Potato worked!! (fungus gnat larva)
Vic Billings, MT
15 years ago
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
15 years agoVic Billings, MT
15 years agoRelated Discussions
Fungus Gnats! Help!
Comments (17)Sounds like you have a few good suggestions, Blossomgirl. One option that I haven't heard floating around is to simply repot. No chemicals needed. The larvae live in the medium. No medium, no larvae. You can also use a horticultural oil or insecticidal soap as a drench, and that should kill larvae and adults in the medium alike. The key is also to run your plants drier so you kill off the larvae that thrive in moist environments. I would also like to correct a couple misconceptions I have read in this thread: 1) the larvae do NOT eat orchid roots or algae. They eat the fungus in the soil, nothing more. hence their name Fungus gnats. Proper treatments for commercial production always include a fungicide. 2) the presence of gnats does NOT necessarily indicate that the medium is too wet. Gnats are resilient little buggers and survive on less moisture than you think. I've had plants stay bone dry for a couple weeks, only to water and have them still be there. They can be pretty difficult to get rid of. The "too wet" mantra is a bit outdated, especially when you consider there are a lot of plants , like spathiphyllums and caladiums, whose preferred moisture level is definitely on par with ecology of gnat larvae. It makes sense if you have gnats on a cactus or other dry-thriving plants, but not with the majority of other plants we have in our collection...See MoreFungus Gnats larvae ?
Comments (5)Plants do need water but not quite as much as what is necessary for Fungus Gnat larva to hatch and grow. As every link I have posted over the last several years indicates watering less, allowing the soil to dry to a depth of about 2 inches, is enough to stop these wee buggers, no opinion is needed unless you do not wish to believe the horticulture researchers....See Morefungus gnats
Comments (6)Ham, you are, without doubt, watering much too much. Plants should never be watered as per any schedule. They live their lives much like you and I....we don't drink on any particular day or hour or minute, we drink when we are thirsty, our bodies are telling us to give it water. The plant should be watered when it needs it. And since this is now fall, approaching winter, the sun's intensity is going down and down further every day until the winter solstace...December 21st, when it begins the long road back. The plant is not growing, its watering needs are much lower now. Let your plants dry down well between waterings. When you water, water to drainge, let the water sit in the saucer for 10 minutes, then dump the excess and let your plant dry down again between. As long as the plant doesn't dry down too completely, it will be fine. When soil is moisturized, small insignificant pieces of rotting material infest it....near and just under the surface. The gnats feed on this. Because you water so much, there is ample moisture to decompose this material and more gnats are produced...from adult, to eggs, to larvae. There is a never-ending supply of them because you are a good host....you are feeding them so well, they will never wish to leave home. Let your plants dry down well....which then makes less rotting material...less food for the gnats. Lay a 1/2" strip of yellow plastic that has been wiped with petroleum jelly and lay it on the soil surface. The gnats come, get stuck and die. You just pick up and wipe clean, then replace with another jelly coating. You can aid the soil to dry by taking a dinner fork and rake the surface once in a while, disturbing their nests. But the real end is when you don't water so much....See MoreFungus Gnat Control That Really Works
Comments (10)Gnatrol (https://www.valent.com/Data/Labels/2012-GNT-0001%20Gnatrol%20WDG%20-%20form%2004-6746%20R3%20&%2004-6747%20R3.pdf) has the same active ingredient (Bacillus thuringiensis bacterial spores) but is formulated specifically as a soil drench for potted plants. I do not know if it is more expensive to use than the Mosquito Dunks. By the way, fungus gnats are indicative of a medium whose surface has not been allowed to dry. I rarely get them and only on the 5-1-1 medium and never on the gritty mix. They are relatively harmless and are just a nuisance....See MoreVic Billings, MT
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7