As the title says… This is the first year I’m having this problem. Most of the house plants are infested. I was of the opinion that they don’t do much damage. However, they recently killed two of the three basil starter plants in the aquaponic mini-garden, and the third one doesn’t look great either. There is some serious damage on the leaves of the tree collards that I was rooting/overwintering indoors. Ditto for the couple of jalapeño plants from last season that I’ve been trying to overwinter…
The plastic bags I have over fig and other cuttings I’m trying to root turn into a playground for gnats in no time. Now I’m finding the suckers inside the grow box I’m propagating my nightshades in. They haven’t sprouted yet, but I have a feeling once they do they will follow their basil brothers to the big vegetable garden in the sky.
Organic insecticidal soap doesn’t do squat. I’ve been hoping to avoid heavy duty insecticides but I’m rethinking that. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Spray bottle with dawn dish soap in water. Spray the ones you see and the soap suffocates the flies. I spray down plants and soil when I start seeing them.
I use mosquito bits in my watering can .
Just a little ( ~ table spoon ) left to soak in the water can ,
Using a very little of this to water each plant.
Only kills the larva in the soil , fungus gnats . Not the adults .
Used early on it will prevent them .
I had them pretty bad in my greenhouse. I use a combo of bright yellow traps and high concentration of need oil and insecticidal soap mixed together, this works pretty well in my experience. You could all try some DE on top of the soil. Warmer temperatures also help as the soil dries out faster and the plants use the extra water.
No one else mentioned, but if you try to let everything get as dry as it can handle first, then spray the treatment a few hours ahead of watering, that will help because there may be fewer larvae and just adults lurking in the soil waiting for moisture to emerge.
Mosquito bite works but it is a pesticide.
Ingredients : (copies from Amazon)
Bacillus Thuringiensis Subspecies Isrealensis Primary Powder Aedes Aegypti (Aa) International Toxic Units (Itu) Per Milligram Primary Powder
I bring a lot of plants indoor during the winter and have gnats problem every winter. This year, I use 10:1 water:Hydroproxid FRESH mixed solution do weekly foliage + soil surface spray. It seems that I have gotten the gnats problem under controlled . On the plus side, red spiders and aphids problem seems also got under controlled.
In zone5, the house is sealed in the winter and air circulating in the house. I would like to breathe in as less potential harmful chemicals as I can. Hydroproxid break down to water and oxygen. So far it is my best choose.
@IL847
Well by definition yes.
But it is a bacteria that is specific to certain fly larva .
Mosquitoes, black fly . Fungus gnats.
No effect on other things. Very specific in its activity.
Nontoxic. Very safe .
Bt is low in toxicity to people and other mammals. Several studies have found no evidence of sickness or infection as a result of exposure. However, some products with Bt have caused eye and skin irritation. In one study, rats breathed in very high doses of concentrated Bt. Some had runny noses, crusty eyes, and goose bumps. Others were less active or lost weight.
In another study, people were surveyed before and after aerial applications of Bt. Most people were not affected. However, some people with hay fever reported certain symptoms. These included difficulty with sleep and concentration, stomach upset, and nose/throat irritation. Seasonal factors, such as pollen, may have contributed to some of the effects.
In the future, you can put a ~1" layer of sand, rice hulls, or DE on top of your potting medium to help cut down on the gnats as they are not particularly hospitable environments for the gnat larva. It will not completely remove the problem, but will help keep it manageable.
Yes.
I stand corrected.
Your right.
Toxicity is a matter of dose . Always.
Good article.
My take away . Is…
Don’t put your pet rat in a box .
With B.T. Powder.
Or it may get a runny nose …
Also could be more to it than we know …?
We don’t know as much as we think we do… !
I am “allmost “ sure I don’t. ?
I use mosquito bits , a tea made from them ,spread thinly,
On most potted plants that have a water basin under them.
During the summer this prevents mosquitoes.
Also fungus gnats
I don’t have to worry about any run off killing my fish in the pond.
Frogs and toads can spawn in the water great.
The way I understand B,T. Is…
It’s a bacterial disease of certain insect larvae.
Host specific. So, kills some larva…
A dust nuisance to others.
It’s alive !
So don’t keep it in the sun.
I have better luck.
Watering with the “ tea” than throwing the” bits “
There must be a reason that rated outdoors. Even use the same main ingredient, during the manufacturing processes into a product, there might be something else added into the product, or purity issues or something else that might not be suitable for indoor use.
Chemicals can reacting to each other, put oxygen and hydrogen together may not still be oxygen and hydrogen，it may be water depends on the conditions. Indoor and outdoor certainly are different conditions. It is best to obey what/ where it intended use. However I don’t think you will be poisoned or die to use this product indoor except just might be a chance to expose yourself to a low toxins. With other safe options to choose from, I can’t think of reasons to take the chances
Yah. I don’t know why.
Your right “mosquito bits” Label says nothing about indoor use.
Gnatrol , with same active ingredients, BTi. … label says for indoor ornamental use.
World health organization , approves of its use in finished drinking water cisterns , for mosquito control ,so BTi can be added directly to drinking water with no further treatment…
I think B.T. And B.T. i .are among the safest pesticides.
Very host specific .
I believe it to be safe for indoor use .
Can’t think of a reason it would not be.?
But ? ?
I use the same mosquito bits product in tandem with fans. It’ll take a little bit to get the population down to acceptable levels but best combination of effective and low risk imo.
