I've used a cookie sheet of sweet & strong coffee in the grow area. Had the idea seeing dead gnats in leftover cups of coffee. They love the sweet coffee and are doomed from the moment they touch it, as long as it's strong enough.
A bowl of vinegar with Saran wrap over the top. Poke a few holes for the gnats to enter. Let the soil dry and take it outside. Remove and replace the top layer of soil.
That stuff ^^^ and also: 1. A mix of blue and yellow sticky pest strips hung around the plants for the adults. 2. Sand - larvae. 3. 3% Hydrogen Peroxide flush - larvae. 4. Azamax - adults and larvae. 5. Spinosad - adults and larvae. Freak
Lets clarify first. Are they Fungus Gnats (their larvae are in the soil) Or just regular Gnats (Airborne) ??? Freak
Im not sure, i've only seen flying ones in the soil. So i put a layer of perlite over the soil. to stop them from laying larvae
Im sorry man - are u able to get a half assed pic from a camera or find one on the web ??? I checked your journal too. Freak
Man - sorrry to be picky, but I wanna be sure on what route to take here. Upon reflection, Ive thought about it and Im sure they are either Root Aphids or Fungus Gnats, which both have the same life cycle from soil up into the air. So their treatments are pretty much identical. I dont want u to waste time cuz these bastards move fast and once they have established a rythym, theyre hard to get rid of. Sometimes just as stubborn or worse than Spidermites. H2O2 is the best treatment to start off with, as it will be the measuring stick to guage the severity of the infestation with. If theyre dead in 1 shot - cool. I doubt it tho. But we'll know where u stand. Maybe its nice and early on. So...I use 2 cups H2O2/gal water. You will hear a snap crackle pop noise as it goes thru the soil. By the time it exits runoff, its pure water. Ph when youre done. Sit back and smoke some dank and watch. Good luck. Freak
another good method if they are available to u is to use praying mantis they will chomp them down in no time and keep your plants guarded....
Praying Mantis dont dig in the soil for their prey. Plus, the Gnats are too small for their pincers. It would be neat tho... Freak
actually the smaller ghost mantis only grows upto 5cm i know they dont dig down but i used them to eat up any that came in aswell as the treatment i watched those guys sit just above the soil and pick em off as they came out it is possible to do with the right species just as an addition though not as the complete treatment i like mantis and regurly have a few different species as pets depending on what is buzzing around my ladys depends on what i deploy at the moment i have the common chinese mantis to eat up all the flys i been getting big nasty blue bottles!!! they seem to try to lay eggs into the rockwool the nasty fuckers had it happen once so i deployed my ghost mantis for the larvi and then deployed the chinese mantis to stand fast on my ladys flys dont last long...... i mean another perfect predator would be spiders but i dont got along with those critters so i dont use them myself.
do as you would with re-potting.... altho with a difference take the plant into ur bathroom and shower off the soil from the roots and re-soil or transfer into rockwool and continue with hydroponics (this is possible i have done it many times) believe me rockwool will never create as much as a bug problem than soil.. soil is a natural habitat for millions of creatures and the temps for growing are perfect for them to survive rockwool is less friendly to them and less likely to allow any to breed (except on odd occasions if it gets algi infested and falls down behined a fly will happily lay eggs on it) another good trick might sound weird i picked up this tip in spain....if u have a seperate grow room hang garlic and wipe down the floor and the door with a lemon cut open (natural insect repellent) i fight the war against bugs i deploy multiple prevention methods aswell as prepare to instantly assault any intruders with wave after wave of my royal minions.... they will cut down bugs like the british army cut down taliban =] this has always worked for me the first sign of anything i deploy and assualt spend hours on it... but its part of growing and the tireless responsibilities that come along with it....
the ghost mantis - small brown samurai looking dude the chinese mantis - big green long armed looking dude