Do you have a way to get some more in a less risky packaging? IDK if they sell inoculated medium instead of as a concentrated paste, but if they do I’d hope it has a better survival rate
Sucks about the DoA. Theres a local greenhouse that rears and sells them here, but only in summer, even they say they are too difficult to keep alive the whole year.
+1 for BTi though, get some dunks or bits and add em to a glass of water, fruit fly trap style.
And of course the obligatory mention of a H2O2 soil drench, as it was an overnight fix for my worst FG infestation I’ve had.
The todes just aren’t reliable unless you’re producing em in house, so I hope your next batch has more success.
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I’m glad you found my suggestion a useful one🙂
I mentioned it Even though off topic as it’s what nuked mine dead and never came back. Any stragglers that try now just die instead of breeding or don’t find my soil hospitable now. Maybe it was the garlic or Maybe some leftover bti if it’s still in the soil. Whatever the case let’s get rid of those gnats for good
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I’ve been growing yopo, p. viridis, san pedro cactus and a few other tropicals indoors in winter, outdoors in summer.
I learned after the first winter that you don’t bring outdoor plants indoor unless you soak the for 12hrs min. in a bath of 8oz Dawn dishwash detergent/20gals of water. Also 3 drenching sprays of the same formula w/ 4 oz of 80% alcohol / 28oz sol optional.
I soak each pot twice in clean water as a rinse after likewise a double spraydown of the whole plant first.
I’ll be the first to admit that technique is far from TLO but I reestablish my mini herd right after and the plants suffer no ill effect, rather flourish as the gnats and other undesirables perish.
In my very last grow my version of TLO and mosquito.dunks have kept them at bay but I always get them in summer.
I try to limit indoor grows to winter.
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I ordered another 8 million nematodes from amazon… these ones said they guarantee arrive alive, although it also says “DO NOT FREEZE” lmao but why would they sell them in the winter if they can’t ensure delivery???
i’ll be using a microscope to ensure they are alive before attempting to apply them to my plants or wax worms this time … i’m also going to make sure i’m home when they arrive, last time they sat outside for 4 hours 
Now in ARRIVE ALIVE TECHNOLOGY non-refrigerated format.
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Good luck, I had the same problem with my nematodes freezing, sounds like this second vendor is the same one I used.
I was waiting until temps warm up to order some more, but ReikoX suggested, Stratos mites, found some on Amazon.ca, 500 mites for $33, 5000 for another 16$ they will breed themselves, do long as there is prey about.
https://www.amazon.ca/Grub-Grenade-Stratiolaelaps-predatory-predators/dp/B07L56BWXK/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_2?crid=M3T2K1NN95ZE&keywords=grub+grenade&qid=1555383364&s=gateway&sprefix=grub&sr=8-2-fkmrnull
These guys don’t mind the cold, they also kill spider mites and thrips larvae.
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the second order i placed arrived alive, cleared up my gnat problem. i’m on my last pouch of the nematodes so i’m going to try breeding with them…
$50 for 5000 seemed way too expensive but i found a website with 1000 for $20 and 25,000 for $40 so maybe i’ll try getting some, it’s just that i heavily rinse out my coco before re-using so i don’t want to have to re-buy it. it says the 25k is good for 1000sqf tho, i wonder how long it stays good in the bottle?
if i take some soil from one pot and put it on top of the other after rinsing would they re-establish ??
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Do one ever wonder how they go about determining how much is a specific number? I know the ones in my worm bins wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to count them all . Lol
I need to figure out how to sell mine for a little pocket cash! Lol
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I’d think they would pretty easily give them a little decaying organic matter (compost) and they’ll be happy!
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The only way to count, as it was explained to me by the guy at Grub Grenade, was you take specific amounts of the media they are in, soak in alcohol to kill them, and seperate them from the media, and then count them under a microscope. Do that a few times to calculate the average per square inch and you should then know how many you have overall.
I was also told nematodes are better to start with as a knock down, then control with the mites what’s left as they will keep reproducing, by themselves, and can last several years once established.
Nematodes have specific temperatures they only operate in so if the media is too hot or cold they will die. I will check but I think it was between 60 and 75f. They don’t live long either unlike the mites.
Edit: Checked and its 60F to 90F.
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i ended up finding another website i ordered from … it was $17 for 3,000 mites … should be plenty
the nematodes i had did a great job knocking them down for a month or 2, but i didn’t follow up with the 2nd application 1-2 weeks later and now they’re starting to come back again, so i added the last of the nematodes between all the pots again… my problem with the nematodes is keeping the soil moist … i think they died off because i let them get too dry… and when i would transplant or start new plants/clones i wouldn’t have nematodes to add to them so the gnats would just move to those ones
do these s. scimitus mites work in coco? and do i have to keep the media moist all the time? i read they can live for a couple months without food so if i can apply these once and not deal with it again that’s way easier than buying worms every month or 2 and breeding these nematodes … the cups of worms kept getting moldy i think i was keeping them too moist, so both my attempts were a fail and i just decided not to try a 3rd time
edit: nvm that $17 turned in to $58 with shipping … gonna keep looking around and check local garden centres
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When I looked for mites last year the only place I could find was in BC. 20$ for the mites and 78$ shipping. I never bothered either.
Well my gnats are disappearing with my 5000 mites from grub grenade. 17 days now and I have probably 50% less gnats, going by the yellow stickers. These mites reproduce and will wander around and search food out. So long as the soil has moist cycles they are good they can handle dry spells I think the soil moisture is more for their ability to breed .
Do you re use your coco?
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yes i heavily rinse the coco and smartpot in my bathtub then pour some light nutrient solution or PH’d water at the end and re-use it, that’s why i was wondering if i could add a handful of soil to repopulate it
looks like if the other websites i contacted have ridiculous shipping prices as well i’ll just be going with the grub grenade… i was really hoping to only spend like $25 cause i’m poor… i’ll just grab the 500 though, says 20-50 sqf and thats about all i have
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How many pots do you have?
For the 500 although it says, it’s good for 20_50 sq ft you would be better spending the extra 16$ for the 5000. What’s your infestation like now. The 500 is really just for one or 2 pots to get them under control fairly quickly if you have a few gnats.
If you are heavely flushing your coco I would keep some in some seperate coco, to repopulate.
Send buddy am email at Grub Grenade, he will get back to you quickly, ask him the best procedure and if the heavy flushing will kill them off or wash them away.
I don’t have those problems with no till, keep the same soil forever, and just keep adding to it.
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i ended up just doing nothing besides my last application of nematodes and i haven’t seen a gnat for a month or more … i think maybe letting the pots dry out and maybe the increase of temperature?? but they’re gone - maybe i’ll try these mites if they come back
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