Whats the best way to get rid of fungus gnats?

My pots and cups are all small. Has anyone tried knee high stockings? Slide the cup into it like a foot and tie it off at the base of the plant? Would the gnats be able to penetrate the stocking at all?..just weasel in there.

Must be gnat eggs in my new sunshine mix #4. Bunch of them buzzing around now. :neutral_face:

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Thanks man for bumping this up Arriba|nullxnull, got them controlled with the yellow sticky traps but after reading this now Iā€™ve got more artillery to fight this little bastards ā€¦ gun_gun

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Put a layer of mosquito bits 1 inch under the soil of every plant you pot. It lasts long enough for the whole season. As long as you do all pots you do not have to do anything else. For mothers you can work them under the top soil every 6 months.

Another option instead of mosquito bits is mosquito dunks grated up. Same thing.

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A combination of fabric pots, Microbial Lift BTI in the res and sticky traps will eliminate Gnats for good.

Oh yeah, I dont even think about plastic pots anymore. Fabric all the way. :+1:

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Mosquito Dunks
The active ingredient in Mosquito DunksĀ® is Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis. (B.t.i.). B.t.i. is a bacterium that is deadly to mosquito larvae but harmless to other living things.

ā€¦and then I found this on alibabaā€¦
https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600058100936/Insecticide--Abamectin-0.2%+-Bacillus-thuringiensis.html?__sceneInfo={"cacheTime"%3A"1800000"%2C"type"%3A"appDetailShare"}

.
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Would these be the same active ingredients?

Nope, it has Abamectin, which is poisonous no|nullxnull

I have relative success with Mosquito Bits, which has BT, but what helps the best are the yellow sticky traps ā€¦ :sunglasses:

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All of that is scaryā€¦but I definitely donā€™t want to fuxk with the bees.

Ended up snagging some of thisā€¦see what happens. Those dunks and stuff are super pricey here.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mORfewv

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I had fungus gnats awhile back when growing in coco and in Canada I had a really hard time finding products that were available here. I ended up having to special order some Aquabac from a home hardware and come back another day. Along with the sticky traps it worked pretty decent but I never did find the proper concentration to use.

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So the top dressing of DE definitely knocked them back hardā€¦saw 2 flying around today.
I recieved my BTI/mosquito dunk granules today. Product info says it can cover up to 200 sq ft for 12 days.
How much of a mosquito dunk would someone use in a 5 gallon bucket? This bucket holds my nutrient solution with a bubbler. Usually takes 2 or 3 waterings (10ā€™ish days) to use all the water in the bucket.
Thanks much, gang!

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I sprinkle it in the top inch of soil during transplanting. Or just put a layer down before filling the container all the way. Otherwise, Iā€™ve used 1 tablespoon per gallon and it seemed to have at leas help spread it

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Yeah I would work it under the top soil of the plants. Like about a pinch per pot so it lasts a while. Or if you want to water it in then I would only put a pinch into a 5 gallon bucket. It does not take much. They might not dissolve away quickly , depending how they are meant to be used. If they dont then just try to leave the bits in the bucket floating around while you take water from it so it keeps treating the water your taking from.

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I put a quarter sized piece in a 5 gallon bucket and itā€™s effective floating there for maybe 2 weeks through refills. I have dunks tho, which are just the bits compressed into a puck. Bits in a mesh bag would probably work the same.

In the water works better than crumbled on the soil for me, and it takes less that way. For Mosquito control theyā€™re meant to be thrown into standing water where the Mosquito larva are. Could try both ways see what works best?

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Yeah both ways work. I hit 'em both ways. I put the bits an inch under the surface of all my pots which prevents any outbreaks. If i bring some new soil in and i see some flyers around then I water the entire room the next watering with a powder form of the bits/dunks. Just dissolve a tiny bit into the water before watering. It is a great product. Oh yeah and of course, yellow sticky traps because it helps you to see how the problem is evolving plus they give you satisfaction when you see one of the little shits stuck and struggling.

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Doing both at the same time is a good idea. A racket style bug zapper is kind of fun to get the flyers too :zap:

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Your zappers are fine enough to get gnats?! All the ones Iā€™ve used barely zap fruit flies, holes and the wire spacing it too big to make the connection or they go right through it.

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I have one like this with a fine mesh (Kekilo brand), it can get them:

Regular flies sometimes bounce off if they canā€™t fit through the mesh.

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I fear I will smash the plants if i get overzealous :slight_smile: Thinking I am playing tennis or something.
Unfortunately where I am fungus gnats are a way of life. I have never bought soil back to my house from a nursery without fungus gnats in it. Really frustrating. So I had to just create a routine that managed them. Much less stressful than being reactive. So there are times where i do not bring in soil for up to 2 years at a time and I am technically fungus gnat free the entire time. I still see one flyer on its own every couple of weeks or so but it never gets any eggs down that survive. So I still use all the products religiously to prevent them and so that when the next batch of soil comes in they cant take hold. After new soil I just get flyers around for a couple of weeks while they all slowly die off. Then I am good for at least another few months until i next bring something in.

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I used to get them when I bought soil that was stored outside. Now I buy soil stored in huge containers and or in store and have been rid of them for years. Hate them damn bugs, last time I had them it drove me batty. Good riddance and donā€™t come back!!!

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I used drzyme followed by a soil drying cycle and then water with a 3%peroxide mix 1 part peroxide to 4parts water. Drenched soil in that and again did a drying cycle. Had fans on full blast and we now are rounding week two of not seeing one. Hopefully I wonā€™t the battle.

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