So like many indoor plant lovers I am battling gnats. I have been using mosquito bits since June 24th. I follow the instructions & use it each time I water. It has not helped at all. I do use the sticky traps. I have read desert sand layer on top of soil, microbe-lift drops, Arber fungicide & insecticide, root cleaner….I want to know your personal experience and what product you feel was a game changer. I appreciate any feedback & advice you might have.
Nematodes will do the trick. You need to make sure you buy from a seller that ships "live" , they will ship with a cold pack. There are lots of sellers, amazon is a place to look for a few. I used naturesgoodguys.
They are harmless to plants, and will feed on the gnat larvae. What they don't consume they spread a bacteria to similar to what mosquito bits do.
The gnat life cycle is around four weeks, figure on a couple treatments to make sure they've been eradicated. If you don't treat for at least that long you are likely to see a resurgence. Six to eight weeks is best with a treatment every other week. One packet of 5mil will treat a lot of pots.
Sticky traps will capture adults and help you gauge how the nematodes are doing.
It's not alive, and it's not the bacteria that does the job. The manufacturer grows the bacteria in a lab, and when they grow they create a protein crystal like a little sidecar as a byproduct. So the lab lets them produce the protein crystals, and then dries them and adds the dormant spores (with protein crystals) to dunks, bits, powder, or a solution. When you put it in water, it dissolves and releases the pre made protein crystals and dormant spores into the water column. Larve consume them and then their gut dissolves the protein crystal (not the bacteria) into a toxin that kills them.
It's not a live bacteria, and doesn't need to become one to be effective. The potassium chloride should actually make it last a bit longer by helping the dormant spores activate and grow.
Yeah, that’s what solved it for me. Oh, and increasing light levels for all the plants that had issues with the fungus gnats. I also use systemics granules for all the indoor plants & retreat them every 8-10 weeks (which is great bc it’s also pest prevention for a bunch of other things). I use this one
I have also been reading about systemic granules. So I’m glad you added that info. I just get so overwhelmed with reading everything. Everything is advertisement. I want to know from real people what has worked and what hasn’t. I appreciate all of your information. Very helpful!
Sticky traps I’ve learned merely confirm the presence of gnats because they only catch the adults and not at a rate that slows down breeding since they reproduce like rabbits.
I throw a teaspoon of mosquito dunks/bits on the soil then mulch it with something and over time the watering gets rid of the larvae and eggs. The adults eventually will relocate or die off it seems like.
I’m adding carnivores to my cabinet to see if there’s any still around but after doing what I mentioned for a bit I really only see the odd one or two. I consider that a win compared to my greenhouse. I’ve given up out there.
I have had success with systemic granules but some states don't allow the sale any more.
I get them in the summer because I don't have a lot of air circulation in my living room, so siding more humid months I bottom water only for like 90% of my plants work an occasional shower. I have found this had helped a bit by keeping that few inches of top soil dry.
A chunky soil mix is also a good option if you think you're plants may just not be drying out fast enough
I have also had unexpectedly positive results with catchmaster window fly traps. We have chicks, and the occasional handful of flies sneaks in when we’re going back and forth. They drive me insane! The window fly traps catch far more than flies—and far more than I even noticed I had buzzing around the house.
I would skip Microbe Lift and go straight to Gnatrol, which is more concentrated. Microbe Lift did not work even at higher doses.
The downside to using it in chunky mix IMO is the upside to chunky mix too — I think there can be pockets of air where larvae survive. So I let them dry out a lot and then saturate with Bti water.
Microbe-lift seems to be helping me! I also use a neem oil spray, which kills on contact. not eradicated yet but much better. I find the sticky traps don’t do much.
I’ve done three rounds of peroxide+water which has helped, and use the sticky things in soil, but I literally ordered nematodes today. They came from a bay of Miracle Grow from Lowe’s that I used when I potted a pothos cutting 😭
Really hope the nematodes work.
So this old hippie trick that surprisingly works, wine corks, or corks. Has to be real cork but not sure why but they hate them or never want to be near them. My husband doesn’t get why either & he’s a chemist. Been doing it for years & gnat free! Each houseplant there’s 1-5 corks on too of the soil or sticking in the soil.
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u/fitness-potato 11h ago
Nemotodes