Gnats, Do I Need To Worry?

[jinxjj]

Started seeing some little black gnats for about the past week. Not too many maybe a couple here and there. Plants look healthy and i dont think they are causing them any trouble, they are just annoying to me. Do i need to worry about these bastards? Guessing i can throw up some fly paper or something to catch them?

 

[symbiote420]

The adults that fly around are harmless, it's those bad ass kids (larvae) that hatch from the eggs they lay in your soil. Messed up part is you more than likely brought em in in your soil, almost every soil available comes loaded with a ton of eggs in it already!

 

[ShroomKing]

The fungus gnat is my mortal enemy. They generally do not harm the plant too much,imo. But if left unchecked can turn into a plague. There is nothing uglier than having fungus gnats stuck, dead and dying, to the trichomes of your flowers.
Definantly take steps to reduce their population, it will save you a headache near harvest. Best of luck.
Peace

 

[Toaster79]

Yellow stickies at medium level and let your medium dry out between waterings/feedings so the first inch or two are dry.

 

[jinxjj]

Any other remedies that i can do to try and prevent them from causing a problem? I would want to kill the eggs as they are the source of the problem. I got my soil from the store but im sure it already had eggs in it when it was sourced from the earth. I usually try to let my pots dry out between waterings.

 

[toxic1]

gnatrol is your answer. 1 tablespoon per gallon every other watering. do this for 2-3 times and your problem will be solved. i do this every time i transplant into new soil.

fungus gnats themselves are mostly harmless. where they do damage is becoming vectors for other pests to hitch a ride onto other plants.

 

[jinxjj]

Did some quick research and seeing that H2O2 is recommended to wipe them out. Anyone have experience with this method?

 

[ShroomKing]

Did some quick research and seeing that H2O2 is recommended to wipe them out. Anyone have experience with this method?

h2o2 only kills the larvae and kills any benificial bacteria in soil, and does nothing to stop mature flyers from mating and just laying more eggs.

 

[Natural]

Did some quick research and seeing that H2O2 is recommended to wipe them out. Anyone have experience with this method?

the larvae live in the top 3-4 inches of soil..if going with peroxide get the 3% version and dilute it 4 parts water to one part peroxide...and pour to soak the top layer.
If you have just a few plants..you can use a layer of diamotaceous earth or gnatnix ..or even fine steel wool..that you can take off to water..keeps the adults from laying more eggs. Also peroxide kills beneficial bacteria as well..so you want to innoculate after, with a good bennie tea if that's what you do.
Lots of yellow sticky traps will help too.
Don't kid yourself though.. a bad infestation will hurt your yields. FWIW Promix is the only soil that hasn't come with gnats for me.

 

[Tnelz]

Don't use h2o2 it's not effective int he long run and it kills ur Bennie populations. Go with gnatrol but microbe lift mc is better. It does the same thing it is the same thing but I've used both and the microbe lift works faster. U can also add a layer of perlite about an inch thick and that stops the adults from getting to the soil. Its actually funny to watch. Not the worst problem to have But they can get out of control. Good luck bro!

 

[Natural]

Don't use h2o2 it's not effective int he long run and it kills ur Bennie populations. Go with gnatrol but microbe lift mc is better. It does the same thing it is the same thing but I've used both and the microbe lift works faster. U can also add a layer of perlite about an inch thick and that stops the adults from getting to the soil. Its actually funny to watch. Not the worst problem to have But they can get out of control. Good luck bro!

that's solid..gnatrol works. I've tried the microbe lift BMC and it didn't work well for me. I'm thinking it sat in the hydro store too long. I've heard that it goes bad and a fresh batch is needed. where'd you get yours T?

 

[jinxjj]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Since i have a bunch of perlite on hand i think i will cover the pots with that and then put up some traps to kill the existing ones. I think i will switch to promix for the next time i pick up soil. Will look into gnatrol and microbe lift mc as well, i actually had really bad problems with gnats in some house plants to the point where i said fuck it and thew them outside to die, now that i have somewhat of a green thumb i'll have to get some new ones and take care of them this time, hahah.

 

[ShroomKing]

If it gets out of control. A $5 bag of KwikKrete Playsand from home depot is safe to use as a topping. And a sand topping stops them fast. Drawbacks are it's heavy. And will pull moisture from your soil And add a small amount of humidity to grow area.

 

[Tnelz]

that's solid..gnatrol works. I've tried the microbe lift BMC and it didn't work well for me. I'm thinking it sat in the hydro store too long. I've heard that it goes bad and a fresh batch is needed. where'd you get yours T?

I get mine from a local hydro store. Its something they sell out of often so I'm assuming I had a better batch or something.lol.

 

[jinxjj]

Thanks Shroom, i dont think its going to get out of hand though. Started with seeing 1-2 and now a week or so later maybe seeing 3-4, nothing crazy. Will take care of these fuckers tonight when lights come on! I will just have to be careful with soil from now on. Since i am using GH flora series nutes can i just re-use my soil after or will i need to add some other stuff to it so it will be viable again?

 

[Tnelz]

For the record jinxx keeping ur Bennie populations up will help. Not saying that Bennie teas kill gnats but the way I understand it they make their lives less comfortable. I hardly get them at all. Since adding Grokashi I haven't seen one. Look into it.

 

[ShroomKing]

I'm a little crazy about Gnats.
I use mechanical means to keep them from my soil. I top my pots with landscape cloth rings ,and gnatgnix mixed with diatomaceous earth that I reuse.
I put my 5g pots into 3g smartpots to seal holes at bottom ,and I use wigcaps to cover the bottoms of my 1g plastic bag pots. Its out of the box ,but it works for me.

 

[Wee Zard]

I'm a little crazy about Gnats.
I use mechanical means to keep them from my soil. I top my pots with landscape cloth rings ,and gnatgnix mixed with diatomaceous earth that I reuse.
I put my 5g pots into 3g smartpots to seal holes at bottom ,and I use wigcaps to cover the bottoms of my 1g plastic bag pots. Its out of the box ,but it works for me.

 

[Wee Zard]

The sand works but it's a pain to deal with, as is perlite.
So, I tried reflectix covers for the soil.
Not good, didn't breathe.
So I researched FGs.
Turns out they hunt for decaying materials by scent the way mosquitoes do for CO2.

Well I've used dryer sheets to repel mosquitoes and yellowjackets.
And they breathe very well.
Started using square pots and the dryer sheets fit them perfectly.
I tear them half way through the middle an pull that around the stem
Lift them to water and change them once a month.
Even when the scent repellent wears thin they still present a barrier to would be egg layers.
Been using them for years now. No gnats, no Root aphids.

They are dirt cheap and they work.

I prefer Kirkland to Bounce.
Less perfume in Kirkland and the perfume is not what makes it work.
That's just for human noses.
It seems to be the surfactant that repels.
And the tight weave that prevents

 

[ShroomKing]

The sand works but it's a pain to deal with, as is perlite.
So, I tried reflectix covers for the soil.
Not good, didn't breathe.
So I researched FGs.
Turns out they hunt for decaying materials by scent the way mosquitoes do for CO2.

Well I've used dryer sheets to repel mosquitoes and yellowjackets.
And they breathe very well.
Started using square pots and the dryer sheets fit them perfectly.
I tear them half way through the middle an pull that around the stem
Lift them to water and change them once a month.
Even when the scent repellent wears thin they still present a barrier to would be egg layers.
Been using them for years now. No gnats, no Root aphids.

They are dirt cheap and they work.

I prefer Kirkland to Bounce.
Less perfume in Kirkland and the perfume is not what makes it work.
That's just for human noses.
It seems to be the surfactant that repels.
And the tight weave that prevents

Interesting method. Kudos.

Peace