Ghefredo
Active Member
I have a fungus gnat problem I been using been oil for about a week now it calmed the situation down but not completely any advice on how to get rid of them completely
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This is the exact same way I got rid of them. Worked great. I think it was because I used Miracle Grow Soil from Home Depot. Been using FFOF since & never had an issue.Mosquito dunks work well. I also used a layer of fine sand on top of the soil with diatomaceous earth dusted on top. The sand and DE is like broken glass to to the adults. They don’t reproduce as well.
The dunks kill the larvae and the adults can be dealt with in other ways. I also used sticky traps on the surface.
I have 200 gallons of soil in various bins and stages of compost/amending. I rarely see fungus gnats around these days.
I have had great success with diatomaceous earth elsewhere. I live in a shared complex and my neighbours had ants and they were coming into my basement from their side. I put a small dusting of DE, using a sieve, around my entire basement floor bordering my neighbours.
Within a day the ant traffic was down. Within a week their attempts to find another route failed. Two weeks and no ants trying to get in. When kept dry the DE acts as little knives and damages the exoskeleton of insects.
When used properly DE is effective. Applied as directed it’s safe. My DE is food grade
Fungus gnats are a nuisance. In larger numbers with young plants or seedlings they can do some damage but overall in my experience they are just irritating. If it’s a few here and there, no need to go full agent orange.
If you have a larger infestation, then look to the more serious alternatives like predatory mites/bacteria or insecticides.
Mosquito dunks for the win.
A light Azamax does (OMRI certified, not sure why people hate it so much since you aren't spraying the plant, just the top soil) just spray to knock out those living in the top soil and any larvae, sticky traps to catch adults (prevent them from laying eggs), and in my opinion diotomaceous earth is the biggest waste of time. It does not work for anyone I've told about it, it's messy, it turns to a weird paste after it gets wet, and I've watched gnats walk all over it, even dig through it to get to my soil. I'll never waste another dime on it, plus the powder is so fine it goes everywhere including your lungs (not super harmful, but still better not to breathe in any if you don't have to)
The absolute best thing is an organic bacteria culture Bacillus thuringiensis. After a 4-5 weeks of feeding, every single gnat will be gone, it kills larvae (NOT ADULTS) so you still need to control any who are there with traps. But this is the best option as you add it into your water, it does not affect pH or EC, your plants do not take it up, it's by far the most natural way to remove them PERMANENTLY. I always water with it when I buy any new grow medium, regardless if I see any gnats or not, just to be sure. I would bet to say nothing is as safe while being as effective, unless there is some magical trick/product I've yet to hear about.