FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey all,

I recently planted some cape sundew seeds in a pot, but today I noticed some fungus gnats managed to get into the LFSM. I have mosquito bits around from controlling the fungus gnat infestation from a month ago, and I was wondering, will they work on the seedlings if I bottom water and just float the bits in the water tray?

Or do I have to top water with the mosquito dunk soaked water to kill them?

You would need to top water to get the bacteria onto the soil surface.

Panman wrote:You would need to top water to get the bacteria onto the soil surface.

Got it. It won't hurt the seedlings at all, will it?

Just be careful not to wash them out, but other than that, no.

I'm curious about something with the mosquito dunks/bits. If you're storing rainwater in a a large container like barrel or garbage can and you use the mosquito dunks/bits to keep mosquitoes from raising there, wouldn't that mean that you're constantly treating the plants for fungus and fungus gnats? Any harm in constant use of the dunks/bits?

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:41 pm I'm curious about something with the mosquito dunks/bits. If you're storing rainwater in a a large container like barrel or garbage can and you use the mosquito dunks/bits to keep mosquitoes from raising there, wouldn't that mean that you're constantly treating the plants for fungus and fungus gnats? Any harm in constant use of the dunks/bits?

There shouldn't be any, in theory. Mosquito dunks/bits use a specific strain of bacteria that infect and kill mosquitos and fungus gnats - Those bacteria can't attack plants (or humans for that matter - We are closer to mosquitos than plants are), so the plants shouldn't mind their presence.

Of course in practice most of the bit is binding material, which could build up on the roots and damage plants if it's the wrong stuff and you're constantly using it - I'm not sure what they make it out of, so maybe someone else will weigh in on that.

I had a nasty gnat infestation for awhile and added bits of mosquito dunks to all of my indoor trays (drosera, pinguicula) for several months with no issues, no evidence of plant stress. Went on vacation and missed the treatment schedule… about 2 weeks later had a plague level outbreak! I put all the plants in clear bins or clear bags of they were big just to contain things while I figured out what to do. Turns out it was only my huge fiddle leaf fig that was the source- none of the tray watered plants with dunks had any problem.