Fungus gnat experiment #569

The threat of gnats getting into my flower tent when I'm in it has made me buy 0.6mm netting to cover the flower tent door so I can walk away or stand under it without anything sneaking into the tent, there's a good draught going through a gnat would get carried right on in.

I can at least deal with them in my veg tent but in flower there's no chance I can fight them by half.

The sticky trap picked up another gnat and I've caught a half dozen on the zapper idk wtf is happening gnats shouldn't be there in those numbers?
I've put the pots in bags for damage limitation until I get this mess sorted out.

I got those nematodes and checked a sample under the microscope holy batman theres must be millions of them in the pack, i can't get the memory card to register but I'll post up some pics when that's sorted.

I've given my jade plant a dose of nematodes and sealed the top to contain any gnats hopefully that's the source of the problem fingers crossed.

I quit using bags over pots. Going back to staple shut fabric pot around stem and bug jell seam. If I need to go further Il use mesh bags like paint can bags. They need to be able to breathe even if its plastic pot. Otherwise root pressure increases and get gutation in flower. Veg is fine but read its also a breeding ground for nasties to establish.

So experiment still on somewhat, a step back. Itll probably be fine if I dryback properly which kills off hanging roots.

I haven't tried the bag method yet. I'm on 2 weeks of BTi via Mosquito Bits, 3 waterings per week with BTi, still lots of fliers. I won't consider it a failure until more than a month has passed.

The next study asserts that older fungus gnat larvae are not susceptible to BTi.


Per fungus gnat lifecycle stages, a full lifecycle is about 34 days from egg to larva to pupa to fly (back to egg). Once I started using it, the plants seemed to grow a bit faster.

Fungus gnats can reportedly fly through window screens and breed in sink or tub drains. Sigh.

Gnatrol is much more concentrated than the bits or dunks