New Grower Fungus Gnat cures, preventions, and urban legends.

[Feenix]

I'm struggling with the same or similar pest too mate... I cant tell if they affect growth but my big issue is that they end up in the flower stuck in the resin, funny but not nice to smoke or look at lol. So I invested in some beneficial predatory insect stock to hit them with what I hope to be the nail in their coffin. They come in a tub as eggs with sterilized moth eggs as food and are released in two day intervals from the housing container to separate release chambers spread throughout affected areas. They're then supposed to feed, pupate, feed, lay eggs, die and repeat the cycle. all for $35!

Just a heads up that it's the gnats larvae that do the damage, not the gnat. Mosquito dunks sold at most home stores add nematodes to the soil that eat the microscopic pests. break a quarter of one and put it into a bottle of water and put a hole in the cap to squeeze some at the base of the seedlings. A couple good squeezes on each will do it. Repeat daily for a few days then each week. Top off the bottle as needed.

 

[orrganic]

Just a heads up that it's the gnats larvae that do the damage, not the gnat. Mosquito dunks sold at most home stores add nematodes to the soil that eat the microscopic pests. break a quarter of one and put it into a bottle of water and put a hole in the cap to squeeze some at the base of the seedlings. A couple good squeezes on each will do it. Repeat daily for a few days then each week. Top off the bottle as needed.

They sound great! I can't say the term mosquito dunks ring a bell though, I'll look into the local equivalent for sure. Thanks for the tip.

 

[bushmasterar15]

They sound great! I can't say the term mosquito dunks ring a bell though, I'll look into the local equivalent for sure. Thanks for the tip.

The active ingredient in Mosquito Dunks® is Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis. (B.t.i.) They have them available at Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply if your looking for them at a local store.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Just a heads up that it's the gnats larvae that do the damage, not the gnat. Mosquito dunks sold at most home stores add nematodes to the soil that eat the microscopic pests. break a quarter of one and put it into a bottle of water and put a hole in the cap to squeeze some at the base of the seedlings. A couple good squeezes on each will do it. Repeat daily for a few days then each week. Top off the bottle as needed.

Feenix:

It is a bacterium not nematodes. Bti is a biological or a naturally occurring bacterium found in soils. (Bti is short for Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis.) It contains spores that produce toxins that specifically target and only affect the larvae of the mosquito, blackfly and fungus gnat. EPA has registered five different strains of Bti found in 48 pesticide products that are approved for use in residential, commercial and agricultural settings primarily for control of mosquito larvae. I have used several strains of BT in my organic growing but I don't smoke any of my vegetables. Still safer than most of the alternatives.

 

[Feenix]

Feenix:

It is a bacterium not nematodes. Bti is a biological or a naturally occurring bacterium found in soils. (Bti is short for Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis.) It contains spores that produce toxins that specifically target and only affect the larvae of the mosquito, blackfly and fungus gnat. EPA has registered five different strains of Bti found in 48 pesticide products that are approved for use in residential, commercial and agricultural settings primarily for control of mosquito larvae. I have used several strains of BT in my organic growing but I don't smoke any of my vegetables. Still safer than most of the alternatives.

I'm sure you're right Man O' green, It was a long time ago that I read anything on them and what I read mentioned nematodes but it covered other products too , not being a biologist, it's what stuck. However, and I've mentioned it a few times in the past, within the last 3years. After treating, a lost cause seedling I was trying to time lapse, I pulled it and and under the scope I watched larger critters that looked like pictures of nematodes enough to fool me, eating smaller critters that I knew to be fungus gnat larvae. My whole bag of jiffy was infested after being left open. I was lucky that it was the first to crack and be planted to photograph and it fell over and warned me to get a fresh bag for the rest. The root had been eaten to the transition to stem, the remainder, including the still wet shell was crawling with them.
It was interesting to watch because every time one ate, a small flash of white that, for scale purposes, would be about of 1/16 inch if the bodys had been 1 inch. ran parallel with the body as if a throat constricting. Just a flash but lots of them. I've spent many hours going through camera roll frames hoping I had caught it on video but no luck so far.

If there are no objections, I'm going to ask a mod to move this line to live stoners to not clutter the thread and we can continue the discussion there. I'd like to know what I was watching and maybe someone will know.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I'm sure you're right Man O' green, It was a long time ago that I read anything on them and what I read mentioned nematodes but it covered other products too , not being a biologist, it's what stuck. However, and I've mentioned it a few times in the past, within the last 3years. After treating, a lost cause seedling I was trying to time lapse, I pulled it and and under the scope I watched larger critters that looked like pictures of nematodes enough to fool me, eating smaller critters that I knew to be fungus gnat larvae. My whole bag of jiffy was infested after being left open. I was lucky that it was the first to crack and be planted to photograph and it fell over and warned me to get a fresh bag for the rest. The root had been eaten to the transition to stem, the remainder, including the still wet shell was crawling with them.
It was interesting to watch because every time one ate, a small flash of white that, for scale purposes, would be about of 1/16 inch if the bodys had been 1 inch. ran parallel with the body as if a throat constricting. Just a flash but lots of them. I've spent many hours going through camera roll frames hoping I had caught it on video but no luck so far.

If there are no objections, I'm going to ask a mod to move this line to live stoners to not clutter the thread and we can continue the discussion there. I'd like to know what I was watching and maybe someone will know.

The list of things good and bad that live in the soil is very large indeed. There are many nematodes and wire worms that are predatory and they occur naturally in soil. So you may have witnessed that predation. Most nematodes are too small to see with the naked eye. I don't know if it was in this thread but someone was saying that BTi did not work for Fungus Gnat control for them. More than likely they did not treat often enough for long enough. The life cycle is 3 - 4 weeks. You would need to treat for at least 4 weeks to kill them off. This also assumes no new gnats from outside sources.

Yes we can move this to a new thread but start a new thread, things just get lost in the chatter of chat.

 

[Feenix]

Hopefully this will end up answering a lot of questions about the pesky Fungus Gnats.

 

[trailanimal]

@dankstyle J , I know these aren't your current enemy, but you have battled a lot of bugs

 

[trailanimal]

I've been hearing about Green Cleaner, something like that, have you tried it on these things?

 

[trailanimal]

Hopefully this will end up answering a lot of questions about the pesky Fungus Gnats.

should be a good thread