Bug Zapper For Killing Fungus Gnats / Fruit Flies?
boreal_wormer
13 years ago
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11otis
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Ugh! Gnats/fruit flies/fingus gnats all over my plants and soil.
Comments (43)Not a pro here, but if this helps, here's my fruit fly experience; I took up vermiculture (worm composting), following online instructions. The instructions indicated to have them live in newspaper shreddings, I don't know if that worked for anyone else, but for us it began a fruit fly issue that did spread into some of our houseplants. For one thing we hadn't sterilized the worm castings before using them, that was a definite thing that allowed the fruit flies to spread to the plants. Google search some safe ways of sterilizing compost and soil that you think might have parasite eggs in it. But to get the fruit flies out of my worm castings, I changed the system. I brought in a bucket of sand and a bucket of old dried out clay/dirt from outside, and every time I added a bucket of plant waste to the mix, I'd bury it in the surroundings, then put a fine layer of dirt and then a finer layer of sand on top of all of the mix. That made it apparently entirely uninhabitable for the fruit flies. My theory is that to lay and incubate eggs, they need specifically the surface to be moist and rotten, I don't think they do a lot of burrowing, I'm guessing their wings would get damaged. So regardless of how organic the compost underneath is, they couldn't use it as a breeding ground so long as there was a barrier of dry sand and old clay-heavy soil. After figuring that out, I always pot my plants with a drier, older, nutrient parched soil for the top couple of centimeters. Haven't had the fruit fly issue since. Sorry if that wasn't concise! I thought it might help....See MoreFungus Gnats are driving me nuts !!!!
Comments (50)This situation requires a 3 part approach: you need to kill the larvae in the soil, the adult gnats (who promptly lay more eggs to become larvae) and remove or correct the conditions that results in the gnat infestation in the first place. 1) Larvae control. Hydrogen peroxide is an effective control. Use 3% hp at 1 part hp to 4 parts water. Wait until the soil dries a bit then water thoroughly with this solution. 2) Adult control. Adults have a very short lifespan - only 7-10 days - but during this period, females are constantly laying eggs. Covering the soil surface with a layer of coarse sand will discourage females from laying eggs on the container soil. No eggs = no larvae = no adults. 3) Finally, you need to adjust watering practices. Fungus gnats are attracted to consistently damp soils. Generally, populations will be most heavy if the plants are being watered too frequently and the soil not allowed to dry out between waterings. At least the top two inches should dry thoroughly between waterings. The females won't lay eggs on dry soils (what the sand fools them into thinking) and the shallow larvae will not survive in dry conditions. Your houseplants will probably thank you for it as well - more issues arise with overwatering houseplants than allowing them to become too dry. Cinnamon can help as well. Dusting the top of the container uniformly with ground cinnamon will destroy the fungal organisms the larvae feed on, killing them as well. Also useful for damping off problems. But you must address all three parts of the problem to have successful control....See Moredie fungus gnat die-die-die!!!
Comments (14)Re: hemnancy I think I also got infested from a plant that came from outside. I wanted to see if I could get pomegranate to grow from seed off of a store bought pomegranate back in November. I also tossed in a Brandywine seed or two from a seed packet that I purchased at the grocery store at the same time (November). Three poms and one BW sprouted. So far, I've been able to keep all the plants alive all winter by bringing them into the garage on cold nights and letting them out in sun during days above 40 degrees. The BW is a short, stubby plant that I've become attached to and I really want the poms as the plants cost at least $40 at the nurseries that I've been able to find them at. Anyway, sometime last fall, the pot that all these plants sit in became infested and that infestation has spread to my Jiffy peat pellets and a couple of seed trays. Re: ekgrows I bought a can of flying insect killer. It's not as organic as your method, but if become a problem, it is an option to me. Also, I've purchased the mosquito dunks and put a chunk of one in a spray bottle and wet down all my pellets with it. I know that it's too soon to tell if it is working, but since last night, I've seen one gnat that I smashed with my finger. I plan on starting to move the peat pellets to peat pots now that I have a method of control. I plan on spraying the inside of the pots using the spray bottle, spray down the potting mix that I'll use and cover the entire thing with sand. I'm thinking that this one-two-punch approach should be effective. I'll let you guys know how it works out....See MoreBug Zappers
Comments (7)We have a couple of the bug zappers you plug in and hang like a light. When we use them, the next morning there's an actual pile of carcasses underneath. Yes, they will get a number of different kinds of night bugs. We also have some of the hand-held zappers (look like a tennis racket, but they have batteries in them, and the 'strings' are actually electrified wires). Those things are amazing. I've gotten rid of literally hundreds of carpenter bees with them. We even have a similar product taht has a long pole, so you can get things near the ceiling. I'd recommend having all those products. We get good use out of all of them every summer. And I like that they don't involve using toxic chemicals around my family and pets...See Moreboreal_wormer
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8 years agoMolly
7 years ago
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