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mycofile
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/18/99
Posts: 2,336
Loc: Uranus
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Fungus gnat control
#1285577 - 02/06/03 01:42 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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I think fungus gnats are one of the hardest contams to get rid of. Who has some unique ideas for fighting them? I know that prevention is the best path, but what are the most effective ways to get rid of them? Lets put together our heads and build up some info for the faq. I couldn't seem to find any info in it on fruit flies when somebody asked me about them recently.
And my first suggestion: http://www.gardensalive.com/item_display.asp?ProductNumber=1962&PROG_NBR=9 Anybody know if this stuff is useful, or safe to be used on a casing. I think it's a bacteria, which may be good or bad in a casing depending on the species and strain. Anybody know?
Also, the only other way I've been able to fight them is the destined to lose battle with sticky traps or worse, toss the casing.
-------------------- "From a certain point of view" -Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi PM me with any cultivation questions. I just looked at my profile and realized I had a website at one point in time on geocities, it's not there anymore and I have no idea what I had on it. Anybody remember my website from several years aga? PM if so please.
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vatoloco
Puppet Hunter -DBK
Registered: 01/30/02
Posts: 7,653
Last seen: 19 years, 6 months
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Post deleted by MOE THE MAD SCIENTIST [Re: mycofile]
#1286430 - 02/06/03 05:32 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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Anonymous
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: mycofile]
#1286488 - 02/06/03 05:44 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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at grow stores there is a product that is sort of like fly papper. Its yellow with glue on both sides you hang it around the problem area. Takes a while to get all the successive generations. Or you can maybe use some sort of predatory insect like nematodes or predatory mites. I also like botany peace
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A0999
Disco ish
Registered: 09/27/02
Posts: 3,489
Loc: TEXUS
Last seen: 16 years, 26 days
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: mycofile]
#1286540 - 02/06/03 05:57 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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yeah i dont think you should spray shit on your casings , if your casing get infected i say toss it then maybe spray that shit around your room. and try to eliminate the problem farther up... and possibly place some of those yellow sticky bug cathers
-------------------- Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful
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deanofmean
mycophagous
Registered: 12/06/02
Posts: 2,017
Loc: PNW
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: mycofile]
#1286555 - 02/06/03 06:01 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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i don't know what specific action makes this work, but used coffee grounds will drive them away .
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Anno
Experimenter
Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,166
Loc: my room
Last seen: 19 days, 16 hours
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: deanofmean]
#1286929 - 02/06/03 08:28 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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Applied in which fashion?
Edited by Anno (02/06/03 08:50 PM)
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mycofile
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/18/99
Posts: 2,336
Loc: Uranus
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: deanofmean]
#1287642 - 02/07/03 05:06 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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coffee grounds huh? That's interesting. But if it drives them away, I assume it will just run them out of the terrerium. They'll still be a major nuissance, but no longer a contamination. They would also be easier to deal with via chemical or mechanical means outside of the sensitive terrerium. Great idea. Have you tried this with mushrooms, or just used it around the kitchen or garden? If so, how did you use the grounds?
Suffucation, another excellent theory which one might be able to work out. Less messy than a candle, perhaps a co2 method could be devised. Seal the terrerium, allowing for some type of over-pressure release. Put a pitcher with a small amount of baking soda and vinegar in it. The co2 should fill the terrerium (I'm sure there are ways to figure out how much of each you'll need to fill the volume of the terrerium). The co2 should suffocate the bugs, and shouldn't really hurt the fungus in the relatively short period of time, if kept to only a few hours. This also depends on the respiration rate of the flies, and their larvae and eggs. I would imagine a few hours would certainly kill the flies, but I would bet the eggs would be pretty safe. Again, a very interesting theoretical path.
Since I don't grow shrooms anymore, I may try to culture a few batches of flies to test kill. I bet a nice mixture of old apples and peat moss would attract and breed quite a colony while simulating the casing environment. If anybody else feels the need to experiment, please do so as I tend to take my own sweet time getting around to things.
Anybody else have suggestions?
-------------------- "From a certain point of view" -Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi PM me with any cultivation questions. I just looked at my profile and realized I had a website at one point in time on geocities, it's not there anymore and I have no idea what I had on it. Anybody remember my website from several years aga? PM if so please.
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debianlinux
Myconerd - DBK
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 8,334
Loc: Over There
Last seen: 8 months, 30 days
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: mycofile]
#1287665 - 02/07/03 05:13 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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i dunno about this suffocation line of thought. have you ever drowned a fly then resuscitated it with salt? (ok, so i was really bored). once the bugger is back up and running they don't seem "brain-damaged". i would expect that the gnats would "die" (more like cease to function) until oxygen was made available and then they'd resume their merry contaminating lives. just a guess, though. not to mention this would have no effect on eggs and potential side effects on your mushies (depending on the exposure time)
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On_the_Down-Low
Polyfil-ophile-Say it 3 timesfast.
Registered: 10/15/02
Posts: 401
Last seen: 19 years, 1 month
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: mycofile]
#1287691 - 02/07/03 05:22 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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I vote for an Ivory soap solution in a spray bottle. 1/4 teaspoon per quart. Hose the casing so you wet the top inch or so. Gnats MUST fvckin' die!!!!! I hate those little bastards.
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G a n j a
Pictish and proud
Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 7,860
Loc: Zone ate
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^^ good advice there
-------------------- er
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deanofmean
mycophagous
Registered: 12/06/02
Posts: 2,017
Loc: PNW
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: Anno]
#1288081 - 02/07/03 07:45 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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i just dry the coffee and sprinkle it on the floor of the fruiting camber. i haven't seen a gnat since i started using it last summer . the soap is a good idea too .there is a brand called safer soap at the garden dept. its recommended for killing afids, spider mites, and whitefly . i use it in the green house . can spray or dip infected plants .i think it might work to mix some in your perlite for preventive maintainance .
Edited by deanofmean (02/07/03 07:51 AM)
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canid
irregular meat sprocket
Registered: 02/26/02
Posts: 11,912
Loc: looking for zeebras, n. c...
Last seen: 2 months, 18 days
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: vatoloco]
#1288202 - 02/07/03 08:45 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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Suffocation works (eg. heavy concentrations of CO2) but they must be exposed to such conditions for some time before they're realy dead, otherwise they may be simply reduced to a state of suspended metabolic activity. i'm not sure how long this takes for fruit flies, but it can take 24 hours with weevils and mites living in grain. the two main problems with such an approach are 1.) prolonged exposure to extreme levels of CO2 or lack or O2 can revert your casing back to vegetative growth or cause a stall. 2.) while suffocation kills the living flies and larvae, it does not kill the eggs, wich can survive comercial pasturization, freeze drying, and vacume packaging. BTW, AFungitobewith: nematodes? i am not sure introducing another (nastier) dung pest is the best solution, though i could well be wrong. [Edit: debian, i should have read your post, you covered most of what i was thinking. about the flies, they can't be resurected, so to speak, forever after drowning, eventualy thier metabolism catches up with them and they die. BTW, Redhat is better...] [Edit Again: Has anyone tried fly agarics? i have used them with success for fruit flies in my house in general, not to mention for regular house flies.]
-------------------- Attn PWN hunters: If you should come across a bluing Psilocybe matching P. pellicolusa please smell it. If you detect a scent reminiscent of Anethole (anise) please preserve a specimen or two for study and please PM me.
Edited by concretefeet (02/07/03 08:57 AM)
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debianlinux
Myconerd - DBK
Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 8,334
Loc: Over There
Last seen: 8 months, 30 days
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: canid]
#1288343 - 02/07/03 09:39 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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please explain how fly agarics control flies (news to me please don't slap me) also, Redhat is for weening you off windoze.
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canid
irregular meat sprocket
Registered: 02/26/02
Posts: 11,912
Loc: looking for zeebras, n. c...
Last seen: 2 months, 18 days
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Fly Agarics (A. muscaria), when choped fine and put in milk (i know, contam risk, but i don't imagine milk is the only working option) attract flies. the flies (just about all flies) love the smell and taste of Amanitas, so they eat thier fill, become intozicated, fall in the milk (or alternative) and can't get out. because the ibotenic acid in the fly agarics is water soluable, they stay intoxicated untill they die. since flies who are looking for food have not yet reproduced, they stand no chance, soon the whole population is eraticated. this use is actualy the origin of their nick-name.
Quote:
also, Redhat is for weening you off windoze.
na, it's just a recovery ward for shell-shocked BSD users.
-------------------- Attn PWN hunters: If you should come across a bluing Psilocybe matching P. pellicolusa please smell it. If you detect a scent reminiscent of Anethole (anise) please preserve a specimen or two for study and please PM me.
Edited by concretefeet (02/07/03 09:53 AM)
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deanofmean
mycophagous
Registered: 12/06/02
Posts: 2,017
Loc: PNW
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: canid]
#1288402 - 02/07/03 09:57 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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i wonder if something like A. muscaria and beer would work .
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SixTango
Mycota
Registered: 01/21/02
Posts: 1,996
Loc: A little North of Paradis...
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: mycofile]
#1288414 - 02/07/03 10:01 AM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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Fought the GNAT wars & won.
Best bet is to not allow gnats into any grow area (no brainer).
Pasturize all substates WELL & do not store them where gnats can gain entry.
Draining a pillow case of wet pasturized dung, outside can self defeating. As the smell of steamy dung will draw them from miles away. The can actualy (IMHO) lay eggs through a pillow case. Once a substrate has eggs, in it. You are SOL.
Postive pressure air filtration of a grow area is a good way of keeping them out. If you can manage that.
2nd to Last defense line is an electric bug zapper. As in pic below.
Last ditch is covering colonizing substrate trays, with a polyspun polyester landscape clothe material (EasyGardener brand @ Lowes or HomeDepot 2 X 50 roll = $20), which is like a course filter disk material.
If you have an infestation in your grow room. You are SOL. They thrive & breed faster than you can KILL THE BASTARDS.
Best bet is trash can tek everything, bug bomb, disinfect everything & start over again. With every precaution you can muster in place. So the little buggers -- cannot get in.
6T (Mycota)
-------------------- ~whiskey river rafting, hot tubbing, dirty dancing & spending money on - wild women - having fun & just gonna waste the rest~
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On_the_Down-Low
Polyfil-ophile-Say it 3 timesfast.
Registered: 10/15/02
Posts: 401
Last seen: 19 years, 1 month
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: SixTango]
#1289320 - 02/07/03 03:40 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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I think the biggest obstacle is recontamination/cross-conatm. The damn gnats came from the HOUSEPLANTS and got into the shrroom substrate. It's a viscious cycle. Treat all the plants or soil in addition to the casings.
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Shmoppy McGillicuddy
EmpathicSociopath
Registered: 01/29/03
Posts: 4,145
Loc: Oceania
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: deanofmean]
#1289395 - 02/07/03 04:08 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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Take a shot of any good ol' bourbon, put it in a shot glass or suitable container, and place it in the terrarium. They love the smell of the stuff, and drown themselves. Replace the bourbon until all are dead, and make sure to put one both inside and outside your terrarium, as you don't want any stragglers in your house to re-infect your substrate.
Combine this with used coffee grounds in your terrarium and they will(should) be out of your hair for a while.
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Millet
--intransition--
Registered: 01/09/02
Posts: 251
Loc: Rockies
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a clear cup of yellow (food coloring) water with a touch of dish soap makes a good trap.
I used to spray my outdoor beds with pyrethrum spray and it killed the bugs and didnt hurt the fungi.
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TekNut
********
Registered: 01/01/03
Posts: 382
Loc: TX Gulf Coast
Last seen: 13 years, 10 months
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Re: Fungus gnat control [Re: Millet]
#1291371 - 02/08/03 02:52 PM (21 years, 1 month ago) |
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One other idea that I heard about and tried for fungus gnats is putting a couple few drops of peppermint oil in a quart or so of water and spray the gnat infested soil. This works on my salvia plants but I have no idea what peppermint oil would do to a casing.
Best of luck with those pesky lil buggerz!
Peace, -TekNut-
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