My question to this as I have never tried it I have dealt with gnats before so I know ur pain but won’t the sand prevent drainage If your top feeding ???
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Mosquito bits work for me as well
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Hey @EKGgrow88 , this may sound strange but I have heard good things about Steel Wool. You cover your medium completely with it and it has a duel effect. The gnats cannot get the medium to lay their eggs so no new babies and the ones that hatch get shredded trying to get out of the medium. It will rust a bit but it’s non toxic metal and even adds a bit of iron to your medium. Once all the babies have hatched and the adults die off your good to remove it. Fungus gnats have a couple week life cycle so a month should wipe out everything.
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When using sand you need to spray the soil before with a diluted mix of hydrogen peroxide to attack the larva then a 2 inch layer of sand and the sticky traps are to clean up the flying ones( Id/early warning after infestation is gone). You should bottom water for a week or two but sand can be pushed aside and top dress as needed. I had 4 10 gallons with 2 inch layers and was surprised at how little it stirred up even with fans blasting( was my worry as well). It's about making a poor environment for them and it will discourage their presence after a few weeks. I had younger plants in number 4's without sand in there to see if they were still present and hiding in the corners and stuff haha(younger plants never got them and it's been several weeks now) You can also use marble chips to avoid the sand(I hate sand with a passion haha) it's more expensive but much more attractive and works just as well. If you're really fancy you get butterwort carnivorous plants to deal with them :DI’ve tried the following barriers; perlite large and small, course gravel, pea gravel, now using quikcrete sand and pea gravel in conjunction. From my point of view they can still access the soil but it slows them down. Nematodes are helpful. Consistent 3x a week sprays with neem and some various bacillus for a month straight will cut an infestation back to the point of being negligible.
I am currently battling root aphids which I’ve thrown everything (organic) at; azamax met 52 beauvaria, essential oils, lady bugs, lacewings, rove beetles, hypoapsis mites and now decided to hit my veg plants with pyrethrin today. I saw all of these little fuckers everywhere on the surface and after spraying it dawned on me that I think I was seeing rove beetles, the predators i added a few weeks back😮!!! I definitely do have root aphids although I am pretty sure they’ve been reduced BIG TIME. The trick is using multi pronged approaches and hitting them like every other day…removing badly infected plants early on helps. Understanding the way in which these parasites attack the plants is key. For a root aphids I also cover the bottom holes of the pots or use a two inch layer of rice hulls because the adult flyers uses the holes as an access point to lay eggs. Telltale sign you have root aphids is the Chalky substance left behind. Must have came in these damn promix bags I use for my microgreens.
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Seems my problem has gone away. I cut my watering amount in half, I have sticky traps in every pot and hanging, and I top dressed some mosquito bits.
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