Indoor Ngats

[ROSWELL88202]

what should i use to get rid of gnats besides flytraps? should i put sand on the top or what shoud i use/do? also i heard apple cider vinagar works too anybody know?

PEACE AND LOVE:rastasmoke:

[coolslayer]

what should i use to get rid of gnats besides flytraps? should i put sand on the top or what shoud i use/do? also i heard apple cider vinagar works too anybody know?

PEACE AND LOVE:rastasmoke:


FUNGUS GNAT MANAGEMENT (http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/uc/uc-028.html)

You can try putting a layer of Diatomaceous earth on top of your soil.
It cuts them open when they walk across it.

Sorry,click on that link.

[DreadedHermie]

also i heard apple cider vinagar works too anybody know

No, it won't help. And it's strongly acidic, like "pH down."

I did try diatomaceous earth toward the end of a grow, and it did seem to help. Not sure what'd be like dealing with it long term, though. It tended to form a crust on top, AND get washed into, the medium (I was using coco).

No-pest strips work, too. Turn off your ventilation and hang one in there over your night cycle. Store it in a zip-lock between uses. :thumbsup:

Try the advanced search function -- we've discussed this a lot already. ("Fungus gnats")

[ScaredasHell]

Look on Ebay (or elsewhere) for a product called "Gnatrol" - it's expensive, but works very well.

[LLLou2]

I was having a gnat problem,I put about 1/2 inch of fine sand on top of my soil and that solved the problem.

[bedrockbob]

Diatomaceous earth works by drying out the bodies of the insect. It also keeps the surface of the media dry, and that helps with gnats. It will add calcium and also raise the Ph of your medium. That may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on where you are at.

1/2" of fine sand is good for the same reason....it dries the surface and keeps gnats at a minimum.

Tobacco (nicotine) is an MAO inhibitor in insects and is deadly to insects as well as humans. Powdered tobacco (wild tobacco that is 100X more potent than the smoking kind) is an effective insect dust and will not harm your plants. In a solution it becomes a little more dangerous but is a fine insecticide. If you ahve a lot of dust on top of the media and water it down it will burn your roots and may cause problems.

Pyrethrum and Neem are the two natural methods for contol that work really well. No need to spray the plant itself...just the pots and the area, and some light misting on top of the soil where the gnats live and breed. they are sure fire, used extensively in the cultivation of medical cannabis (as wellas food crops).

I am going to try a yellow post-it note standing up on the side of the pot, sprayed with pyrethrum. No actual contact with medium or plant, and I have been told it works like a charm. You could even use something a lot stronger like diazinon since there is no spray or contact with the plant or soil.

[coolslayer]

Tobacco Spray for Insect Control
Nicotine is extremely toxic to insects but it's effect is short-lived, only a few hours. This makes it a low hazard to your good insects such as bees and lady bugs.

This is a good defense against aphids, fungus gnats, immature scale, leafhoppers, thrips, leaf miners, and asparagus beetle larvae.

4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon plain liquid dishwashing soap
1/4 cup dried crushed or chewing tobacco or cigarettes
2 cloves fresh Garlic

1.Soak the tobacco or cigarette butts in the water for 24-35 hours.
2.Add the soap and garlic to the water and stir to dissolve
3.Boil it for 2 to 3 minutes, let it cool off .
4.Strain through cheesecloth or other fine strainer to remove particles that would clog your sprayer
Pour into a hand sprayer and spray directly onto pests and undersides of leaves.Spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week.

Store in tightly closed container. Will keep several weeks.

[ROSWELL88202]

I PUT SOME APPLE SIDER VINAGAR IN BOWLS AROUND THE PLANT THE SMELL ATTRACTS THEM

[coolslayer]

I did that also......it helps if the bowls/containers are yellow.

[coolslayer]

Basically,you have to declare war on them and keep at it until YOU win.

[ROSWELL88202]

HELL YEAH and i think am winning lol

[coolslayer]

You will know the war is over when they are all gone.

[bedrockbob]

You will know the war is over when they are all gone.


Are they ever really all gone? I may not be that critical about them I guess. If a few are floating around it is no big deal. If things are damp a lot the numbers rapidly multiply and get out of hand. At that point it is a problem with me.

I use 50/50 perlite/peat and they are no problem the first planting. I re-use the soil twice and it is the second go-round that the gnats get bad.

If'n your pots go dry every 2-3 days the gnats wont get too thick...at least here at 8000 ft. altitude. I try to use the smallest pot so I can feed a lot, the soil gets dryer faster, I use less soil, and things are easier to move around. Indicas seem to like to go dry between feedings rather than moist all the time and this helps with the flies. Also, an acid growing medium promotes fungus, moss, and mold and that is what the little devils are eating. Bigger pots stay wetter, and are colder in the winter too, and this can cause slow growth and Ph/Nutrient problems.

To me, fungus gnats are like washing my truck...why bother because it is just going to get dirty again anyway. Unless they are slowing the ventilation fan down I just let em buzz.

[coolslayer]

That's all well and good,but if you leave ANY of the adults alive,they will lay eggs and the larvae will eat your roots,which could end badly with a dead plant or dead plants.

[bedrockbob]

That's all well and good,but if you leave ANY of the adults alive,they will lay eggs and the larvae will eat your roots,which could end badly with a dead plant or dead plants.


Hmm... Well, I guess that I have been extremely lucky. I always have a few flies by the second planting in the same soil, but they rarely get bad enough to treat by harvest. No dying plants, and roots all kinds so things are working.

Fungus, and gnats, would probably thrive in organic soil more? What kind of soil do they grow in best?

How about a plastic covering over your soil? Maybe just a sheet of that yellow cellophane with a slot for the stem. Might get by with no poison at all?

[ROSWELL88202]

well am going to try everything in the books to see what works best.

[coolslayer]

That's a good idea,roswell.