Fungus Gnats...

ok iv read the four year old post for fungle nats and just read this resent thread. iv got2 a say alot of folks reject one anouthers advise alot. i am just starting a new crop and i gotta say those fungle nat's do pose a nucence.(they eat the tender fine roots as well as fungi in the soil) i feal that i can use other plants that have natural imuunite's like chilles and ill see where that go's. people give quite restraind mesurments when instructed how much to use but i feel that you really cant overdose on nicotine or chillles in a plant cause its natural the plant simply wont absorb it. i have used the pest strips and that keeps the adult populus in control. yet i want these bastards out completly. i beleave the part that is most crutal to getin rid of these bastard is to get rid of the larvle stage. i beleave that the reason alot of people have conflicting advise on handleing this pest is dependent upon the region that you are located at.diffrent regions of the same fungi nats mite have diffent immunitys and streanths and weaknesess. so i beleave it would be adventagous to us growers if we identified the regions we are reporting from to proporly associate the type of fungi nats were dealing with. secondly im new and a little buzzed as i wrote. but i beleave i got the basics of what i wanted to say out. anyways the most efective way ive heard are using mosquito dunk but i dont wanna use those toxic and exspensive means so im gonna try my own natural methodes with nicotine and tobasco sause and see how that works and ill be sure to check in with the results.

sorry for double post but i also wanted to confirm that the miricle gro poting soil came with nat spores ready to go from home depot and that was how i got my pest infection and i am from fresno ca

neem oil. problem solved. foliar and soak.. never failed me for any pest.

sensisensai said:

And hot shot no pest strips

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Seconded. I've used the no pest strips with great results.

PLATNUMCRK said:

AS I SAIDTHEY ARE LIVING OUT OF THE DRAINAGE WHOLES ON THE BOTTOMS and SIDES OF MY POTS AS WELL. D-EARTH HAS TO BE ABSORBED IN TO BOTTOM OF THE BUGS EXOSCELETON, KINDA HARD WHEN THEY ARE GOING VERTRICALLY UP THE INSIDES OF MY POTS

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They don't eat dirt, they eat roots.. They exist in every growing medium if it is soggy. You can have them in Coco all day long... No dirt there so what are they eatting?? You have a bunch of people giving you suggestions and you are basically arguing with everyone saying that they are wrong and you are right. Well then why the hell do you have a Gnat problem and how come you can't take care of it if you already know what to do.. As to your other comment on the sticky traps...... If you actually KNEW what they were for you would use them properly... They aren't to eliminate the Gnat problem, they are used to monitor the outbreak so you can see if it is getting worse or getting better... Why ask for help from others if you really aren't interested in their suggestions??

PLATNUMCRK said:

AS I SAIDTHEY ARE LIVING OUT OF THE DRAINAGE WHOLES ON THE BOTTOMS and SIDES OF MY POTS AS WELL. D-EARTH HAS TO BE ABSORBED IN TO BOTTOM OF THE BUGS EXOSCELETON, KINDA HARD WHEN THEY ARE GOING VERTRICALLY UP THE INSIDES OF MY POTS

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Well than my guess is your fu*ked because nothing works for you and no one knows how to solve the problem. Scrap the mission through everything out and never attempt to grow again because you suck! Sounds to me like you know everything about gnats so why are you having gnat problems. My suggestion to you would be to try every fing thing you possible can. These people tell you from EXPERIENCE so take their advice! IE sand at the top and BOTTOM of the dirt or sit the bucket drainage holes in sand, biodegradable soap with every watering. Let the soil dry out 1 inch from the top b4 you water. I let my plants get a little droopy b4 I watered when I had gnats (there 100% gone now) use organic sprays every few days for a few weeks. And use fly strips!!!!! They are not the most effective thing but EVERY LITTLE THING COUNTS!!!! And they do help! Your the CLOWN because your the one with gnat problems! lol. PS YOU OVER WATERED TO CAUSE THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE! next time dont water so often! water about 2 times a week is plenty!

mr. green thumb 01 said:

Let the soil dry out 1 inch from the top b4 you water. I let my plants get a little droopy b4 I watered when I had gnats (there 100% gone now)

PS YOU OVER WATERED TO CAUSE THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE! next time dont water so often! water about 2 times a week is plenty!

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+1 vote for you over watered

rucca said:

+1 vote for you over watered

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I don't know why this myth persists. I've been growing weed for over 15 years. I may not be Ed Rosenthal but I know a thing or 2. I don't overwater and I have gnats. Overwatering may make matters worse but letting the pots dry out between waterings did absolutely nothing to control my gnat problem. Gnatrol or mosquito dunks is the best thing you can get to CONTROL them. You probably will never totally get rid of them because they are everywhere! I've tried all the other tricks like Diatomaceous earth and sand. That doesn't work because they just move down into your drainage holes. I've even tried covering the holes in between waterings and they still persist. IMO you can never totally get rid of gnats but you can control them. Yes, the larvae eat roots and decaying organic matter. The adults don't eat and they only live for about 7 days. There whole mission is to breed as much as possible and lay as many eggs as they can before they die. Fortunately they are relatively harmless unless you have a really bad infestation.

doc111 said:

I don't know why this myth persists. I've been growing weed for over 15 years. I may not be Ed Rosenthal but I know a thing or 2. I don't overwater and I have gnats. Overwatering may make matters worse but letting the pots dry out between waterings did absolutely nothing to control my gnat problem. Gnatrol or mosquito dunks is the best thing you can get to CONTROL them. You probably will never totally get rid of them because they are everywhere! I've tried all the other tricks like Diatomaceous earth and sand. That doesn't work because they just move down into your drainage holes. I've even tried covering the holes in between waterings and they still persist. IMO you can never totally get rid of gnats but you can control them. Yes, the larvae eat roots and decaying organic matter. The adults don't eat and they only live for about 7 days. There whole mission is to breed as much as possible and lay as many eggs as they can before they die. Fortunately they are relatively harmless unless you have a really bad infestation.

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Maybe it was coincidental.... I had a lot of gnats, I covered the surface with some sand and let them dry out and watered less. I don't have gnats now. That is how the myth has been confirmed in my eyes

o yea and gnats are worse for your babies than sand is on top of the soil. And it is possible to completely get rid of gnats it just takes a lot of persistence! And i dont care what anyone says gnats start when you over water or when the soil stays damp and dosn't dry out enough or when you dont clear out your drainage catch trays and leave stagnant water in the room. Gnats love standing water or anything that stays damp for a long period of time. I only say what I say from EXPERIENCE.

If you use Azamax every 10-14 days in a soil drench, you will eliminate Gnats population in around 30 days.. If you put a barrier on the top of your pots (white film or you can use sand) the Adults have a tougher time getting to the medium to lay eggs. So if you do the drench every 10 - 14 days for a month, you should be able to eliminate all stages of the life cycle.. So your adults die first. New babies are born in your medium from the eggs that were laid already). It is about 10 days between when eggs are laid and hatched. So round 2 of the Azamx will kill the new little babby Gnats in the medium.. 10 days later gives you the final drench and that should get any stragglers for the most part. You can eliminate Gnats (until you bring more into the garden by mistake again)

rucca said:

Maybe it was coincidental.... I had a lot of gnats, I covered the surface with some sand and let them dry out and watered less. I don't have gnats now. That is how the myth has been confirmed in my eyes

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Maybe what was coincidental? Are you SURE you are totally gnat free? How long do you think you will stay that way? Where do people think these things come from? They aren't just in the potting soil, they are everywhere!

mr. green thumb 01 said:

o yea and gnats are worse for your babies than sand is on top of the soil. And it is possible to completely get rid of gnats it just takes a lot of persistence! And i dont care what anyone says gnats start when you over water or when the soil stays damp and dosn't dry out enough or when you dont clear out your drainage catch trays and leave stagnant water in the room. Gnats love standing water or anything that stays damp for a long period of time. I only say what I say from EXPERIENCE.

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They may be worse than sand on top of the soil but they crawl in and out of drainage holes and lay their eggs down there too. How do you get rid of those gnats? I'm sure you can get rid of them totally, but how long before they come back. Believe me, I let my pots dry out completely! And I don't let runoff water pool or anything. I'm sure good cultural practices help keep populations down but they are everywhere this time of year (at least where I live). I've never had any damage or loss of yield or anything from gnats. I have always fought them and will continue to, but they are not that big of a deal if you keep the population in check. I always see these threads about fungus gnats and have tried nearly every single method of "eradication" and nothing I have tried has been able to completely get rid of them and keep them away. If people have had more success with a lot of these "remedies" then I say good for you, but I speak from experience as well and I know what my experience tells me.

doc111 said:

Maybe what was coincidental? Are you SURE you are totally gnat free? How long do you think you will stay that way? Where do people think these things come from? They aren't just in the potting soil, they are everywhere!

They may be worse than sand on top of the soil but they crawl in and out of drainage holes and lay their eggs down there too. How do you get rid of those gnats? I'm sure you can get rid of them totally, but how long before they come back. Believe me, I let my pots dry out completely! And I don't let runoff water pool or anything. I'm sure good cultural practices help keep populations down but they are everywhere this time of year (at least where I live). I've never had any damage or loss of yield or anything from gnats. I have always fought them and will continue to, but they are not that big of a deal if you keep the population in check. I always see these threads about fungus gnats and have tried nearly every single method of "eradication" and nothing I have tried has been able to completely get rid of them and keep them away. If people have had more success with a lot of these "remedies" then I say good for you, but I speak from experience as well and I know what my experience tells me.

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This kind of sumarizes my experiences also although I don't have very much experience, it seems just let your soil dry and dont overwater and it keeps them down enough so they dont cause damage but they really never go away completly for me either. I almost always see maybe 1 or 2 adults every couple of days but thats about it without using insecticides, except for a time when I was overwatering I had a high adult population. The only thing I use is HOT SHOT pest strips but I dont beleive they phase gnats at all. I dont think gnats can really do much harm to adult plants if you keep the population down. I have read that they can kill seedlings however.

I do DWC and I took the lids off tonight to start flushing and to my surprise there was families of these fucking things inside my DWC buckets. I had them in my veg room and used the sticky traps. They worked well for me because I set them in a place that my fans blew the gnats into the traps.

Right now im using Gnatrol with tin foil over the tops over top of my soil, i will be filling garbage bags with a little sand (enough to cover the drainage holes) and be putting my pots in them and duct taping the garbage bag to the pot. DEATH TO FUNGUS GNATS

Not gonna get too into this but put simply, implying overwatering causes fungus gnats is ignorant. I will give you this. If you over water you are certainly welcoming and encouraging them into ur op. However this is by NO means the case, I can assure you I have mastered my watering by now ( I would CERTAINLY hope so) and had a bout with gnats but 2 months ago. So again, gnats will not just appear because you put 1/2 a liter too much through the pot, however you can bet this environment will allow them to thrive. But even in some of the driest parts of the world fungus gnats exist, for example afghanistan. They're certainly not hangin around because of an over abundance of water, however there is plent of decomposing organic matter about between the wild dogs dyin and camels shitting everywhere. That's like saying if ur room goes below 30% RH and above 78 bam! Mites will appear. It simply won't happen, however, if one were to get into such a room, it would have the conditions to THRIVE.

sensisensai said:

Not gonna get too into this but put simply, implying overwatering causes fungus gnats is ignorant. I will give you this. If you over water you are certainly welcoming and encouraging them into ur op. However this is by NO means the case, I can assure you I have mastered my watering by now ( I would CERTAINLY hope so) and had a bout with gnats but 2 months ago. So again, gnats will not just appear because you put 1/2 a liter too much through the pot, however you can bet this environment will allow them to thrive. But even in some of the driest parts of the world fungus gnats exist, for example afghanistan. They're certainly not hangin around because of an over abundance of water, however there is plent of decomposing organic matter about between the wild dogs dyin and camels shitting everywhere. That's like saying if ur room goes below 30% RH and above 78 bam! Mites will appear. It simply won't happen, however, if one were to get into such a room, it would have the conditions to THRIVE.

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Exactly!

I just added regular old play sand to the tops of my soil hopefully this will also slow them down. 50lbs for 2.50$ at home depot. Anyone have good result with sand or any alternatives?>?>?

i have seen sand help alot.

Neem oil sprayed on top of the soil and in the drainage tray. It works.