't kill the larvae you will never get rid of them. The fact that your roots are healthy is kind of strange though, they made mine look like shit.
 
O

onegreenday

Active member
Veteran
good advice. you can get gnatrol now in granules that dissolve in water & shelf life is 2 years now. On Amazon people break up big boxes and sell small bottles of the new granules.

Mia said:
Gnatrol contains the same bacteria as dunks, just more concentrated, thus preferable. Get it out of your res it just gunks everything up! Mix two to three teaspoons in a gallon of water and water plants three or four feedings in a row say after giving them their nutes. You don't need to soak the medium and push your nutes out just a nice little watering. Consistency is the key. Should get rid of em.
There's also tanlin, which is chitlin, but it's expensive so I don't like to buy it.
You can get gnatrol off amazon or other places I'm sure if you can't source it locally.
If you're in soil, letting it dry out as much as possible will help in between waterings.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top