You could trim under a flow hood 
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Oh I believe you. The amount of snot is…just not right, haha. Not sure about the underpants, though.
Yup, I feel that.
You could try a half mask (or full face mask might be even better, it’ll cover your eyes too) like a 3M brand - with particulate filters (cheaper) or the “vapor” filters (which are more expensive, and I’ve been cheap). I sometimes use a half face mask, which is annoying for a couple reasons.
I think it’s mostly due to terpenes, and maybe whatever is being released from chlorophyll breaking down or some similar process, maybe.
I have allergies and some respiratory issues, so trimming is a nightmare. Even more so than just the trimming time itself.
There’s a good post on another forum I can find about fungus gnats if you want. I guess you’re in soil? Or a “soilless mix”?
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I setup an inline fan this time with the end of the duct (intake side) directly above where I was trimming/my head, and the exhaust going up to the floor above (as best I could). It did practically nothing.
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Yeah. Am in soil. All good. I’ve got tonnes of literature on gnats. Have tried wearing masks. Even ones with special filters etc. They wear your face out is the problem. It’sjust something I have to suffer is the conclusion I’ve come to. nice to know I’m not the only one though I guess.
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One ‘problem’ with literature is that people without first hand experience can write it. But more likely the problem is that there are multiple methods and more than one often need to be employed. I’ve read it all too, and tried it all.
The best solution to fungus gnats is a physical barrier.
-Find out the size of an adult fungus gnat (err on the smallest size). Examples: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3.
-Find some material/fabric that has holes/openings that are smaller than the size of the gnats. Examples: Mosquito netting, Row Cover Fabric, etc. Note: You want something ideally synthetic, which won’t degrade or breakdown (at least not rapidly) and will allow your irrigation water/solution to pass through easily enough.
-“Encase” either the media (soil/soil and root ball) in this material, OR the entire nursery pot/container in this material. Sort of like this; lay out a square of the material, place root ball and media OR whole container in the center of the material, bring the sides of the material up around the whole root mass/container so that it covers the entire thing up to say 3/4 inches of the base of the main stem of the plant. (Essentially making a “bag” around it). Then you’ll need to “tie” the top(s) of that material to/around the stem. Problem; the stem needs to grow and get wider. Solution; use a stretchable material to tie with. Example: Self Healing Bandage Link. Or something similar.
If they can’t get in and out of the medium, they just die off. They aren’t flying around your environment. Any that are in the “bag” are stuck there, and are also forced to endure whatever other methods you use (h2o2, wettable sulfur, nematodes or whatever).
This works. Period.
It will take a while to notice them not flying around because the little bastards go to other places in your environment/home. They’ll find a tiny sliver of a crack in a window sill, or a drain pipe or whatever and either live or …go dormant or whatever. But the ones in and affecting your plants are doomed. The adults (flyers) cannot lay their eggs in the medium, because of the barrier, they just die off. And you can trap them with yellow sticky traps. Put sticky traps where light hits them, they’re attracted to light as well. Often times they’ll be attracted to co2 or fermenting stuff, so you can use a liquid trap similar to one you’d use to catch fruit flies to either catch some or at least attract them to your sticky traps.
Physical barrier is the best way to go. If you want a link to that other thread/post, I can find it.
As for the allergen/trimming thing. I haven’t solved that. But I’m going to get a trimming machine of some sort, I’m pretty set on that.
Good luck. Let me know if you think of another idea for the allergies thing.
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You’re not alone. I get terrible allergies while trimming.
Some plants are worse than others. My Haze #2 gal is one of my favorite plants of all time, but she sends me into full on asthma attack if I get her trichomes near my face.
I take a Benadryl now, before I start chopping plants. It helps a lot. But I need to shower and wash my clothes as soon as I finish trimming.
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Clothespin over nose. Bam problem solved
I really appreciate the time and effort you put into writing that post. Really appreciated. You’re a good person. Thank you. DM me an addy and I’ll send you some crosses I’ve made. Good deeds warrant good turns. I appreciate it because you didn’t have to do that… But you still did. One love.
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Man, I completely forgot, more than once, to reply. My bad.
I’m just happy to share some experience and methods that I learned. It’s no problem at all.
Thanks a lot for the generous offer, though.
I hope some of that is able to help out the gnat situation.
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