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why do i have fungus gnats?

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why do i have fungus gnats?

imgrowing 38 Replies 4,699 Views
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imgrowing

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#1
everything i've ever read said unless you over water and have wet soil for a long time fungus gnats won't be a problem.
i'm really careful about the wet dry cycle and yet i have them.
treated with DE and a layer of perlite and then sticky traps today.

why would i have them after being so careful?
 
#3
imgrowing said:
everything i've ever read said unless you over water and have wet soil for a long time fungus gnats won't be a problem.
i'm really careful about the wet dry cycle and yet i have them.
treated with DE and a layer of perlite and then sticky traps today.

why would i have them after being so careful?
Click to expand...
Is it a real problem or just a few?

DE will help, but keep it dry. Sticky traps will help, but chances are neither will get rid of them 100%.

You could get a "natural" spray and gently hit the tops of your pot(s). Come back every 3 days and hit 'em again, a few times. After you hit your pots, give a little shot to your tent or grow space itself. Hit the outside and bottoms of your pots. You can also take your pots out, spray insife and bring the pots back in.....

Give it some time, a few rounds. Stay on top of it. You may end up just controlling them and not getting rid of all of them. But you should be able to get through this grow, then really disinfect things for the next one.
 
#5
imgrowing said:
everything i've ever read said unless you over water and have wet soil for a long time fungus gnats won't be a problem.
i'm really careful about the wet dry cycle and yet i have them.
treated with DE and a layer of perlite and then sticky traps today.

why would i have them after being so careful?
Click to expand...
Hydrogen peroxide the shit out of them every few days becareful though
 
#7
imgrowing said:
everything i've ever read said unless you over water and have wet soil for a long time fungus gnats won't be a problem.
i'm really careful about the wet dry cycle and yet i have them.
treated with DE and a layer of perlite and then sticky traps today.

why would i have them after being so careful?
Click to expand...
I got them from the soil I was using. They were in the soil I read another person said that particular soil had them. Use Neem Oil too.
 
#8
Gross. Don't use neem. That shit is nasty and your product will reflect that. Mosquito bits should control it well enough to get you to harvest. Gnats are a pain in the ass but won't really affect mature plants too much unless you let them get out of control.
 
#9
Stoney68 said:
I got them from the soil I was using. They were in the soil I read another person said that particular soil had them. Use Neem Oil too.
Click to expand...
Bugs are always a given when buying bags of soil from a store, or bringing outdoor soil indoors.

I know neem oil is good, and I have some, but I don't know if it's 100%. It can be a lot to spray down multiple plants, then rinse them......but yeah, it's good stuff.
 
#10
Neuro said:
Gross. Don't use neem. That shit is nasty and your product will reflect that. Mosquito bits should control it well enough to get you to harvest. Gnats are a pain in the ass but won't really affect mature plants too much unless you let them get out of control.
Click to expand...
Thiis.

Wait......mosquito bits?
 
#11
These are indoor right? I used 1/10 3%hydrogen peroxide and water multiple times and my plants are fine adds oxygen to soil it does not hurt them at all what so ever I doit every 2-3 days and the fungus nats are gone I let some sit in the bottom of my pots tray aswell. Not sure if that’s something that can still be done through the flowering phase I don’t see why not other than ph maybe not sure other than killing them and my plants are fine In veg state
 
#12
I had a similar situation last go around, I think the biggest culprit was my location and the amount of gnats already populating the area.

If you live in an area with gnats (creek,swamp,overgrown weeds) all it takes is one or two to find your grow space and set up shop.

Heard good and bad about Neem, I was steered in the direction of Spinosad for a replacement. It's a natural, non systemic pesticide which is supposed to do wonders as a soil drench knocking out any larvae or anything else you may have.

Haven't used it yet but I've got a bottle on the shelf ready 👍🏻
 
#13
Harpua88 said:
Thiis.

Wait......mosquito bits?
Click to expand...
I’ve had many people suggest these to me as well was gunna pick up a bag to try, I use DE in my soil and I keep a spare 3 gallon pot in my tent with dry soil mixed with DE, seems to make a big difference, I also use captain jacks deadbug up until flower I’ll spray them 2-3 times before flip just as a preventative,

The deadbug works like a MIRACLE for thrips as well 😉, once I flip to flower the only thing I’ll spray on them (foliar) is 25% peroxide / 75% distilled water mixture if needed, it also controlled PM for me through a grow spraying every 3-4 days stopping the spread
 
#14
Welcome to my world lol
I have them everywhere, a few in my kitchen, bathroom and loads in the garden, one of the neighbors could have a pile of wet compost, I don't know, there a pain but don't really effect my plants, I have to be very careful with seedling and clones, that can be a problem.

Don't use air or fabric pots, keep drainage hole to a minimal, max 4 and use 1" of sand in the bottom of the pot
Mosquito bits do knock the numbers back, I use 3 tbsp in 5 ltrs of water, let it stand for 12 hours, mix it up a few times.
I use some mesh to collect all the bits or it blocks the watering can.
you can repeat the weekly, kill the life cycle.
1" sharp sand on top of the compost, keep the numbers low

If you water at the right time and keep the humidity low 40-50%, this tends to keep then numbers low

hang lots of sticky paper, this really helps,
Run your fingers over the soil in the pots, if you see a few gnats, remove the top 2" of compost, because the larva live there.

The sharp sand is like razer blades to gnat larvae.

If you have any compost left, put it in a bucket and tip a pan of boiling water in, mix well and cover, this should kill the all bugs in the compost.
but if its organic it does kill the good stuff too.
 
#16
imgrowing said:
everything i've ever read said unless you over water and have wet soil for a long time fungus gnats won't be a problem.
i'm really careful about the wet dry cycle and yet i have them.
treated with DE and a layer of perlite and then sticky traps today.

why would i have them after being so careful?
Click to expand...
Fungus gnats eggs sometimes come in store bought soil mediums. There’s just no way to avoid them sometimes even when you’re drying down properly. Water with BTI and they’ll be gone in 3-4 days. Keep watering with BTI and they’ll never come back
 
#17
Mikedin said:
I’ve had many people suggest these to me as well was gunna pick up a bag to try, I use DE in my soil and I keep a spare 3 gallon pot in my tent with dry soil mixed with DE, seems to make a big difference, I also use captain jacks deadbug up until flower I’ll spray them 2-3 times before flip just as a preventative,

The deadbug works like a MIRACLE for thrips as well 😉, once I flip to flower the only thing I’ll spray on them (foliar) is 25% peroxide / 75% distilled water mixture if needed, it also controlled PM for me through a grow spraying every 3-4 days stopping the spread
Click to expand...
What is a mosquito bit?
 
#18
Drgreenthumbs1 said:
Fungus gnats eggs sometimes come in store bought soil mediums. There’s just no way to avoid them sometimes even when you’re drying down properly. Water with BTI and they’ll be gone in 3-4 days. Keep watering with BTI and they’ll never come back
Click to expand...
Excellent, I'll get right on it.........as soon as I figure out what BTI is....
 
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