Garden Mythbusters: Fungus Gnats. How to kill fungus gnats and their eggs. What works, what doesn't.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มี.ค. 2021
- Garden Mythbusters. In this video the Desert Gardener talks about how to get rid of fungus gnats. He tests what works and what does not!
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Music: Boss Metal Zone Riff by Javolenus (c) copyright 2017 - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I bought Neem cake pellets, mixed in water, let sit two days and low and behold, no more knats in my houseplants. Yeeeeeee 😁
For all the fancy, highly produced videos on this topic, this one was the only one I found useful. Thank you for sharing your common sense and experience
I love this! I would like to add that diatomaceous earth does lose some effectiveness when wet, but it does supply a boost of silica for the plants when added to soil, which in turn boosts the stem size and nutrient uptake! I have also used diatomaceous earth as a top dressing and effectively combatted fungus gnats to a degree. Love what you’re doing man, keep up the info
Just thinking, it might be good if kept dry by bottom watering or even syringe watering. Maybe something like a toddlers medicine syringe to get past the top
Funny, the yellow sticky paper works like a charm for me.
I have had good success with the purchased yellow sticky traps. Making my own with vaseline was all but useless. I've also had success with the boiling water method. I'm sure it kills good microbes also, but mostly I've used it for starting plants that would later be transplanted outside, so I'm not too concerned with having a lot of microbes in the seed-starting soil. Neem oil is probably the best.
They __are__ going to hurt your plants, especially seedlings! The larvae eat your plant's root, which will kill seedlings.
😔
They just killed all of my seedlings. My whole garden was gone before I found and confirmed it was the fungus gnat.
I just discovered a bunch of fungus gnat husks in thick clusters around the bases of 4 of my flower plants that I thought should be blooming but weren't. I'm amazed they didn't kill the plants entirely, the clusters were attached to the stems and completely surrounded the plant!
@@chericornelius2917 yup. I thought I had over watered until I saw the more and more "harmless flies" oops
@@CadgerChristmasLightShow you sure those weren't root aphids?
Yes very true. I am on my 3rd try at growing tobacco from seeds, and the gnats destroyed my seedlings completely the first 2 times before I realized what the problem was. Tobacco seedlings should not be watered from above once they germinate so I wonder if all these methods can still be used by way of watering from below too.
I use fine steel wool covering my soil then top it off with rocks and I never had anymore problems with gnats in my plants
That is a great idea. Could use sharp sand around the stem if its hard to get a seal. The emergency pest fabric I used around mine worked only because I covered the entire plant, pot and all. Cheers
I have heard of using steel wool,might have to try this,this year..thanks for the tip..
Sometimes what works for one doesn't always work for another,but also the routine of it all,all we can do is try..
Goodluck everyone🤘🏻💜✌🏼☮🤘🏻💜✌🏼☮
Store bought yellow sticky paper works better than DIY stuff. DIY stuff isn't sticky enough that is why your fly paper works for you. Combine with mosquito bits every two weeks should solve all of your problems. And yes, boil the heck out of your potting mixture first!
For my outdoor vegetable garden, I use both the blue and yellow traps. Not to eliminate pests, but to identify a new problem that might be starting. The yellow ones do attract the gnats. I have had luck with drenching first with Peroxide, then following a week later with Neem mixture. (seedlings)
Please don't discredit the Mosquito bits they don't cost a lot and also bought in a bag too.
They saved my entire hibiscus plant collection.
The sticky traps also work extremely well! Don't know about a popsicle stick with a post note and grease...
Definitely going to try the cider bit from the comments.
Also fungus gnats larvae WILL kill seedings if left uncontrolled....
Mosquito bits cost £50 in the UK and more in some places
@@mcrodriques3562 It depends what size bag you get because yeah I can say a bag cost $106 here.....
Also I don't know if 50 is a lot to you or not I'm not from the uk.
Is it?
@@melhernandez6987 I only responded because you said they don't cost a lot.
Yes well said $10 for BTI bits at Walmart in Missouri just bought some.
I think the vinegar trap’s effectiveness depends on the type of gnat you’re dealing with. I tried them and caught one or two compared to dozens on flypaper.
Hydrogen peroxide helped for me, but I’m concerned about the helpful microbes it destroyed in the process. Soapy spray seemed to harm the adults, but it’s hard to keep up with them.
I've been using white mouse glue boards laid flat thumb tacked to the wall behind my plants. They fill up fast and works well.
Thanks, that was great info. Learning by trial and error here. Curios about the sand . I was going to try it temp until the peroxide came but just left it for now (the plant affected is wrapped in pest fabric) going to get some neem oil now though. May even leave the peroxide where it is.
Thank you
Would the boiling water not destroy all the GOODNESS in new soil ?
I use yellow stickies, and they fill up, but soon they’re back again. I’m gonna try the neem, with peppermint and dawn.
Thanks 😊
That purple spray bottle, do you know where you bought it? I have one that looks similar and it's outlasted all the other spray bottles I've had.
Walmart
Great to hear how the different methods work for you, thank you!
Store bought yellow sticky traps work quite well for me. Once I set them up, the population drops noticeably, while the traps are covered in adults. Perhaps fungus gnats dislike the smell of petroleum gel?
tested here: mosquito bits sprinked sparingly on the soil, and cinnamon sprinkled on top of soil. both work great as preventative and from treatment. The mosquito bits really go a long way, and cinnamon in bulk is not expensive just takes a dusting over the soil
try use a bucket that has a tight fitted lid, put your boiled water in and put the lid on. The pressure gets really high and how mushroom growers pasturaize their coco coir
You didn't mention what by accident I've discovered to be the best preventive measure against fungus gnats--- moving air (i.e. fans, oscillating or otherwise). I have tried twice before to grow tobacco plants from seeds, and both times the plants where completely destroyed by the gnat before I understood what they even were. So I dumped the soil I was using, and used a peat/vermiculite/perlite mixture instead, which I thought was going to be the cure. It has helped, but honestly, I think what is keeping the gnats and all flies away is my re-attempting in a room with a strong overhead household fan, and a small personal fan I have directed over the plants. No gnat, especially fungus gnats which are notoriously bad flyers, is able to penetrate that wall of moving air to even make it to the plants, much less land on them without being blown away by the wind. Of course, if you have a large operation this is not practical but if you have a smaller group of houseplants, even a regular overhead house fan is effective, on the highest setting.
You can always sterilize your fertilizer by baking it an an oven or otherwise heating device. I would suggest to do it outdoors. It stinks to high heaven. When finished you have to inoculate with the good guys though because there is nothing left alive when you’re done!
Helloooo again. I tried a 1/2 inch of washed sharp sand (dried) It turned out that the stem had rotted off where the sand touched it. Not sure if was pre or post watering with a blunt, plastic syringe. Guessing the latter as the growth was fine until watering/feeding. I tried peroxide before scraping the sand off the soil so not sure on the efficacy. It's probably note worthy that the peroxide dilute took a fair few minutes and 3 litres or more to drench. Thank you.
Hope everyone has a great day or night
Yeah, sand can kill the gnats, but can be hard on the plant too. Deluded Hydrogen Peroxide works great.
''Nematodes'' along with yellow sticky pads for the ones in flight
You're welcome.
Change the top soil first inches often and add new fresh soil and use electrical blackfly/mosquito trap for 1 month and all was gone . i noticed that drying out did not help, there was a lot of adults in the dry top soil so i started to grab away all top soil and any loose moist soil under it and change ( not repotting) Some said 2-5 drops tea tree oil in the humidifier
Do you have any fail safe methods for thrips? Preventative and cures x
Fortunately, we don't have thrips in the desert.
One soil expert women here on youtube said the fungus gnats did dance moves and had a party in the sand and said it did not work for her. but like you said if sand we have to watch it and remove the sand
Neem and peppermint Castile soap are working for me.
I also add a few drops of iodine.
They’re a pain in the butt when it’s an infestation, which can happen rather quickly if not caught in time.
They can ruin your entire garden.
It isn’t the gnat itself that’s the issue, it’s the larva that eat on all the fungus in the soil and eat your roots.
But when you’re talking about 200+ eggs at a time per gnat?
You can easily get an infestation in a matter of a couple months.
Catch this issue early or you’ll be having dead crops.
The only issue the adults do is spread bacteria and can spread fungal spores across plants
Neem cake meal worked for me.
Wouldn't boiling water kill beneficial bacteria?
No microbes can survive extreme heat.
Place Straight Apple cider vinegar in a shallow top of a container and watch how many you get. I was amazed.
That works on fruit gnats not fungus gnats! Im a neem oil person too
i put bone meal on the top of the soil....works pretty good....
I had zero luck with neem oil so i did a hydrogen peroxide soil drench and within 24 hours the numbers drastically lower. The apple cider vinegar mixed with sugar and soap works great as well. The sticky traps did nothing.
me too, I bought mosquito bits on ebay and seems worked using mosquito bits tea to water plants. now trying vectobac 12as which is easier to get here and hopefully it will work the same way as mosquito bits
try nematoads they eat the larvae and the sticky trapes for adults works amazing together
or chop a bunch of chopped up garlic let it sit in water for two to 3 days shake it up and spray soil works great
Neem oil has to be used as a complete drench of vegetation. Neem oil actually suffocates the bugs when they either are directly sprayed or crawl through a drop running down vegetation.
@@tatertot7105 thats what killed most my plants. I even used a pre mixed solution I bought at the store. It said to spray the plants til they dripped both upper and under the leaves and most my plants died and the bugs still lived.
Mustard seed meal mixed into the soil is a great way to protect ur plants soil build a soil uses this method and it's been shown to work
Will Neem oil and peppermint not harm the actual plant.
Nope
Only in hot direct sunlight. And some plants are sensitive to it. Mostly soft or succulent types
Neem oil is very beneficial to plants in vegetative cycle. Only drench vegetation after lights out. Or if outdoors do it right before sun down or after dark and maybe where the following day is partly cloudy. Any oil whether it’s neem peppermint clove or any other puts a visible layer of oil on the plant therefor if too intense of ppfd may give leafs light stress or burn the chlorophyll right out of the leaf causing spotty burn.
Instead of sand use garden pumice screened to 1/8. I put a layer of D. earth and then a layer of the pumice and bottom water, no gnats.
Got first plants. Fairy garden in fish tank for sons 8th birthday. He has autism. Think got gnats as flys all over tank today. Got double-sided tape on sticks all over tank. Orange concentrate juice soap in lid.
They won't be an issue if the environment is well ventilated and you do not overwater.
Won't boiling water boil and kill the plants !?
You pour boiling water over the soil in a colander before you plant.
Dte definitely needs to be dry to work if you get it wet you might as well bake a cake lol
Oh, I forgot to say after letting plants completely dry, I watered them with Neem water and 👍
Your roots!?
sticky fly paper is the only thing that works for me
When using neem be careful because it is systemic and will build up in the plant....also it does smell like a burning rubber 😂
It really seems that you are accusing the other gardener of lying without proof of them having done so. Pure speculation on your part which is exactly what you accused them of. I’m fairly certain I watched the same video as you and feel that all of those methods were somewhat helpful. I had an extremely bad infestation that almost prevented me from growing at all this season but I was finally able to overcome it with the product Azamax and yellow sticky traps.
Who cares
@@willyjankins pfffft lol
The gardening community is supposed to be a happy peaceful and helpful community. Where we all share common interest and we help each other through experience. What may work for some may not others. There are many different gnats, aphids, etc. Even climate and species of plants matter.
Desert Gardener: "Now what bothered me about this video is nowhere in the video did he mention that he had actually tested any of these methods."
...Then Desert Gardener proceeds to do the same thing and give advice on methods he hasn't tested. Even calls them "Busted."
I love it.
hydrogen peroxide name oil on submerging my plants for 2 hours
So you’re saying pour boiling water over all the biology in your soil? What of the probiotic varieties? You know, the ones that actually grow your plants?
Desert gardener fits! You’re well acquainted with poor soil conditions. No matter where you cultivate. And you wonder why?🙏🔑✌️
I use hydrogen Peroxide 70% Distilled Water 30% hydrogen peroxide in soil once a month if I notice fungus gnats gnat cards work great
do you soak soil with it or spray top?
Peroxide kills all the good bacteria in your soil.
@@supajudah84 I do use happy frog that put the good bacteria back in
We're here for our marijuana plants
Yep
Dumerasal…
Sticky Traps.
Sorry. Cinnamon? Just sprinkle on soil?
It’s supposed to kill the fungus that feeds the gnats. I didn’t see a difference though.
Cinnamon is an anti fungal. It will organically kill off live fungus cells that it comes in contact with depriving the gnats of primary food source
@@tatertot7105 so
Just sprinkle on the soil or should I work it in? Should I do it every so often or just when I see evidence of fungus?
@@SistersBreakingBad if you see gnats on surface of soil or anywhere close to plants yes sprinkle on top of soil. If top soil is damp just sprinkle. If it is dry put a slightly heavier coat on and lightly work in. This will prevent the gnats from laying eggs in the top inch (the only place they lay). Also adding sand, perlite, or vermiculite layer to top of soil anything to make the gnats have to work harder to get to that (prime) inch of top soil will also cut population drastically.
@@tatertot7105 making a guide book for family. Helps more than you know. Thx. Following. Neeeeeeed you !
Just steam the dirt. I steamed 24 gallons of dirt in 2 1/2 hours. ZERO GNATS.
how.
@@vintagelife5195 Put dirt in large metal bucket that's 1/4 full of water. Put a fire under it with a lid on top until the water steams throughout the dirt.
Gorilla tape
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Mosquito bits worked for me, they are expensive in the UK but they did work for me - the others did not, I have bottles of H₂O₂...lots of bottles...it didn't work but the plants may have liked it?