Fungas Gnats in Coco Beds

let the coco dry up and leave under constant light for several days

:ridinghorse:At 50 a pop for a 4x4 i could see why you wanna reuse but lingering eggs, fungus. etc isnt worth it. Spend the dough and buy new... and set off some bombs in there meanwhile

A new mat is best! I don't reuse coco mats, rockwool or hydroton, inside. Outside is fine though. Cocomat is good for exposed soils during winter. Sprouts grass and other ground cover in spring really well.

Good Luck

After I chop my coco down I let it dry completely out. If there are fungus gnats I cover the tops of my pots after it drys completely out. Let sit for a week or two covered. No gnats should be left! I like to reuse what I can of my coco too. I pull the main root ball out and then drench the remains with canazyme 10ml per gallon. I stir it around once a day for three days then remove the coco and mix with it up with a new bag of canna. Hope that helps!

Gnatrol

word...thanks for the advice...going to give it some gnatrol and cover the beds....i've put a layer of ground up mosquito dunks, DE (diatomaceous earth), and perlite on top to try and confine them, so they don't spread...

Think about some type of sticky trap or method of killing the adults. They lay the eggs and if you can catch most of them and suffocate the youths by covering beds you will irradacte well. It's all a cycle of life don't be afraid to be relentless!

Let me drop a little more knowledge about these lil bastards. The adults will live up to ten days and will lay eggs in any moist organic soil/coco/bed and so forth. The larvae will live for 10-14 days in your medium before changing into pupa. Then the pupa take 4-7 Days to change into adults. So be sure to soak the medium and leave those beds covered for 3-4 weeks. If they can't lay eggs, and the Pupa can't change into adults you will irradicate the entire population. I sincerely hope this helps, I have a lot of plants in flower and just went through an irradcation that took 3.5 weeks. something about the change in weather makes these bastards find ways into sealed grow rooms. Like godamn magic or something!

Be Ez

Pank Mon

PFM droppin some knowledge here. Combo of sticky traps for adults and nuke the babies with gnaterol or something of the like (mosquito dunks?) and that should take care of em. Grabbing some new coco is the best idea as these guys can be pesky, but obviously that isn't what this thread is about so good luck fightin them off :)

Thanks for that info PFM!

I am starting to think more and more that they snuck their way into the aeroponic rails I have now because its starting to get a odd smell in the res. I have had them already have a cycle of life in the roots and its not pretty as they chomp the roots down like crazy. They laid the eggs everywhere and you could visually see them on the baskets. I said it yesterday that I needed to get the Bayers Advanced but now I think I am about to put on the shoes and go to the store. + rep for you kind sir.

are these them?

i think these came in with the coco, could be wrong I suppose..

I'm pretty sure that's what they are.

mosquito dunks seem to be kicking their ass after 48 hours.

I just leave the used coco in a pile in my back yard, near the compost heap. After a couple months the roots degrade and it looks like new. I still only use it for outdoor stuff after, but I'll bet it would be fine if I re-used it.
I use Bayer Advanced lawn and garden insect killer to kill gnats in coco. It works like a sledgehammer.

diatomaceous earth - get some, put it in a spray bottle with water, and spray the hell out of everything. Totally organic and safe to plants and people. It shreds little bugs like glass. Then they dehyrdate and die. I premix some into my coco and it has helped quite a bit.