gnats

Discussion in 'Sick Plants and Problems' started by XxFirexX, Sep 6, 2003.

  1. I have searched and searched, and found some things on how to get rid of gnats. But there are no definative answers. In one post it explained to mist lemon juice, and i tried that, but no success. They havent messed up my plants yet, but their population seems to be growing rapidly. I kill atleast 8-9 every day.

    Anyone have advice on how to kill them all, without killing my plant, that is!! And yes..i have checked and double checked that they are gnats!

    Any help would be much appreciated!!!

    Thanks!

    _B_
     
  2. wheres your grow located? i would say remove the plant, maybe outdoors if possible kill as many as you can before bringing it back in.
     
  3. its located in my closet. So you do think that if i bring it outside they will go away? what is making them stay? the humidity/water/light?

    Ill try it...but im on a 24/0 schedule, should i take em out there for awhile, then when it starts to get dark, bring em inside? or better yet...you tell me what to do!

    Thanks!

    _B_
     
  4. what attracts gnats....lets see, light, water, comfortable living conditions. Yep..sounds just like a grow room, therfore they are common. Lets see...first you can use something common for any bug problem..Tape the inside of your pot/bucket so the stiky part is facing out and the tape will catch some bugs, mm it works :)...then you can use Gnatrol...its safe and kills off the gnats..:)
     
  5. I do not know that this will kill them but it sure drives the little buggars away!just take a few little blocks of cedar and put them around your garden and the smell is a natural deturrant to most bugs!
     
  6. sounds like it would work zone. But what DOES work for sure is Scotts bug spray. its made from chrysanthemum leaves, and so its a natural product that you can use on your plants even up to the day that they are ready for harvest!!

    Stylez- i looked for that gnatrol stuff everywhere!! and just couldnt find it...so i settled for the scotts, and it seems to be working perfectly! i still notice maybe one or two gnats every now and then, but they are usually flying around, not actually in the pot. but i do thank you very much for the helpful hint!!!


    THANKS!!

    _B_
     
  7. High xFire,
    Maybe they are fungus gnats, which grow in soil which stays moist all the time. Try letting the top couple of inches of soil dry out completely between waterings. In fact, the whole pot except right at the rootball should get really dry. MJ likes a drought/flood cycle.
    The sticky tape is a good idea. I know it works for whitefies.
    Good luck, grow the finest Kind! eg
     
  8. If i do let the top soil dry out a bit, does that mean they will die? or just go away?

    The spray is working fairly well, but there are still some that keep coming back.

    THANKS EARTHGIRL!!!!

    _B_
     
  9. High Fire,
    Drying the soil will kill the eggs and larva from which the gnats emerge. The gnats themselves are not necessarily harmful, except during late flowering, because they get irremovably stuck in that yummy resin, and make a bad smell/taste. The squirmy larva are dangerous to germing and newly sprouting babies, because they love rootlings. I have observed them eating the inside of a just opened seed, leaving an empty husk.
    It is important to sterilize your growmix in the oven at 300'F for an hour, Or steam it thoroughly in the microwave. Another handy control method for softbodied soil dwellers is a thin layer of diatomaceous earth on the surface. It is made of razor sharp skeletons from tiny sea critters called diatoms. So don't breath it in! They cut spidermites, aphids, thrip larva, etc. until they bleed to death.
    grow in peace, growbro, earth girl is always happy to help!
     
  10. i recently discovered that the whiteflies around my clones arent whiteflies, their gnats. i tried turning off the ligth for 2 days and leaving the door open with a light outside the door, and it got rid of some. but.....



    mold developed on some of the clones.:(
     
  11. Use fly tat paper and hang it around your plants. If you have a fan, make sure you hang it where it wont blow into and stick on your plant. That usually works for me when i have gnat problems.
     
  12. well, my solution is as follows:

    I had gnats to begin with, but then when i eliminated the soil the started out in, and repotted into brand new soil...i havent seen a single gnat! i guess it was just the soil that had been there for awhile attracted them.

    Thats what worked for me, dont know if it will for anyone else!?

    _B_
     
  13. They are a sure sign of a tendency to overwater. They can only survive and propagate in moist soils containing organic components. (Probably one of the bigger advantages of growing hydro ...)Anyway, the best method is prevention, which means letting your medium get very dry between waterings, thus eleminating the dangers of overwatering. You will know right away, with little damage if you are _under_ watering. Overwatering begins to show (overtly) in the plant after the roots have already begun to get diseased and start rotting. It is unforgiving, merciless, and very, very difficult to cure.
    The same rule works for ferting. You will know by gentle signals from your babies if you are underferting. Overfert need not be as damaging as rootrot, but you have to spend a lot of time and labor to cure it. Growth is stunted, and flowering if any is thin and puny. So why go through such painful mistakes? read about what plants need. Try to grasp the basics of photosynthesis, pH, nutes, roots, CO2, the workings of the incredible, marvelous, mystical, magical, miraculous machine/factory which is a growing plant.
    Good luck, eg
     
  14. Yet another informative and glorious post by the earthgirl!!! Thank ya much!!

    _B_
     
  15. I moved into a brand new apartment about 3 weeks ago and this past week have noticed gnats everywhere, big and small. I have no plants and couldn't find any open food sources either. I read in one of these forums to pour some bleach down the drain pipes, so did that just now. Anyone have any other ideas of what I can do, or insecticide traps I could buy? One weird thing that I noticed was about 10 dead gnats even in the fridge. I assumed they flew in there when the door was open.
     
  16. Howdey k-kc,
    Tiny flying critters in a pristine setting could be from several different causes. You said this is a brand new place. Do you mean no one has lived there before you? Or is it just new to you?
    Look around outside for wet soil or standing water or even garbage not properly collected. The crits could have come in open doors/windows, just like the fridge invaders. Sanitizing the drains is a good move, especially if they give off bad odors. If you have any fresh fruits/veggies hanging or sitting about in a basket, the pests may be fruit flies. Try fly paper, or yellow sticky tape from a nursery. If there have been previous tenents, you may want to give the whole place a good bombing, as you can't know what may have been left behind. Maybe even fleas, which don't actually fly, but jump so high some have mistaken them for gnats.
    Good luck!
    eg
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. HIGH All, holy mackerel earth girl long time so hear!!!!! Yes I'd do what earth girl said Bomb the Apt..sounds like too many pests.
     

Share This Page