Just googled this: Home Remedies for Fungus Gnat and Damping-Off Control
http://colleenscorner.com/Gdamping.html
and more info on gnats
http://www.saferbrand.com/articles/fungusgnats.htm
How do you avoid fungus gnats when over-wintering....?
That answers my question. :) Thank you Isaphan. I have a huge collection of carnivorous plants (a total of 3 ha ha) and they require water. Too much to be used as underplantings in the same pot as brugs. Was hoping butterworts could handle conditions on the drier side.
Mexican butterworts do *not* need to be grown constantly wet, either. However, it all depends on your individual growing conditions. What works for someone else may not necessarily work for me and vice versa.
Isaphan, thank you for introducing me to butterworts. I did an internet search and gosh they really are so pretty. So many different ones to choose from. I can't wait to start growing some of these.
I was reading at one of the links Calif_Sue provided above...
"Potting mixes containing peat seem to be particularly affected by fungus gnats. If the problem is reoccurring for you, think about switching from a peat-based mix to one that only contains perlite and vermiculite."
I use a soil recipe that is at least 40% peat and I used a sand layer last winter with disasterous results. I lost several hibiscus cuttings and had quite a few more that took the better part of this year to overcome the effects of the sand layer which appeared to form a crust that wouldn't allow the soil below to exchange air.
As I was reading it suddenly occured to me that perlite instead of sand should work as well, if not better. It would appear dry from above, but would be porous enough to alow for air exchange with the soil below.
Y'all's thoughts?
I keep a spray bottle of water mixed with a little liquid soap. I spray the soil of my indoor plants regularly with this, and spray the adults as they fly out. I do this several times before I get them all, but it works. And it is cheap.
....Pen
I checked out a web site that is selling the butterworts and they say the plant goes dormant in the winter. So while it is dormant will it still attact the FG's?
Ispahan do you keep your Pinguicula moranensis in a terrarium or just keep in pots?
A friend of mine said she was watching a garden show on TV and they were talking about fungus gnats, and the gardener suggested using garlic cloves. You would place a clove in your pot of soil like you were planting and it would help to avoid FG's. Has anyone else heard this before.
I put a cup or 2 , depending on pot size; of DE on the surface layer once a month,
got rid of the nasties. Also feeds micronutirents to the plants.
But thanks for the mos.dunk info, will try that too next summer when they go back out.
The soap water mix does work too, used that in between chemical apps, which tend to be more useless every season, even with rotation.
Perlite, I would think it is not dense enough to keep anything from getting in or out, bug wise.IMHO
I tried keeping my cat out of my pots last year by putting packaging tape across the pots with one inch gaps, did not stop or deter the darn cat but caught a gazillion FG
then switched to DE mixed with cayenne pepper(do not breathe in or allow in face, it bites hard) and he stayed out, and no more FG after awhile.
Garlic works, but I have hundreds of plants in my house, no GH...smell whoa.
I grow all of my butterworts in pots with no terrariums involved. They do *not* need terrariums and, in fact, many other commonly grown carnivorous plants do not either.
As for dormancy, Mexican butterworts have no real dormancy. Sometimes, depending on growing conditions, they will start to produce smaller, succulent, non-carnivorous leaves (they do this in response to the dry season in natural habitat), but they are not truly "dormant" since they continue to grow and flower. In cultivation in the average home, this "winter rosette stage" (as it is called by hobbyists) is not long-lasting and sometimes fails to happen altogether. Except under unusual circumstances, I hardly think it would be a good reason not to try them for fungus gnat control (and for the sake of their own beauty).
Cheers,
Ispahan
I've used "knock out knats" for several years with great results. I buy it from Gardensalive. The only downside is that it has to be used in three 30 day cycles, as that is the only way to kill the full cycle of the knat, eggs, larvae, etc...
I've not heard of the mosquito granules until this thread, but if it contains the same BT, it would probably be much cheaper than the knock-out-knats.
I'd probably still use the granules in three thirty day cycles...
I also changed my potting soil to a soil with less peat. It is certainly true that knats LOVE peat moss...It really seems to have helped.
Sand does crust on top, and perlite adds too much flouride to the soil(or so I've been told), so several of my grower friends said they use chick grit. You get it at the feed store. It's particles are much larger than sand, but not quite as large as perlite.
They top all their plants and seed flats with the chick grit, and say the seedlings have no problems popping up through the grit...
Another friend I have who works for a commercial plant installation and care company, says they use "good old sevin dust" and dust the top of the soil frequently, because many of their customers over water, and she says it keeps it under control.
If sevin dust works, that would certainly be the least expensive solution, yet...
I've also tried those sticky fly traps that you uncurl out of the cardboard tube. I hang those all over the greenhouse, and change every month. They really help with the adults, but aren't much help with the eggs, larvae, etc...
-T
The bag of cocoa hulls says it deters cats so if you can stand the smell of chocolate, you could try that, Dedda.
I saw a pitcher plant for sale the other day. I was thinking of getting it and hanging it from my seedling table. Do you think it would catch those little buggers? Is there something in the pitcher plant that attracts bugs?
Well I just ordered some seeds of five different carnivorous plants, will take awhile to grow but wonder if they would keep the Gnats out of my plant room.
A characteristic of gnats is that they tend to hang out around the host plant. I think for a carnivorous plant, sticky traps and such to work, they would need to be placed right next to the plant, and I don't think these methods would ever completely eradicate the problem, because the life cycle is going on in the soil. I really think the easiest, quickest solution is to keep a spray bottle of the soap handy and spray the soil routinely. You will find that when you spray, many adults come to the surface and are instantly disabled. You can also zap them in flight and they fall right down and die instantly. Remember that the soap only works on contact. There is no residual benefit except when the soil is wet with the soap--so you want to do this every couple days or so until they are all gone. I spray the top of the soil, and then I disturb the soil with a fork and spray again. If you look closely you will see them moving around in the soil when you spray. As long as you see movement, keep spraying. Agitate the soil and spray again.
Another method which has been mentioned before is to let the top soil dry out and keep it dry as long as you dare. If you have many plants, this is probably the only practical solution. These plants you are bringing from outside are probably in a semi-dormant state anyway, and letting them dry out for a while will probably do no harm. If it is a plant that needs to stay moist, you could bottom water for a while, or you can water from the top and then use a hair dryer to dry the top. The egg laying and larvae hatching are going on in the very top layer.
Again, if you want to completely eradicate the gnats, you must address the soil. I always have gnats when I first bring my plants in, but within 30 days they are gone forever. I apply the first soap treatment before I bring them in. I let them dry out and continue to spray the soap on the soil every couple days and zap any adults I see outside the soil.
Also, remember that the soap only works on contact. Newly emerging larvae need to be zapped or they live to start another cycle.
....Pen
>>>>>>>if you can stand the smell of chocolate, you could try that,Dedda
Why did this happen? The reply below was not on this post:
Stand the smell of chocolate, I 'd be in the pots all day sniffing, nose to the dirt....LOL
This message was edited Oct 27, 2005 7:33 AM
bugcrazy, where on earth do you get Diatomaceous earth
Ive seen it at nurseries around my town...just be careful with the dust...getting those particles in your lungs would be very bad....Judy
'where on earth do you get Diatomaceous earth'
'I get mine here
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html
Very good info on DE on that page too.
I use it on my pets, around the yard, 'cause it
is food grade very clean.
But you should be able to get regular DE it at
garden stores, in the insect killer isles.
Yes , you have to be careful not to inhale it
or get it in your eyes, it will
scratch , but that's why it works on insects.
Last year I brought all my pots into my small GH intact; had lots of aphid problems, slugs and gnats. This year I've sprayed all the plants with Neem, stripped and lifted them, removed half the soil and placed them in garbage bags tied around their base. (I'll open the bags every couple of weeks,check and water.) This way i can overwinter 20 2 year old Brugs, along with their cuttings. Keeping all that foliage on over the winter was a big chore, and they can green up very fast come spring.
Will yesterday I went into the greenhouse and used Scanmask on all my plants. I put about 1/4 tsp. in each pot and watered it in. I started using it last year after I already had the dang FG's. So this year I applied it before I started seeing any. I am sure some of the plants were some of the ones I used it on last year. I know it says it will last for at least 18 months. So maybe I am good. I am still going to order a couple of Mexican butterworts to help out. Also I am going to check out the Diatomaceous earth'. I even put up the yellow sticky yellow paper, but so far on them all I see are flies. Maybe I am too early for the sticky yellow paper, since I have to leave the vents open and a door open during the day. That's like sitting outside in the summer killing flys. Never an end to it.
Along the these lines, fruit gnats, I got one of those kitchen composters that you set on your kitchen counter to put all of the scraps in a month or 2 ago.
You know how if you leave a banana or apple or something like that sitting on your kitchen counter it doesn't take long for those nasty little things to fill the house? Well, I do not have any of those and I have that composter filled with apple peels, egg shells, potato pealings, onion skins, coffee grounds, etc. Not a one.
It has a filter in the lid. As long as I be sure the lid is latched I don't get them. Once a week or when it is full I take it out and put it in the larger composter in the yard and turn it a couple of times. That's it.
Wow I went in and read all about the Diatomaceous earth, don't know about my plants but maybe it is something I should be using on myself and my pugs, and husband. I do think I will order some it is fairly inexpensive.
Dedda do you use it in the water or do you just powder it on your plants? Is the food grade type the one you use on your plants?
Never leave a bottle of red wine out unpened if you have those little fruit gnats. All the gnats love it and soon are floating head down. And when you go to drink it, what a shock. LOL
Thanks for all the info. Now there won't be a fungus among us.
I was in a book store last night and looking through a gardeners Delight book I checked the page that listed Gnats, it said to put 2 to 4 tbs of Rubbing Alcohol in a quart of warm water with your soap salution for your spray, spray on the dirt, said that it cuts into the skin of the gnat, said it also kills mites but to test it on a leaf of your plant first to make sure it would not damage the foilage, right now I have no bugs but will remember this. for three nights in a row I sprayed my plant room with Hot Shot flying insect spray, and closed the door. been gnat free for a week
I'm so glad I found this thread. I just planted my first brug seeds. I checked them yesterday to see how they were doing and their were little tiny worms eating one of my seeds. After reading this thread I realized that I bought a bag of potting soil the other day from somewhere I usually don't. When I opened the bag little knats flew out. I thought it was weird but went ahead and used the soil. I'm assuming the little worms are their larva. I put my seeds in fresh clean soil. Hopefully I'll have a seedling soon, one of the seeds was already getting a root. As far as I can tell I only lost one seed. But I do have little knats flying aroung everywhere. Hopefully I can use everyones advice and take care of these dang little things. Thank you!
Gina
So much good information given here...I for one am going to go through the entire thread and probably try most of the suggestions until I get an answer that really works!
I tried to find the DE (Dic. Earth) yesterday. I found a very large bag made for swimming pool filters. A good price for it, but I wasn't sure if it was the kind I could use on plants. Anyone know?
Diatomaceous earth - in hardware stores as roach proof . It is the shecatans of sea creaters . I f it isn't heated to a high temp it won't work . You can buy it for swinning pools but that won't work because it hasn't been heated . It is also sold as flea powder for dogs and cats . I t's good for snails , spiders . fleas , aphids , ants catapillars , but it also will take out lady bugs and other good bugs .
Margie, I have seen it at Lowes. My fear with it is that I will disturb the soil later like when I go to repot and then breath in the stuff. When I read the label a long time ago it had a stern warning on it.
I wonder if it would work on grasshoppers?
I use Mosquito Bits at the end of the season for the GH and all of the growing season and I haven't had gnats....
Here is a good seed starting procedure fronm Blaine: (8ftbed)
One cup or something small. Potting mix that's had boiling water poured through it and allowed to cool off a bit. Press the seeds onto the mix and put a piece of press'n seal over it. As soon as you see a sprout, remove the press'n seal. When I get the first true leaves, prick out and pot up in little 4" pots. Bottom water, keep close to light and pot up when roots hit the drain holes. I had 100% from Julie's like that. heh,
He also said he had no gnats. (because of the boiling water sterilizing the soil) He also says to bottom water anything in the house. My input: use peroxide when watering house plants or anything in the house. Especially in the winter.
What does peroxide do for fungus gnats?
Kills them if I am lucky. Jeanette
Some people will try anything.
Hay anything is worth a shot when it comes to killing bugs on our plants.
Thanks for such good info. I found a little green worm on one of my brug leaves that had just fallen off..ekkk.
Do they all lose their leaves in winter, most of mine just has a couple very small ones on the very tip. As you can see I am really new at this, but I am learning thanks to all of you..
my leaves are almost all gone, some I take off when I bring them in, I don't worry about the leaves as long as the plant is OK .
I have been fortunate in keeping the gnats at bay but just this morning I found one of my grugs had lots of those pesky white flies that are so hard to see, so there went more leaves, and I sprayed all the rest.
White flies - I take a fig leaf that is brown and some brown peach leaves - put in a paper bag - step on it - put crushed leaves in a bottle of water . 3 days later - strain and use hand sprayer - works for me .
I tried soappy water - didn't work for me .
Now why would those leaves work?..that is so unusual....Judy