I see fungus gnats occasionally, but I did not think there were many. So I hung up a sticky trap and got about 30 over two weeks, is that a lot for a small grow box with four plants? I don't think so but I really don't know. Any mites freaks me out, but gnats seem more benign. Anyway I do have neem and karanja cake in the soil, and my pots got a top dress of the same at transplant. So now I'm at almost 4 weeks, and I did a lavender flower spray as a mite preventive/general tonic and as an afterthought I sprayed the mulch on the soil surface. I'll moniter that trap to see if I see a difference in gnat numbers. But if drier sheets work and they have camphor maybe lavender will too, as it has camphor as well. And lavender works on mites, so maybe......MIW
The larva are horrible they weaken plants and you can see how disgusting they are by poking the upper 3/4 inch layer of your soil. it should break up easy and you will see their congregation writhing at the surface. I hate gnats! I'm planting a 3 seed cover now- buckwheat, rye, and crimson clover. Get some more competition going on the surface.
6 times more concentrated means it's 6 times as powerful, not 1/6 the strength. And to my knowledge neem oil is not systemic on all plants nor usable up to harvest. And getting the neem cake and doing the dressing and all this jazz is too much. I am in coco and as good a media as it is for plants, it's an even better one for plant pests. The azamax is safe on food crops, 6 times as potent, and will keep those suckers away for good. Happy Growing ~23
MI W Lavender oil contains a Ketone called Camphor (also found in the mint family, Laurel and Rosemary). The level of Camphor varies widely between the culinary cultivars vs. the medicinal ones. On average, culinary Lavenders have very low levels of Camphor - 0.90% whereas medicinal lavenders are 13% with some specific hybrids higher yet. Rosemary, Oregano (both types), Cilantro have even higher levels of Camphor so you might have some other options to look at. I've had good success with Lavender brews, Rosemary and especially Cilantro. Toss in some semi-rotted garlic cloves, red pepper flakes and take it down to 2.8 pH and you'll have a complete kill zone. There are a wide number of compounds besides Camphor in Lavender. The main one is Eucalyptol (26%) also found in Bay Leaves, Tea Tree, Sweet Basil, Wormwood, Rosemary, Sage and of course, Eucalyptus oil The company where you purchased the botanical powders carry both the culinary and medicinal Lavender oils. "Spike" is the big one in the medicinal category. Many hybrids include this plant's genetics. HTH LD
"Concentrated" means nothing until you know the levels of all 20 Terpenes before they dumped solvents in to isolate this one over the others. Poor choice all the way around since this one does absolutely NOTHING as far as anaerobic fungi. As far as it's function as a biopesticide, that has more to do with the fact that this compound is found with the highest levels over the other Terpenes, i.e. easier to isolate and extract. Just because it's found in the highest amount does not translate into being most effective. Once you figure that part out the term 'concentrated' means bupkis. HTH LD
Microbe Man (don't ask me where)had a post where he mentioned drier sheets for fungus gnats, had sites and all. And then I found drier sheets have camphor, so the old bulb went off. Worth a try, and your timely info reinforces lavender, cool. I've never made a lavender flower FPE, I do have one in progress of lavender I trimmed back for winter, but few flowers left. I've just been soaking the dried flower product for three days adding, a smidgen of silica and dr bronners for a mid flower spray that I don't do too often....but after saying all that I doubt I really have a bad gnat problem, the plants look fine......MIW
There is a commercial organic pesticide from Canada called EcoTrol which is made from Rosemary Oil and one of the Mints - I believe it's Oregano or Marjoram. Doesn't matter much because both plant materials run at about 20% Camphor. The Rosemary contains the antioxidants Carnosic Acid and Rosmarinic Acid, and other Bioactive compounds including Camphor, Caffeic Acid, Ursolic Acid, Betulinic Acid, Rosmaridiphenol, and Rosmanol. "Works" LD
I read that you can put out potato slices and the gnats will lay eggs there instead of the soil. I've been doing it for a month. Almost no gnats left. I replace the potatoes every two days. I had tons of gnats in there before. Edit: I should mention that I had to wait a whole cycle for the gnats to be mostly gone. It seemed to take a few weeks.
presumably camphor levels decrease after freezing temps set in? the lavendar blooms are still holding strong to the shrubs but they are certainly not blooming any more- would it still be useful as a mulch? worth trying? my grandma has few massive shrubs Ill prune today
Make sure you don't have Root Aphids. They look like fungus gnats. especially if your roots have been ate.
I have sprayed neem oil just a few days before harvest when I've had some bad PM issues. It wasn't ideal, but I was curious to see how it would affect the trichomes (and it was either that or chuck the plant). I experimented with both lavender and neem oil. The neem was more effective at killing the PM, but neither had a strong effect in the end. My bro thought the smoke was slightly harsher, but not dramatically so. Just thought I'd share...
Oh and I like how Stankie only has to say "Neem Meal" once and everyone listens when I've been saying it since the start of the thread!!! Got to work on my reputation around these parts. Hahahahaha.
Eco Actually I was discussing this thread with a friend last night on the phone. I pointed out that you gave the advice which is best, IMHO - proactive vs. reactive. As of last night there were 37 posts on how to 'get rid' of insects so I guess the moral of the story is that it's just more God damned fun to assemble a quiver of fixes rather than keep things straight from the beginning. 36 months Powdery Mildew free this March I've never have seen 'fungus gnats' or 'root aphids' ever in 25 years of indoor gardening I've haven't seen a spider mite web (advanced invasion) in 36 months I began adding neem seed meal to my potting soils 37 months ago. And it wasn't even the good stuff. LD
I'm pretty sure my "advice" came from you originally, so kudos to you. I was just amazed with how well bubbling the neem cake in the brewer worked for solubilizing the cake and in turn killing all the fungus gnats. They have yet to make an appearance again since I did it a few months ago.
I like the neem (or karanja) meal, kelp & alfalfa botanical tea as well. Stephenson's observations were that kelp meal contains a compound that inhibits insect eggs from hatching. That was based on the first studies on kelp in the early 1930's at Oxford University in the UK. I toss in the Alfalfa because I've got a sh*t load of it. LD
Soooo, would you say bubbling neem cake is better than using it as a soil additive? Or we should do both, for the old double whammy. As I indicated in my post I have neem/karanja cake in my soil at 1/4 cup for a 7 gallon pot, and did a 1/4 cup top dress of a mix of each. And I have gnats. The gnats came with a ewc top dress of not cured ewc, just straight from the worm bin. I'm not sure they are bad enough to get me concerned though. I hung a trap and have been getting 5-6 a day. The plants look good.maybe a kelp meal neem meal tea at 5 weeks in, is in order? MIW Edit LD we cross posted, but thanks
I have 1/2 cup cubic ft of the Ahimsa neem in my soil mix. However, I think doubling that would be good. If you bubble the neem cake for 24-36 hours to get it fully soluble and then water with it, it will take care of any infestations. I'm assuming the neem in the soil does help, but when you get an outbreak you'll have to treat it as such.
MIW, You may have gotten some fruit flies from the fresh EWC instead of gnats. I can't tell the difference from the two by eyeballing them because they look so much the same. I've been feeding my worms mostly compost, leaf mold and chicken manure but occasionally I throw spoiled veggies and fruit in and cover with the above. I'll notice a few fruit flies from time to time, and with a sprinkle of Lump's "fix it mix" (equal parts neem/kelp/crab meal) they're gone within a day or two. If you're throwing veggie scraps in your bin, chances are you may have fruit flies yourself. I really don't know how harmful they are to the plant but I just don't like any flying m-effers in my grow room or my worm bin. According to Wiki, fruit flies are far less of a threat than gnats. chunk
Your probably right dude. That was the case, I dumped my worm bin in a wheel barrow picked out the worms and cocoons, and put the worms back in the bin with fresh compost. The bin went under the house for the winter. Some of those ewc were mushy, and I almost didn't use it. Good observation, thanks.....MIW