OP, next time mix organic neem cake directly into your soil mix. In the meantime follow Coots directions. I've also heard the mosquito dunks work well. j
I have neem seed meal mixed in my soil. I honestly think its from the damn mulch. I planted green peppers, tomatoes, strawberries and flowers and used the same mulch and got those little fuckers everywhere. I am gonna buy those dunks
I'm working through an infestation right now. I mixed neem/karanja cake into my soil, but still got them. So I topped dressed with neem and DE, but the simple yellow fly sticky pads have been really getting them. Those fuckers can lay 200 eggs a piece so get to them now.
What all do you have on hand? I'd get rid of the sips till you can solve the fungus gnat issue if you are using black smart pots check the sides and bottoms of the pots they like to hang out there. I went all out sticky cards,DE,mosquito dunks and even pyrethrin
For fungus gnats I recommend: Crab shell meal (chitin -pronounced kite-en) eating bacteria will dissolve their insect bodies. Here's a link to Diy sticky traps. It's a guide I wrote up to help save money! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1305106-pokes-perpetual-underground-jungle-15-strains.html?p=21262182 ~ poke
The mulch will be gone tonight, once i get a moment to remove it. I have crab meal in my soil. We'll see what happens in the next few days
I battled fungus Gnats for ten years in the Central Valley. I've got a list in my thread of 35 or so treatments I tried. Only crab meal worked. Took about 4 days after adding it. Proud to say I've been fungus gnat free for the first time in a decade for about 5 months now
I think it's fair to mention in addition to crab shell meal I started top mulching fresh castings from my worm bins as well as adding all of my dead leaves (what I'd normally remove from my room) as a top mulch as well. I've never seen so many beneficial bugs in my soil, tons of red worms too. But the plants are thriving
Also I have plants growing in an organic soil with nuts or chemicals added (this is the one with gnats) but it has perlite, would it be ohkayy to add some of my worms and castings into this soil.??
i applied at 1/4 cup as a top dressing and watered through absolutely. Just stop adding the chemical salts. They'll build up and create a toxic environment in your soil.
Definitely want to add that you need that top mulch. Fungus gnats prefer the overwatered soils but they also prefer soil filled with microbiology. This is typical of mulching so that is why people use neem meal or crushed cakes, crab meal or even just using cilantro or lemon balm in their mulching efforts. Take the mulch off and the top soil dries out and microbes die defeating the purpose of organic growing. Some people like Gnatrol. I like to clap my hands frantically in the air to squish em but that's just me. I'm going to try more nematodes.
Its like a double edged sword. My last grow i didnt use a top dressing and the top of the soil was dry, and i couldnt keep my soil warm. But we also had -20f weather
This might be bad, for the prevention of thrips. They tend to lay eggs in dead or living plant leaves. Of course, this really only applies if you have thrip issues where you are. I do, so no bueno for me. Lu
Spinosad or sticky traps for the flyers, Gnatrol for soil drench, more concentrated than the dunks, cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Valent-Gnatrol-WDG/dp/B003E7BGTU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432181887&sr=8-1&keywords=gnatrol PW
how big is your container? how much would you say to use per square foot of soil if growing in a large bed (100g)? how much in small containers (1gall)? my big 100g is pretty much gnat free, aside from the rare flyer. but i do have some on my smaller pots where i keep my moms in.