You are right about smoking Neem— but it also should never be used on the plants once budding starts-- so that eliminates the issue-- just don’t use the Fan leaves or anything.
I think you are looking at it wrong. Bti works but if you stop puting bti they are gonna come back man… Same for all the things that work… It’s shitty but it is what it is… find the thing that works for you and you’ll have to live with that.
I use bti. I started using every watering. Now I just use it when I need it but I always have some around.
Covering the top of your pots with sand plus using fabric pots works great also but is a pain in the ass.
Controlling your waterings + neem + fan drying top layer + bti.
Neem only lasts for 2 weeks and if you cure your buds for at least a month you shouldnt worry.
If you use fertilizers you shouldnt worry about smoking neem also.
My point is you are not getting rid of them with a magic solution. Sorry mate. The good thing is you are not alone 
1 Like
Fabric pots, two inches of something on the top soil and a Shop Vac is the greenest way to control gnats. If you use plastic pots with holes in the bottom you are going to get an infestation you cant control.
If you wait until your plants wilt to water to control gnats you are stressing them needlessly and opening them up to secondary infections. Also during flower wilting will stop trichome and terpene production.
1 Like
Old wifes tales, but it seems to work… Pour some 100-120F / 40-50C water through. The heat kills the larvae it seems, but does no harm to plant… That and yellow stickies have worked fine with me.
Hypoaspis Miles predatory mites
3 Likes
Rods from God work pretty good.
I’ve come to the unfortunate conclusion that in organic soil there is no complete eradication only population control. One of the two only things I miss about hydro is the almost complete lack of pests. The others the easier humidity management
2 Likes
Fire is organic.
2 Likes
I have recently had a bad infestation and I used gnatrol and nematodes for every watering for like 2 weeks. That reduced their numbers. I saw one flier in the tent yesterday.
I plan to do a lost coast plant therapy + 91% iso drench for 5 days straight and foliar to see if it works. It’s a technique I saw gml recommend. I grow in coco and it seems every brand of coco has eggs in them. I have no other pests around so how did they get in? I’ve even boiled the coco before and nothing.
If you eat fresh fruit and vegetables or leave coffee grounds out and have an open window that’s how they get in.
I do not suggest giving up fruits, veggies and coffee though they’re dietary necessities especially coffee😅
3 Likes
I eat fruits and veggies but that’s upstairs. I never bring fruit or veggies downstairs.
Machine gun
1 Like
^^^^ i tried that now my tent has light leaks 
1 Like
Diametaceous Earth always does the trick for me.
1 Like
Here I use a bio-insecticide based on IMO-1.
The recipe looks something like this:
600ml pure water
100ml of fruit vinegar
100 ml of 70% alcohol
100ml of cane molasses
100ml activated IMO-1
Let this mixture ferment for 1 week.
For application I dilute 1% of the product in water and add 1 teaspoon of diatomaceous earth and 1ml/L of garlic extract and apply via foliar.
In the substrate I make a light layer of diatomaceous earth, in one of the waterings of the week I send another 1 tablespoon of diatomaceous earth in the watering.
And after the gnats’ life cycle is broken, you no longer need to cover them or water them with diatoms, only the bio-insecticide can control it.
After doing weekly application, I never had any kind of pest in my crop, not gnats, thrips, mites.
1 Like
with all the ventilation going on the dust is in the air 24/7 i keep away from that stuff
4 Likes
I had heard about the problems caused by inhaling diatomaceous earth, it really is a problem. But today there are PPE’s that filter these particles, and using this type of mask when handling diatomaceous earth you can already eliminate 90% of the problem, not to mention that it is recommended when handling diatomaceous earth to turn off the fans and exhaust fans. from grow, and just call after application.
But if the cover doesn’t make you comfortable, using it in the water you wouldn’t have these particles flying through the air, thus making it safer to use.
3 Likes
Easy fix, where an n95 mask while dusting it and leave the house for a bit till it settles then when you come back to vacuum it up where the mask. It’s dust not a virus, you can see it, so there’s no denying it’s existence.
6 Likes
Yes 100% wear a mask. Do not shred up your lungs breathing in those microscopic razor blades.
Now on another note as it’s been working in my soil is borage and catnip. They attracted tiny wasps and after that I haven’t had any issues with bugs at all. In fact I started to see pot worms crawling around. I never used DE, but I did use rice water from rinsing my rice once with vinegar added. No idea if it helped, but oddly they stopped showing up after that. No idea why. I’ve even been watering heavily promoting their spawning and none have shown up.
3 Likes