Just tried a Mosquito Dunk, but most of these things are still alive. Their VERY small, black, and narrow. Maybe 1mm long. I assumed they were a fungus gnat but now not sure. These things are so small they look like a short hair or something. Tons of them in my reservoir. Any methods to rid these beyond the $20 bottle of azamax?
Yeah, but they're back swimming around a mere 2 days after changing my reservoir. I emptied my reservoir, used bleach to clean/disinfect everything, the whole ka-bootle. I wiped my grow box down with organic pesticide too. You know, its possible that my Mosquito Dunk wasn't broken up and dissolved properly....when I looked it was floating around as a big chunk so I broke it up. Maybe thats why it wasn't working. Enough about ME.....DUDE, glad to see your back. I was worrying/wondering what happened. Spent a lot of time reading your Coco Guide. Thanks!!!!!!
Thank you for the kind welcome back, I sure have missed this place! Unfortunately I haven't been able to quit my day job yet and it forced me into hiatus for a bit LOL In any case, I have a never ending battle with those little bastards. Hate 'em! What kind of rez is this? Are there roots in there like a bubble bucket or is it a silo feeder or storage rez? Just curious if the roots or something harbored them during the cleanup. I use Mosquito Dump (actually I use the bits) when I hand water to treat the runoff water that sits in the buckets. I like it because it's biological, so no harsh chemicals - we're letting mother nature take care of business LOL Unfortunately it doesn't work all that well for gnats IMO. It kills mosquitoes good though. I have found a bacteria that works better for gnats - Spinosad. I mean it turns my closet into a no fly zone for about a week when I use this stuff. They still come back but I guess if I re-apply consistently it might keep them away, but I jsut hit 'em once a month or so if needed, usually the population between treatments is so minor it's not worth foolin with. There's a lot of products with Spinosad, but here's a link what I use. I found this at Lowes even, and at an organic store where the clerk (who looked like a pot grower) highly recommended the stuff LOL I put 30ml in 3 gals of tap. The dosage on the directions is a little overboard for indoor plants. Amazon.com: Green Light Organic Lawn & Garden Insect Control Spray With Spinosad - Pint 41116: Patio, Lawn & Garden Hope this helps some!
Thanks ed... yeah its a bubble bucket (well, 1 tupper bin holding my 4 plants). That Spinosad is organic and OMRI listed, but could I put in in my reservoir? I don't have flying gnats yet, just the larvae so I can't really spray. Even if something is organic I'm always hesistant about it finding it way into my plants. OTOH, that product does say its safe for vegetable gardens. More info here: Spinosad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ah, yeah then I bet your roots are full of larvae and stowaways. Even if you wash out the roots really good I don't think they will come out completely. I forgot to mention - I don't use this as a spray - they never seem to work for gnats (any spray). It's all up to you on the decision to add to a rez or not, if you ask 10 different growers for their opinion on it you'll get 20 different answers LOL Both for and against the idea, so take that as you will. Personally I think it's fine. I've been using it a couple of years (usually break it our once or twice during summertime) and have not noticed anything odd. If I were going to use it in a system like yours, I would probably treat for about 48 hours (spinosad & lite nutes ph'd) then flush & clean the system after that. I believe that a lot of bacteria are short lived in a chemical nute environment anyways so anything after a couple of days may not be effective anymore. The main goal is to kill as many gnats and larvae as possible. Genocide! On the other side of the coin though, gnats are more of a nuisance than problem. They can chew young roots on a seedling and cause a little damage, but that's about it. It's not like mites that can destroy a grow in a week, so of all pests I guess this is one that's not too bad to get, but still a major pain in the ass!