Using H2O2 to control gnats

Hello all,

I wanted to confirm something that I heard at the Grow Shop recently.

Someone suggested that at 2 ml / Gal 35% H202 would kill gnat larvae.

It is understood that this will kill the beneficials as well, but I am thinking
about top dressing with worm castings and then some diatomaceous earth,
to add some N that my grow needs and to prevent future soil bug infestations.

Does this plan sound like it will work?

I would like to avoid using a poison for just gnats.

Thanks!

JD

If your organic i wouldnt. Im synth in coco and use it all the time kills off the bad stuff and provides extra oxegen to roots

Well, I am growing in soil, using main the Botanicaire line.

I have a small gnat problem, and am also seeing some yellowing
lower down on some of my breeds.

So, I figured to answer both issues at once.

The H2O2 will kill all beneficials, but a EWC dressing would support
their return and would supplement the N for my plants.

I want to add the diatomaceous earth top-dressing, as the gnats
would *love* an exposed EWC layer. I want to stop them dead
and will have all intakes filters to make sure it stays that way.

Take care, and thanks for the time.

JD

why not skip the peroxide, and use sticky traps and DE?

I believe that I need to kill the larvae.

I can get all those that show themselves in a minute
with the vacuum cleaner. (this is actually a lot of fun ;0)

I just want to be certain that they are not gnawing on
my roots. I like to really let my girls dry out between
waterings/feedings and I believe that it is when the
larvae feel stressed by lack of food that they go for the roots.

This is new ground to me. I appreciate the time.

JD

are you using ewc now?

No, not at all.

I consider this (my N issue) to be another side effect of what
has turned out to be a big change from my last crop. My soil.
It seems pretty obvious in retrospect, as this is such a fundamental
part of the grow process. (well, for someone growing in soil it is ;0)

I changed from FFOF to Kelloggs Patio Plus (KPP)

The problem is not that the KPP is not as good as the FFOF, though
I do believe that the FFOF is richer and better blended....the KPP is
$5 a bag and has very good amendments.

....the problem is that the KPP is *extremely* porous.

After getting used to how little water it will hold, I am beginning to
think that it also came with a N deficiency that I will need to
deal with.

It is weird, as I could still smell the chicken manure in the KPP.
It might be that much of the nutrition washes out of this soil.
The early runoff was freakin mud. I really think that the fact
that it stunk as much as it did at first was part of why it
attracted the gnats as it did.

Actually, I am thinking that a mixture of KPP and FFOF for a future
grow, or even the Kelloggs Garden soil....I need something more like...dirt. :0)

Thanks for the time.

JD

the reason i asked is it should have bt in it. which should kill fungus gnats. mosquito dunks are also good for that. its been pretty effective for me so far. idk if peroxide works on them or not.

oh i had an issue with kellogs. it had a very high ph well over 8 which i thnk was from too much hen manure.

Ooooh...the bacterium and/or it's toxin?

This is very interesting.

I need the N boost anyway. I will do this.

Thanks!

JD

it takes a couple days, but, they should stop feeding pretty quick, it just takes a while for them to die. also ewc is pretty kick ass for other benny's, wether or not its a good source of n depends on what they were fed. alfalfa is pretty good for n and has a pgr that should help boost yield.

oh sorry i missread, bt is bacillus thurgensis, a bacteria.

Yup, that is the one. They isolate its toxin for things like the dunks you mentioned.

I am happy to try in any case. I am watching the ladies closely, and will react if
they seem to not like this action for any reason. (I cannot imagine what)

Take care,

JD

I recently got fed up with my minor knat issue I just took the top 2 inches of soil from all my plants replaced with new soil problem.solved my sticky trap is clean now for a week no signs of them either or u can replace with a one inch layer perlite works also