UPDATE: MILLIONS OF THEM CAME FROM AND HAVE BEEN BREEDING AND LIVING IN THE MIRACLEGRO BAG. NASTY. BUT SOLVED.
There are an insane amount of gnats in my tiny room. I've tried everything. Mosquito dunks, perlite on top, even vacuuming them by hand and nothing has helped. I've been fighting these things for a whole month now and it's only been getting worse.
I already have stress issues and these guys have made it so much worse. I cannot be in my room without them crawling on me or getting in my eye or up my nose.
I'm devastated and incredibly frustrated.
If I wait for them to hide in the pots, and get rid of the plants, will that fix the issue???
by Animangle
25 Comments
Beneficial nematodes, it’s the single most efficient way. Two watering did the trick for me.
bro needs three sundew seedling pots and some mosquito dunks
This stuff [here](https://www.organicbti.com/product-page/gnatrol-bti-omri-organic-fungus-gnat-larvicide?srsltid=AfmBOooXS7II7CnHpEmfgw8WGMTrKbhHAU8DJU4CxJNmRf4rLf4OaI4z) has worked the best for me. It’s concentrated BTI (same as mosquito dunks but works way better in my experience) and safe for CPs. Use as directed and within 2-3 weeks they’ll be gone. This treats the larvae and keep using yellow sticky traps to catch the adult flyers.
I like to keep a couple Pinguicula gigantea or Drosera capensis by all my plants these days to keep the gnats in check once you get them under control with the BTI.
Jesus christ.
If you want to justify getting another plant, get a drosera and pinguicula. They won’t solve your problem but then you have a new drosera or pinguicula.
get some sundews, they’ll eat those bugs up
Holy fuck
I keep saying this: GET NEMATODES.
Springtails are the best natural solution. They feed on the eggs
That’s an unholy amount of gnats. Seems like you’re breeding them unknowingly lol
Fly paper keeps them from taking over
Diatomaceous earth mixed into the top few inches if soil. Very very effective and I never see anyone use it. I had a bad gnat problem, now I maybe see one a month.
As EVERYONE basically has said – the dunks work. I have them in the water I use – have not tried the saucer method. I stopped using miracal grow years ago, and what I had left went outside.
BTI while watering and good fans
Peroxide in the water
I think the answer is more carnivorous plants
Also I’ve noticed this mosquito dunks stop working quickly while the mosquito bits remain effective.
The only thing that worked when I had a bad infestation was not the stupid mosquito dunks everyone keeps suggesting. It was saturating the soil with hydrogen peroxide and then adding a deep layer of sand to the top of the soil. I did not do this with carns, so I am not sure if it will damage them.
How often do u water ur plants ? I had this issue with previous plants and it was resolved by watering WAY WAY less. I went longer between waterings and it stopped. This was with cannabis btw so it might not apply to this type of plant
Put them outside. Natural predators will move in and have a feast.
Nematodes, after a while repot the plants with fresh soil, add a layer of sand to the top of all your plants
Not supposed to use any fertalizer on carnivorous plants as they get their nutrients from eating bugs not soil. Pull the plants and repot with the proper soil and throw that MG out.
If you only have those couple plants, I would remove them from the pots, rinse them off and repot in clean media. With the new media you could boil/microwave it before hand if you think thats where the gnats are coming from.
With that many gnats, I dont even think they are just coming from those two plants. There must be another source somewhere. Especially if you said the mosquito dunks didnt work. The dunks kill the larvae, not the adults, so once the larvae are gone, the adults eventually die too and they dont come back. If it didnt work, it sounds like they may be coming from a source that you didnt treat. Perhaps from a bag of soil left around, or something similar? Id take a good look around and try and find any other possible source of them.
I got rid of my plants:( but Electric racket looking fly swat and this spray https://www.walmart.com/ip/975519275?sid=1f0bcdfe-362a-4d38-bd90-6aa249e903c1 helped me the most, apple cider vinegar with dishsoap, sticky traps. I had an outbreak of these lil pests. Absolutely horrible… I’m sorry. The spray is good when their sitting bkuz its greasy so that’s where the fly swat came in for the flying ones. I had all these going at the same time got rid of 95% them with with spray. Good luck!
Forget my last comment. These are just tiny flytraps. Repot them in new sphagnum. Like, from the store. Don’t reuse any you already have.
You might have to repeat it a few times but that will help. Fungus gnats live in the medium, not the plant. Completely replacing it will remove all the eggs. You can rinse the rhizome of the VFT in distilled water.
These are just fungus gnats. They seem gross but they aren’t that bad. There are much worse pests.
Also, get them as much direct light as you can but don’t put them in the (outdoor) sun without getting them used to it.
I have lots of carnivores. They can totally be gnat free. Your issue is the stuff your plant is sitting in. Just swap it out.
I know it seems like the right move to put them in the middle of a pot but keep in mind they grow directionally. You can identify which side that growth happens on and give them more room to spread. They also want to be about 6” above the water source. You don’t really need perlite, you can go for plain sphagnum moss.