Fungus Gnats

[CaliCondor]

Nebula talked about this during class but I can't find it easily so asking for some feedback from the community. I have a gnat problem. My plants are bothered or suffering, seemingly, at all but they are annoying me. I am wondering if someone could tell me exactly how you use neem oil to get rid of this critters? Thanks so much,

Sandra

[az2000]

Not sure what's recommened by Nebula. But, I like natural sprays that contain Rosemary, Peppermint, Clove. (EcoSmart, Bonida, Capt. Jack all carry something like this, I believe). It's very pungent and the gnats don't like it. I've seen them fall out of the air 5-6 inches away when I spray it. After each watering, I spritzonce or twice on the soil surface, and around the drain holes/saucer. That's enough to keep them knocked down.

Sticky fly paper hanging on the side wall can help. Also those sticky yellow cards. (You can buy a can of that sticky stuff called "Tanglefoot" and make your own cards, or rejuvenate purchased cards.). Lay the card on the soil surface.

If they're really bad, you can cut a piece of white poster board to lay on top of your container. Cut a slot from edge to center for the stalk. Make two so one covers the slot of the one below it. This isn't a perfect seal. But, makes it harder for the gnats. (If you're in a humid environment, this might cause mold on your soil surface.). One nice thing about these covers is that they reflect light up into the lower leaves. I think it helps.

Related to covering the soil, you can put the bottom of your container in panty hose. That keeps the gnats from accessing the drain holes.

To me, gnats aren't bad. It's a good sign that your soil is healthy. I just want to control their population. I don't care if I have a few. I just don't want them to be out of control. A little of all the above does that. (I've tried diatomaceous earth. I didn't think it did anything.).

[Gingerbeard]

A quick and easy way to get rid of them is to increase air flow over your soil. Another one I use is to mix in diatomaceous earth when I'm filling a pot with soil. Since you're already growing you can scoop off the top inch or two, mix in some DE, and put it back on your plants.
Alternately you can hire a few lizards to live in the tent.

[Toker1]

First of all, using need oil alone sometimes isn’t enough. Bugs can develop resilience to pesticides and pass those traits through the generations.
I would use neem oil then wait a few days, then use insect soap and keep switching up. Make sure to spray the plant all over, under the leaves, and on the top layer of soil.
You need to treat the flyers and also the juveniles in your soil. Some mosquito dunks will do the trick for the juveniles. This treatment may last several weeks before they clear.
Put up yellow sticky traps to monitor the populations. When the yellow traps stay clean for a few days, then the infestation is gone.
If you want to really kill them off, use beneficial nematodes in the soil. They will hunt out the those destructive little juveniles and not bother your girls. .

[Farmall]

Hey Sandra !! CaliCondor I took Sirius’s advice and used the diatomaceous earth dusting. It worked quickly and I have about 14 of those sticky yellow sheets hanging at different heights and as toker1 says...when they stay clean, problem solved

Its me...Farmall

By the way: it’s a bit messy and the stuff recommended by Sirius’s link is a 10lb bag with the duster inside. I’ve only used about 2 cups. Sirius also said to cut back a bit on water...the moisture in the soil is a problem with the larvae

[Toker1]

Something else that worked for me in the past was paint strainers. I could cover the top layer of soil with them and still water/feed through them. I found that DE over the soil washed away too easily.

[Farmall]

That’s true, watering twice and it’s gone thru.... I did it twice and solved the issue so it was caught early... those yellow sticky sheets were in the tent from day 1 so as I saw them, I was able to treat it within 3 days of that discovery.... haha 2 day prime shipping

[CaliCondor]

Hi Farmall!! Hope your grow is going well. Thanks everyone for the help. I really think this current gnat problem came when I had to buy a new soil. My local nursery stopped carrying Happy Frog and started selling Recipe 420. So maybe they are a *good* sign that the new soil is healthy(IDK??) The diatomaceous earth didn't really do much for me. I also read somewhere that you could put pieces of raw potato on top of soil to attract the larvae. FWIW.

Thanks again,
Sandra (CaliCondor)

[Farmall]

So nice to see you here Sandra: I’m certainly no expert on this but I thought the same from the super soil I used.... it’s like the gnat eggs were already in the mix and came out when the environment opened up for them

[SoOrbudgal]

Hi from Oregon I have used 1" layer of sand on top of my soil, seemed to help knock them down. Good luck