My brother works for UPS. They love small packages! They are not gentle. Most of them could probably be professional basketball players, as their aim is incredible. They can load a truck pretty quickly from outside the back door, haha.
weedmon The term used at bulk-break stations is "You guys need to kick that freight out of that box as fast as possible. I want every box fingerprinted - got it?" It's a real bitch to stop and deal with bags especially ones that already have a rip or tear.
To be clear, I used 1 cup of neem cake and 1/2 cup of karanja cake and bubbled it with a KIS brewer for 36 hours. Temps were probably around 60-65 F.
Eco12 Maybe not unlike discussing AACT technology, what often gets lost in discussing this or that process in organic agriculture is that an agent may well accomplish what you intended - pest management, root health, whatever, but behind that are more reasons to incorporate it into your soil, program, etc. For example, crab meal is promoted for its Chitin content which is a good reason to use this amendment. It also has Calcium Carbonate at higher levels than f*cking Dolomite Lime (24%) and Phosphorus at higher levels than the 'Available Phosphorus' in Soft Rock Phosphate. Same thing here with the neem and karanja meals. Their ability to control pests and molds is well established. What gets lost in the discussion are the full range of elements that this tree accumulates. It is a tree species that fixes Nitrogen in the root zone for example which allowed it to move across the Middle East 2,000 years back. Then the Silk Road Spice Routes continued this so that by the 1100 AD this tree was part of the culture in Persia (Iran), Morocco, the Sub-Sahara, Iraq, China, etc. My only point is that besides the biopesticide and biofungicide properties these meals make for a really kick-ass nutrient tea. That's all. LD
Just to drag us off topic again ... I like the vid of the asian kid (15 or so) who is slouched up against a wall and pours lighter fluid across his pants/crotch area, then lights it. He starts to use his hands to put it out and about 4-5 of his buddies come over to help stomp it out. Basically stomping on his genitals pretty hard like. Hilarious and painful all at the same time. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjx3xOb11H8[/ame]
This isn't related to fungus gnats per se but I have an update on a couple of observations using Spinosad. The particular product is undiluted which if it's like neem oil products, the pre-mixed product is pretty ineffective (Monterey Garden for example). When I applied the Spinosad base I also added 1/4 cup of Aloe Vera primarily as a surfactant. Because of the way the this product works I did not see much in the way of kills for a couple of days. They did eating stopped immediately, i.e. no new damage which wasn't much to begin with. Neem oil or neem meal tea is more immediate but that probably has to do with how the compounds work (Salinan in particular). Spinosad is a fermented bacteria culture. Neem oil and teas need to be followed up every 3 - 4 days for a couple of weeks to break the adult:egg:larva cycle exactly like fleas on your pets. This part is conjecture and hypothesis on my part, i.e. absolutely no science whatsoever to back it up: Because the compounds in neem oil and meal (which contains 4 - 5% oil) are simple carbohydrates and because when exposed to light and air begin to breakdown quickly (about 30 - 45 minutes in midday sun) their effectiveness has a pretty short window even if you were to apply at late evening or dusk outdoors or as close to the beginning of the dark period in an indoor garden which will extend the effectiveness by a few hours but you get the idea. NOTE: The above paragraph is fact and not conjecture Whereas the fermented bacteria seems to thrive and continue on for several days - in my case it was 12 days from the first application before a 2nd one was required. In spite of some increase in the number of mites there was absolutely no additional damage from the first round. Meaning that if my theory has some credence, perhaps these bacteria are able to set-up colonies for several days before they die off? Between the 1st and 2nd applications there was only 1 foliar spray used and that was pure water and nothing was added, not even Pro-TeKt. The product that I used is Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew and it isn't cheap but I'm coming around to the fact that for this round and the low levels of mites in the first place in conjunction to using the best worm castings to date, the Spinosad base is definitely a product to have on hand. I'm thinking that instead of using straight water next time I'll brew up a neem meal tea so that when it's applied to the plant there will be the immediate benefit from the neem with the extended benefit from the Spinsod? Maybe? That's what I saw the the mite war.......... LD
The Neem cake has officially destroyed the gnats. I've now added it to my newest flower mix, for more then just its pesticidel? abilities. Thanks so much, BeZ...V
BeZ About 4 years ago I started posting information about neem oil and the seed meal over at ICMAG. Most people thought it was a nutty idea. and many probably still do. I've yet to read any poster say that using either neem or karanja didn't take care of the fungus gnat issues. With the oil you have one of the most powerful fungicide as well as insecticide available. These benefits come from the 22 Terpenoids and related compounds. Beyond that, neem tree products provide another 300 compounds many of which are yet to be identified and studied. One standard use of neem seed meal in India and China is to miix the meal with urea and then applied to the production fields. There is a plethora of information at Google Scholar and SCIRUS that you might find an interesting read. Bottom line is that these meals are effective 'fertilizers' above and beyond the IPM paradigm. LD
I have fungus gnats, but they have never, ever seemed to have been a negative part of my garden. I'm probably ignorant, but mebbe they are bad in very large numbers? How? I just have never bothered or worried about them. jerry.
The neem worked for me. I don't see any more gnats, or signs of root aphids. I top dressed and bubbled a tea. Neem cake will be in my soil always.
Same here, but this grow it seemed like i had more so I watered in a lavender flower tea, then next watering they got a kelp/neem meal tea and now no bugs to be seen. It's not uncommon to have a few in my grows but I can't see where they have altered my grows in any way. Of all the bugs though they do seem the easiest to take care of.....MIW
I'm curious, though - has anyone had some really bad negative results from having fungus gnats? I'd really like to know what the symptoms and general negativity from the gnats was. Jerry.
Jerry I read that the gnats larvae eat the tiny root hairs. So you can understand what kind of damage they can do to the overall health and vigor of a plant. I guess the root damage allows easier access for pathogens. And makes it harder for the plant to absorb nutrients. BeZ...V
Crab meal, lobster meal and shrimp meal contain Chitin. Chitin in and of itself doesn't do much. But bacteria breaking this down creates a couple of enzymes, chitinase and chitindeacetylase which degrades the Chitin into Chitooligomers and Chitosan. You've probably seen the commercial product called Chitosan. This is where it comes from. It's these enzymes and their action on the Chitin that destroys insect eggs. When using one of these meals along with neem (or karanja) meals you have a strong IPM. Add kelp meal and its compounds that limit the ability of insect eggs to hatch, you pretty much have all of the bases covered as far as IPM. Not to mention the total and complete macro and micro nutrient components required by plants to grow. Hence the name - fix it mix LD
For me it's all about balance. I don't mind a few fungus gnats. My house has always had them, fewer now than there were before. At one point they were out of control. I knocked them back and was happy with that. They few that remain help keep the spiders alive. Now that I have a 44 lb sack of neem meal (yes, you can smell it) in the garage, and have been giving my worm bin neem meal, there seems to be less of the gnats about.
BTI... Better grow Hydro carries it, it works great, but it's expensive through them, I use mosiquito dunks it's the same thing, no less organic, just without the word organic on it, but it would qualify if they bothered to make the packaging say organic. BTI , here is a link and a definition to wikipedia... Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I have, and it makes your plants act as if they are nutrient deprived, because they do not have sufficient roots to flourish. The little fuckers snack on your roots in larva form.
Fungus gnat larvae are especially bad for freshly rooted cuts and such. I suspect that once a plant is up and growing fast, a few gnats are not a concern. If you are breathing gnats (been there, done that) when you are in your grow room, I would be concerned.