would this help with fungus gnats? I'm going through a bad round of them. I have the yellow fly strips, and have been using tea tree oil and it's not helping. These seeds are valuable and don't want to lose them!
DE
I'm having the same problem. Used tree tea oil which helped some but the problem is still there. Did all my plants so they could'nt move to a different plant but just can't seem to get rid of them.
tiG I swear the fungus gnats develop an immunity to the stuff I've been using. I don't know what DE is. I finally ordered Gnatrol and it has helped immensely but I still have a few flying around. I also sprinkled cinnamon on the surface of the soil. I read somewhere that it helps. I don’t like using sand because I can’t tell when they need to be watered. I think the easiest control is not to get them to begin with!
I have been using neem oil mixed with safer soap myself. I have also been using bayer brand systemic rose insecticide if memory serves me on the poor seedlings I have left. I figure a combination of the 3 has to be decent. I commonly mix and match insecticides though and I am always looking for something new.
Poppysue,
If you ever figure out how to NOT GET THEM, you could make a fortune. I am also having some trouble. Not a lot, but yesterday I notice the young ones crawling around on the soil. I'm going to try something different this time. It is called Knock Out Knats. I got it last year at Gardens Alive, but haven't used it this year at all. The TTO was working okay until just recently. It might work again, but I can't water for a while.
TiG, yes!! the diatomaceous earth will work!! I'm bringing to the swap some of the stuff I use that is a combo of silicon dioxide (finely ground DE) and natural pyrethrum. It can be used mixed with water as a spray or drench or sprinkled on the soil dry!! It completely killed the gnats and their larva. If you dig in the first inch of the soil, you will see little white maggot like worms, these are the larvae of the gnats and what does the damage to the root hairs.
Cala, Where can you buy this stuff that you use?I'd really like to get completely rid of them before I put the Brugs out in the greenhouse.
woohoo, this is great news. If I do use it dry, they will come to the top and get it right? I don't want to dig around, and they're already wet from the tea tree oil watering. thanks!!
yes, they live very close to the surface anyway and I think they come up for "air" sort of. I will go to the green house (if I can get out my road for the flooding) and get the address off the package.
I have some already, some Concern brand. Also wondered, when I do water, it still works, right? Or do I have to renew it every time I water?
Diatomaceous earth is sold at pool supply stores for very low prices by the lbs.
Lowes has it too, it's not too expensive, with the garden supplies. I have had this bag for a long time. But I may go through it faster now that I can use it for this:)
TiG, it seems to work thru several waterings.
Tig, Eric is right don't buy DE at the garden centers - we get it by the 50lb drum at the pool supply places,to put in our DE filter. Much much cheaper. Of course you can get smaller amounts there too.
Found this link about DE - hope I did it right
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/aug98/903991964.Ag.r.html
Diatomaceous Earth is just a fancy name for bug skeletons. ;-) DE is the spiny fossilized exoskeletons of diatoms, a microscopic marine organism. The link Azalea provided is an excellent explanation of what it is.
Pool-grade and food-grade are two very different things. You shouldn't use pool-grade DE as an insecticide, though, for two reasons. One, when it's heated during processing it changes shape and the spines aren't as prevalent. And since the spines are what you want (they scratch the bodies of the bugs letting moisture out, then they die from dehydration), pool-grade DE isn't effective as an insecticide. The other reason is that this heating increases the crystalline silica content of DE from a negligible level to a level that's cause for concern. Crystalline silica has been classified as a cancer causing agent, I believe by the World Health Organization, but it's something like a Level 5 carcinogen which means it's down there somewhere with Sweet-n-Low. I'm not too sure on the exacts about this, so don't rely on the info I gave if you're really concerned.
Here's another pretty good article about it, it's uses and it's being okayed by the EPA for use as an insecticide: http://ighawaii.com/naturally/naturalanimal/de.html
Whoops! Forgot to tell you that insecticidal DE isn't heated, so still has the spines and the negligible level of crystalline silica. I used to have a memory like an elephant and a butt to match, now I just have the butt...
This message was edited Thursday, Jan 24th 8:15 PM
Got to love a sense of humor.
Thanks Wingnut, I concede!! I had no idea there were 2 kinds. I've also heard that if builders put DE in the walls of a house it will protect it from pesta, roaches & termites.
I hadn't hear that, Azalea, but it sure sounds like it would work! And last a long time to boot. I mean, this stuff is fossilized bug bones ~ been laying in the ground for millenia, so won't lose any potency if left in the walls. I think I'll put a thick layer under the kitchen cabinets in the big house before we set them and in the new living room walls. THanks for the tip!
Hey, Brugie ~ life's no fun unless you giggle so hard you snort once in a while, huh? ;-)
Just one question-If pool grade is heated to be processed...how is food grade differently processed? Just trying to figure out the price differences and such....Chemically treated perhaps?
the insecticial (food grade) isn't treated. according to the article (link)above. I read up on this several years ago, and don't have the articles, but all said the same thing as the one above.
:o) I sprinkled DE on top of the soil of all the brugs last night. Even my seed flats. I just got home from work this morning and turned my lights on ... and I haven't seen a single gnat flying around!!!!!! Usually when I move the plants it stirs them up and I see them ... but not a single one. It really worked!!!!
well, how thick did you put it? cause I did too, and I've still got them :(
I put a spoonful at a time into a little strainer I have so it would go on evenly and not be all clumpy. I sprinkled it on like you'd use a flour sifter. It wasn't a thick layer - I just made sure the soil surface was covered.
LOL!!! great minds, I had my little seed strainer doing the same thing. I just treated my seedlings and seed trays, think I'm going to have to put it on everything. oh well, there goes the day:)
Poppy! That's great! It always takes a few days or a week for it to work for me ~ long enough for the bugs to dehydrate and keel over. Keep your chin up, tiG ~ any day now and it should work for you, too.
Poppysue, Where did you buy yours? I looked in WalMart and Agway store and they didn't have any.There's not many stores around here to choose from. To get to anything big I've got to drive 100 miles to Concord.