I get the dam gnats every time I grow sometimes seedling roots get eaten or base of the plant and it falls and dies. I want a permanent solution every if I have.to change my grow style completely... thanks
@amishdank420 I am an organic soil grower, humates work for me really well. Not just fulvic or humic the whole spectrum. It takes about two weeks to get rid of them no matter the infestation. Quality humate products have a low ph 3.5-5, avoid the alkaline ones. Coco growers swear by the product "mosquito dunks". It's bacillus thurigiencis BT, a specific strain of it that kills gnat larvae.
@mitsos I heard about mosquito dunks on podcast the other day I'm going to get them for my rain barrel could they be coming from my rain barrel because I use the rain barrel water.
@amishdank420 I think @monkeydo does the exact same thing, put them in his rain barrel. Adopting more than one practice of elimination would be the wise thing. Through practice and error, what works best for your environment.
@amishdank420 lots of good suggestions here. when it comes to seedlings, I have a salt shaker setup with a mix of sand and diatomaceous earth in it and sprinkle it across the soil surface. If the surface is moist (which it usually would be) I add a light layer of dry rice hulls, small straw bits, perlite or even some dry soil, and sprinkle on top of that. then try and bottom water the seedling. This has helped me smash a FG takeover in no time, if you have dry DE when they land or where they have to emerge from the soil at they die out in no time. The sand mixed in makes the handling easier, still avoid inhalation of the DE
@southsilly yea I got the big agriculture bag of d.e. and I sift that on and then sift sand then d.e. again. I'm bad on cover crop or what not. I thought about covering the soil with plastic and bottom watering. I got the ac infinite self water base but I'm in a basement on concrete so it's not ideal and it takes away from Total heights in the end. But they were very nice for going on vacation.
If you’re a soil grower you might try sprinkling neem meal on the soil surface or another possiblity is a nice layer of sharp sand on top of the soil.
Random acts of kindness make the world a better place
@monkeydo sharp sand works well for me. Curiously my last TG Super Soil mix hasn't attracted many fungus gnats at all. Not sure if that's a good sign or a bad sign 😀
@toploader if you’re feeling left out I’m sure we can mail you a few thousand so you’re plants can feel normal again 🤣
I hear the sand has been a very good answer for many soil growers
Random acts of kindness make the world a better place
@toploader If your soil is balanced and your watering on point, you don't get any.
Drenching your soil-medium with spinosad will kill any kind of larvae and worm in it. It is 100% effective and even has a proactive duration of about 10 days after drenching.
I grow in an organic living soil bed and the only thing thats ever worked for me if I got gnats was the combination of lots of yellow sticky traps and mosquito dunks.
Make sure you have a reservoir if you use mosquito dunks as they need to soak in the water for a bit. First let your top layer of soil dry slightly, then remove the mulch layer (only if its dry) Soak the top layer of soil with the mosquito dunk water then put down your mulch layer again or if you can put some new stuff down. If your mulch layer (if you have one) isn't very thick then just soak the lot without removing it.
Gnats hate a dry top layer of soil but you cant kill adult gnats with mosquito dunks you thats why you need the traps. I just change them quite frequently so I can see if numbers are reducing.
I've only ever had gnats when I first made my soil mix and then recently when I had to make more soil mix to move to a bigger bed. Since then I don't use the dunks as IPM takes care of things. So sometimes make sure there isn't an external source for them like adding castings from your worm bin etc.
I had a bad fungus gnat issue that was brought it by bag soil. If you check my current diary, i’ve used builders sand as a mulch. Also, get some of those blue light plug in. Zevo’s they’re called. They work great for getting the adults
I use mosquito dunks the whole time and never usually have any bother with gnats but right now im completely over run with them, Iv seen a couple of times it's like you get a dunk that doesn't work, but the reason I got so many gnats this time was because when I repotted my seedlings into bigger pots I put a layer of soil in the bottom of the pots and then dumped in a few inches of old cow shit and then put more soil on top.
Adding shit to the soil always brings gnats with it but my new dunks should be here soon and im thinking it should fix them because normally things like this dont happen so im pointing at a dodgy dunk being the problem this time.
I wouldn't have thought gnats would come from the rain barrel because I use a filthy old barrel with green shit growing inside it, iv only cleaned it 2 or 3 times in probably over 2 years, and I actually just cleaned it a few weeks ago, unless my rain barrel was so filthy before that it was killing all the gnats and now that iv cleaned it they've moved back in.lol but I really dont know.
Dunks are a vital part of my set up but it can take a week or two to get rid of the gnats sometimes and once or twice you will get one that doesn't seem to do anything. I have yellow sticky traps hanging in the tent now too but normally I dont even need them. A dunk will last for about a month before needing replacing.
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