Tiny little flys (probably fungus gnats)

[pontiac]

I'm about 2-3 weeks from harvest and I'm noticing an increasing number of tiny little flies flying around in cab. At first I was cool about a few of them in there but now they're beginning to grow in population . I don't want to spray anything on the weed because I'm so close to harvest... Is there an alternative method out there to get rid of them, or at least reduce their population? (Please don't say praying mantis, those things freak me out )

 

[methias]

Death to bugs

Death to bugs

I used no pest strips (sticky) and was amazed at how many of those lil buggers wound up on it. They lite and never again take flight.
Now I have no bugs (indoor grow)

 

[Core]

are they white or blackish?
Nhow like methias said,no pest strip will get alot of'm

 

[pontiac]

Thanks to you both! I figured pest strips are my only option now. As long as I don't have to get a freaking praying mantis! Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Have you identified the pests? If they are indeed fungus gnats, you want to kill the production cycle at the larvae stage. Letting your medium dry out at the top level (or even adding a layer of sand or fresh dry coco) will help keep a seperation and kill off the population. Larve grow to adults, then the adults return to the moist soil to lay eggs. They do this not only on the top of the pots, but the most sneaky of fungus gnats also use the drain holes at the bottom of a pot to source its moisture needed for laying eggs.

Without getting too far ahead of myself on fungus gnats, properly identifying the problematic pest is the best thing to do. From there appropriate steps and measures can take place. The sticky traps will make fungus gnats stick, but I do not believe they are attracted to them like other pests who flock to the color yellow or blue. If fungus gnats, sticky traps work well for monitoring the problem and possibly controlling small populations but not always complete eradication. BTI works very well against fungus gnats.


Food for thought

 

[apples]

I put about an inch of pearlite ontop of my soil and I havnt seen any since.

 

[darookie2000]

Careful when you talk about "no pest" strips, there is a chemical product called hot shot "no pest" strips that work, but they are kinda poisonous, so I wouldn't want to leave them in long term (I have done it, and I removed them when I found out it was bad).

If it's horrible, you can knock them out with a pyrethrin bomb. That's likely to burn a few leaves, but it will dissipate by harvest. If it's bad, but not ridiculous, azamax will kill them pretty quickly as a soil drench. It takes a remarkably small amount to knock them out. Gnatrol might work, but it takes a little while, and you have to usually used a two-prong approach, since it only works on larvae (they have to eat it). Nematodes might work, but nothing cleared my soil as well as azamax, so I sucked it up and spent the money and now there's almost nothing flying around the house. I also cover my soil with a quick draining medium. I chose hydroton just because it doesn't float as well as perlite. My medium has lots of perlite in it, and some floats to the top layer just below the hydroton. It keeps the moist soil far enough away that I haven't really had issues, plus I don't have to cultivate my soil. That basically helps it dry out faster, and a dry top layer will help a lot.

Something that might work for your case is watering from the bottom. It will give the top of the soil some time to dry out and kill the buggers. Basically use saucers and pour nute solution into them and let the pot wick the moisture. You can go back to watering from the top when it dries out, so the surface roots don't die.

 

[alpinestar]

I put about an inch of pearlite ontop of my soil and I havnt seen any since.

2nd that

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

pontiac, you're doing the ebb and flow thing? The hardware store has mosquito dunks you dissolve in water. You might have to filter out the particles so it doesn't muss things up. You can use this stuff any time. It'll drop the ph a little and add a slight ppm to the mix IME. It won't kill adult gnats. Sticky fly traps will somewhat control the flying ones.

hoosierdaddy posted in your cab thread about peroxide. Seems it kills the larval stage of gnats? Good luck.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Never had a gnat problem until I moved into a place that has gnat problems nearby. Got a back door that lets them in too frequently and the source is not something I can do anything about.

I have 5 buckets in a drip system right now and a bunch of mums in an E&F. If you want to cut down on the population and you only have a couple weeks left, you can use neem oil, sprayed gently onto the top of the hydroton of each bucket and around the drain holes. If you don't spray hard enough, it doesn't put that fine mist into the air that will get into the buds.

Do it every 2-3 days and you'll see the numbers drop. I'm looking into making gnatrol a regular part of my regimen. Sucks but hey.