It may seem a bit crazy but - fungus Nats survive due to wetness- spray the dirt with the top of soil or cover with neem oil and cinnamon- it won’t affect the plant. Then let it dry out for about 4-5 days- if u get wilting from not watering - just slightly water the top with no runoff. As the neem and cinnamon Work in - they will die so will larvae and whala- no more nats !!
I used everything from DE to yellow traps - to mosquito dunks- and many other things. In the world of all natural - I find neem and cinnamon do the trick. Hope this helps.
In SOG these bitchy FG can be very destructive with little clones.
When i have a wave from a bad soil or coco lot, i use BT (drench, generally one single application is enough) + cheap female socks covering the whole pot and attached to trunk + switch in bottom feeding.
In my experience, the trouble with nematodes is that they need to be reapplied every 2 weeks, as there will not be enough food in the soil to sustain them. They work if you keep up with applications.
But there isn’t 1 single gnat in any of my rooms anymore, because my pots don’t get soaked or stay wet, and I don’t put organic material (gnat food/attractant) in my media.
Yup, I hear that ALL THE TIME. I usually keep quiet, cuz I just don’t believe it. Maybe if they’ve been sitting outside in the parking lot of Home Depot all summer. But I get mine factory direct and store them dry.
I use Sunshine #4 and Canna coco. Dozens of 3.4 cu/ft bales per year. There has not been a single gnat in my garden in over 5 years.
If you have a little outbreak,
soil drench with BT, nematodes or SM 90, and cover the media surface with a cover or some DE for the Larvae
use TONS of Yellow sticky traps for adults (they go right for them, in my experience)
-Spray insecticidal soap also, if you’re not budding.
-Most importantly, DON’T OVERWATER. Let the soil dry out once in a while, they like it. Especially the surface where the gnat larva are.
Fungus gnats need food. Which is usually organic material added to soil, or rotting roots from over-watered plants.
ya it’s weird i didn’t have a gnat for the first 8 weeks of veg and then i forgot to water for a week or more and came back to find gnats… maybe from the decaying plant matter i didn’t clear away during that week… also the door to my garden is about 10 feet from my cats litterbox so idk if that has anything to do with it?? thanks for the tips, ordered nematodes and dunks off amazon should be here in a week!
If you are in Canada, NIC (Natural Insect Control) is a reliable company that supplies all kinds of predators / pest management products for the garden. That’s who I use. http://www.naturalinsectcontrol.com/
I like using ladybugs, they only go where there is something to eat, they stay dormant in the refrigerator until they get warm. An interesting lady bug fact: ladybugs are born with no spots they get spots as they mature
Ok… Fungus knats suk …so you have to chose poison or no poison… Poison, biffin(bifenthren) water till runoff and problem is gone in 5 min and it has a 2-4wk residual… It’s not systemic. And it’s supposed to be safe… To be sure I called poison control and said my 5 yo sprayed that shit in her mouth and they said not a prob… (Did not happen😉)…
If it’s gonna be No poison… Dio powder only works well when dry… But it is a good broadcast pest management soloution…the strongest bt is those drops from Bloomington(pictured earlier in post) or most catipillar killers… Water soil… Don’t bother spraying the plants… The adult fungus knat is fairly innocuous…it is the larval form that carries the fusarium in their gut and chew your roots. So treat your medium… Let the medium dry out as much as possible the larva are super soft bodied they need a lot of moisture to live…oyster… Crab… Great additives for a bunch of reasons… Been is always cool…Great for prevention but not gonna kill an infestation … If your indoors and organic you need to empty, and bleach out the area and start anew with the preventitive controls in place… If outdoors wait till winter…lol…
Ps if you are in an organic and financial pinch you can, freeze, heat over 120f, or let your medium dry out completely and odds are it’s clean of soft bodies😅
We’ve always steered away from Neem as well, though it’s mostly just a gut-instinct.
Every new bale of peat and bunch of bananas seems to bring back gnats. So we rough chop a head of garlic, skin and all, then right into one cup of cold water and bring to a boil. As it boils down we’ll top it off with another cup of cold water as needed, and boil until the liquid is golden and the garlic has softened.
We’ll strain the liquid into 3 cups of cold water and mulch the solids right into the tops of our pots. A complete soaking with a spray bottle as soon as possible does a number on their population and is safe until the end of stretch. Any later than that and the garlic smell tends to affect the smell of our finished products.
Along with diatomaceous earth, crab shell, seashell, and eggshell powders, the soil can be a pretty dismal place for unwanted guests.
lady bug fact: ladybugs are born with no spots they get spots as they mature
