FlyTrapCare Forums

Hi guys I wasn't to worried about this at first but it's playing on my mind. When I first moved my plants into my artificial grow area I saw a couple of fungus gnats. I've manually killed them (karate hand clap) lol but considering there is barely any access for them to fly in they seem to be multiplying. I know that the adults aren't an issue but the larvae are and I have a few very small/young vfts that I don't want root damage on. To cut a long story short getting bacteria based treatment here in the UK seems almost impossible. Can I use something to top the containers e.g. horticultural sand even though they are in pure sphagnum. Thanks guys sorry for the overly long post.

Neem oil will work. If it seeps into the ground no harm will be done to the plant. That, or go for a more "natural" solution and plant bladderworts in the pot.

Seven can be safely used on all plants, although I must warn you that it will damage sundew leaves

Thanks guys I can get hold of neem oil but I read it was more of a deterrent and I'm worried larvae have already been laid in the sphagnum. Optimus I will look that up but all the best treatments seem to be in the US and can only be bought on eBay here which I'm not to trusting of. Do you think i should just repot everything? I don't want to if possible.

Propag8 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:43 pm Thanks guys I can get hold of neem oil but I read it was more of a deterrent and I'm worried larvae have already been laid in the sphagnum. Optimus I will look that up but all the best treatments seem to be in the US and can only be bought on eBay here which I'm not to trusting of. Do you think i should just repot everything? I don't want to if possible.

Ohhh sorry I didn’t see you were in then U.K (I’ve always wanted to go) I don’t blame you for not trusting eBay they are incredibly sketchy. If you have concerns about the eggs already being laid In the moss then I would recommend repotting your plants. You may already know this but I’ll let you know anyway repotting vfts will put them in shock for about a month. This mean the closing speed will be slower and the traps will be smaller

Some people report success with putting mosquito dunks in your water jug for at least 24 hours, the gently top water to get the bacteria throughout the media. This is not a one time treatment, but a few weeks at least. Personally, it did nothing for my fungus gnat invasion, and you said bacterial treatments are difficult to come by in the UK.
Other people suggest hanging some yellow plastic smeared with petroleum jelly very close above your plants. Fungus gnat adults are attracted to yellow. They land, get stuck in the jelly, and you can sit back and laugh at their high pitched screams as they die. No adults, no larvae. I have not tried this.
I suggest getting a Ping. I have done this, and a single Ping solved my fungus gnat problem almost by itself. I had some Cape seedlings and, as they grew, they started catching the adults as well. But the Ping did about 90%of the work.
Good luck.

Your not missing out on much here in the uk optimus lol. Trouble is as you point out repotting will stress them and they were only repotted fairly recently some 6-8 weeks ago and some as little as 2 weeks ago. Ive read that topping the soil with something dense like sand will trap the larvae in eventually killing them and stop adults laying eggs but I'm dubious that it would work with sphagnum and would also make checking moisture levels difficult but I'm getting desperate.

Thanks chefdean I've heard poor results with mosquito dunks but might be better than nothing. I've spotted some yellow sticky gnat traps online I will definitely get these for the adults. Can't wait to hear those screams lol they are so frustrating.

Got these at the hardware store, can confirm it works but still waving them away from my face when I open my tent very annoying

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Propag8 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:57 pm Your not missing out on much here in the uk optimus lol. Trouble is as you point out repotting will stress them and they were only repotted fairly recently some 6-8 weeks ago and some as little as 2 weeks ago. Ive read that topping the soil with something dense like sand will trap the larvae in eventually killing them and stop adults laying eggs but I'm dubious that it would work with sphagnum and would also make checking moisture levels difficult but I'm getting desperate.

Yeah I’ve heard the u.k kinda gloomy almost but I would still like to go and make faces at the guards in red outfits

One thing that might help with the effectiveness of the glue traps is to put one a couple of feet away from the plant and shine a light on it when it is dark. The gnats are attracted to the light and get stuck. I don't know if this works for fungus gnats, but for fruit flies and sink gnats, I put out a saucer of cider vinegar, wine vinegar, or even red wine. Add a drop of dish soap to it. The gnats land on the surface to take a drink, expecting the surface tension to prevent them from sinking. The dish soap cuts the surface tension and they sink and drown. It is a good option, if you don't mind having the vinegar smell around.

Try the yellow sticky traps. But on this one, I'm with ChefDean - get a ping (or three). They're fungus gnat vacuums. Only downside, you're probably gonna wind up wanting more pings, even after the last fungus gnat is long gone.

I knew the dish soap trick but didn't consider applying it to this situation. I don't mind the smell because this tent gets exhausted out the window. I cant do the other option because this particular tent must be 100% dark during the nighttime phase, i can't have light leaks sadly.

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Thanks panman I'll try that alongside the sticky traps. I would get a ping or something but I wanted my grow area specifically for vft it's my propagation station lol. As magicmutt just posted the yellow cards seem pretty effective so I'll combine the two techniques. Optimus the UK 100% is gloomy but we are having 35 centigrade tomorrow yay that won't last. I find the guards kind of embarrassing lol who the heck designed those hats.

Hmmm magic mutt I wonder what you're growing lol.