This is my 3rd crop, first time not using miracle grow soil, the fruit flies are crazy. looking for suggestions on what to do about it
They're not fruit flies Isherwood.......I'd bet they're plain old fungus knats. I'm going to guess alot here..........the plants are young and or cloned....the soil is damp....you may have poor run off from watering, you may have leaves touching the "soil", you may not have proper ventilation. Good news is...things are probably going to get better. Knats cant compete with fast growing veggies. Get some plain clear (white) alcohol in a spray bottle and for the time being spray everything, everyday that isnt soil, plant or water used for the plant. Once the water runs through the plant it can be sprayed. Put a couple stickie glue hangers up to catch as many as it can and smush the rest as you can. It's like hunting deer after awhile. Your alcohol bottle turns into a mighty shotgun. You realize they're coming out when you spray and you can limit thier numbers until they can no longer compete with those fast growing veggies. Dry it up as much as you can and increase ventilation. And good luck. Just my opinion. Grasshopper
I use diatomeceous earth for ALL of my pest problems. Non-toxic, cheap, and only needs to be applied correctly to be effective. It can be messy in a breezy room but the payoff is you use NO chemicals to eliminate the bugs. At harvest, I spritz the flowers with water to remove any residue and water also breaks down the diatom-earth to calcium and silica. In your case it would be effective against fungal gnats or any insect that lays eggs in the soil.
i've never heard of using alcohol! wouldn't that cause problems for the plant? i use neem oil and sticky traps for fungus gnats. and the diagnosis of fungus gnats is prob. correct!
With alcohol you dont spray the plants...why would you? Its the soil they're hatching in.....and yes, I do lightly mist the hydro - soil surface after watering if I'm having a problem. Usually with clones and sicklies you do.....any other times will almost certainly be a water/humidity problem. Spraying the "floor" brings them running and you can cock the gun when they leave the plant. It's almost enjoyable! My thing with Neem oil.....I'm an Exterminator with 27 years experience with PCO certification on fungus/mold......no pesticide/anti fungal is meant to ingest.....irreguardless of what the lable says. As for the diatomeceous earth, it's a desicant, or drying agent, made from pretty much pre-historic earth forged with silica (glass by any other word). Again...ingestion to me is questionable. Having said this, I'm sure one of these guys (some are litteral genius' if you ask me) will disagree. Bottom line....you have options, choose well. Just my opinion. Grasshopper
neem oil is a product of the neem tree, and not a man made insecticide.... i don't think there is a problem putting it on weed...
I'm an exterminator for a living and my guess would be that they're aphids & not fruit flies. I would just transplant & toss the contaminated soil. Otherwise, go to www. pestweb.com & see what they have to say. You can ask an actual entomologist!
Laughs....you're an Exterminator and you don't know the difference between flying knats and crawling aphids?
Yes, of course. Black Fungus Gnats crawl and lay thier eggs in the soil and the adults fly and live a day or two. As I said before, transplanting would be the easiest, least toxic way to take care of the problem.
fill a bowl with water and put some dish soap in and make it real sudsy. i had the same problem and its what worked best for me and you already have all of the supplies. wait a day and you will see about a hundred of them that already committed suicide. change the water whenever there are no more bubbles.
lol@ commiting suicide. I prefer the shoot 'em outta the air theory.....it makes me feel so much better about them.