What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

I want to kill them...all of them...lots...

Ok, almost everything i've read said these things really aren't that bad. Now i've lost a few plants to what appears to be fungus gnat larvae. At the moment they are busy consuming carnivorous leaves off of mexican Pinguicula. I've tried letting the pots dry out...they seem to get annoyed and bore into the rhizome seeking moisture...I've tried drowing them and a mexican ping for three days...the ping actually lost more leaves during this time and it seems they all swarmed on the plant.
mad.gif


Now...by any means necesarry...how do I kill them?
confused.gif
 
This came from Texas AMUTable 1. An inventory of considerations and options which can be incorporated into a fungus gnat management program (from Cole 1985, Drees 1992 and Lindquist 1994).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-chemical (cultural) methods:
Potting media containing compost less than 6 months old may be more attractive to fungus gnats than that containing "older" compost. However, some of the less attractive potting mixes may result in increased plant injury because larvae may feed on plant roots rather than on fungi in the media.
Avoid over-watering. Over watering contributes to fungal and fungus gnat larval development. Conversely, too little watering may aggravate fungus gnat larval injury to plants, because larvae may enter the plant stems in search of moisture.
Avoid introducing infestations into a treated planting by bringing in infested plants.
Avoid providing habitats for fungus gnat development underneath benches, etc. If possible, separate plant propagation areas from the main plant production areas (by using separate houses or screening between these areas), since propagation areas generally have more severe fungus gnat problems.
Practice good sanitation: remove debris and old plant material from in and around greenhouses.

Potting media treatments (for larvae):
Biological control:
Parasitic nematodes (Exhibit¨, BioSys¨, Guardian nematodes, Scanmask , Ecomask , etc.*,**) and others (S. feltiae, Heterorhabditis spp.)
Predatory mites (Hypoaspis spp.) (1 to 50 per container)

Microbial insecticides:
Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Gnatrol¨*,**)

Insect growth regulators:
azadirachtin (Azatin¨ EC*,**)
fenoxycarb (Precision¨*)
kinoprene (Enstar¨*,**)

Nerve-active insecticides
chlorpyrifos (DuraGuard *,**)(surface spray)
diazinon (PT¨ 265 KnoxáOut¨ 2FM*,**)(surface spray)
oxamyl (Oxamyl 10G*,**)

Foliar treatments (for adults):
chlorpyrifos (PT¨ 1325 ME Duraguard *,**)
cyfluthrin (Decathlon¨)
diazonon (PT-265¨ KnoxOut¨ 2FM*,**)
horticultural oil (SunSpray¨*)
oxamyl (Vydate¨*) - no longer being produced for ornamental market
pyrethrins (Pyrenone¨ Crop Spray)
resmethrin (Resmethrin EC*,**)
Fogs and fumigants (for adults):
diazinon (PT-1500R¨ KnoxáOut¨*,**)
nicotine (Nicotine Smoke Generator*)
resmethrin (Resmethrin EC 26*,**)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* approved for greenhouse use; ** approved for interiorscape use
 
Looks like the easiest thing you might be able to find is a water based diazinon and use as spray/soil surface drench

Tony
 
YIKES!
icon3.gif

Tony, could you put that list in english for laymen like myself?
 
I have tons of fungus gnats too, but if you add a D. capensis or binata or other super sticky Drosera to your terrarium or room it seems to keep them in check. It won't stop the worms but will get rid of the gnats.

The gnats love my wifes ammarylis bulbs. The only plant they hurt was an orchid but I dusted the area they were eating with sulfer powder and that stopped the rot they were feasting on.

Good Luck!
sad.gif
 
I've had fungus gnat larvae munch on seedlings, vft bulbs, and plantlets - they can be dangerous for smaller plants, but I personally haven't had any problems with plants over 1".

I agree with Glenn, drosera will take care of the gnats. For the worms, terrestrial utrics can control them. My utrics don't always grow well near mexi pings, as the utrics grow much faster and they can start crowding the ping. When an infestation gets pretty nasty I repot. When you take the ping out of the soil, easy to use a bright light and a pair of tweezers to pick out most of the wormies. The little buggers hide in the roots and near the stems.

I've drowned a few pings with success. I use a disposable drink cup from a restaurant and fill it halfway with water. Drop in the ping, and swirl the water around and try to get all of the air bubble out. The buggers will survive in air pockets. Weigh down the ping with something that will keep it down but not crush it. Fill up the cup to the top with water, skim off any bugs floating. Do one last swirl/shake/fill/skim. Every couple of hours, repeat. Pings do okay with 24 hours of this, but after that I've noticed that they will survive (longest I've done is 3 days) but will be in worse shape.

I've noticed I only have a worm problem in plants I keep in trays or the trays you snap onto the bottom of pots...but they stay off of my plants that are in self-watering pots. I think that may work because in those pots the medium isn't sitting right in the water, it sorta drips down into the tray.

Just my observations and tricks since I really don't like to use chemicals. Most of my plants are in the house - specifically on my desk and behind the dining room table. Hope that helps you.
 
can somebody help me to find a pics of the dangerous bugs, I don't know how the look like and I see some bug in some pots in my mini indoor greenhouse
 
Ok, so the winner is...Diazinon. I'm going to try some out this weekend. I was going to try Malathion, but then I read somewhere something like there's a chance it could knock a gene completely out of your DNA. So...that's not a good thing to play with.

I'll let you guys know what happens.
 
  • #10
Is there any way to knock out the whole population?
 
  • #11
I have used diazinon before on cps without any problem. It is usually a fairly safe chemical to use provided you:

Use a waterbased formula
Don't treat during the heat of the day
Don't expose the plants to very high light levels while wet with chemicals
Follow the label for dilution ratios

As always it is still best to test out for the first time on a few plants.
Tony
 
  • #12
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Tony Paroubek @ June 13 2003,6:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I have used diazinon before on cps without any problem.  It is usually a fairly safe chemical to use provided you:

Use a waterbased formula
Don't treat during the heat of the day
Don't expose the plants to very high light levels while wet with chemicals
Follow the label for dilution ratios

As always it is still best to test out for the first time on a few plants.
Tony[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
hello again from newbie..

after discovering thrips and today worms in my VFT, I decided to go with ortho garden care which has diazinon at 22.4%, but I'm not sure what dilution ratio to use, there's no specification for VFT's on the label.

Thanks!!!
 
  • #13
OOOOh yes
wink.gif
. I had theese things pretty bad last year. Completely engulfed one of my pings
sad.gif
. It was disgusting. This year, I had a lot in my sarracenia/ping/vft pot. They were caught in many numbers by my two pings, but were still rather annoying. After I introduced three large utrics into the pot, I haven't seen any since
tounge.gif
. I now love Utrics
tounge.gif
.
 
  • #14
I use terrestrial Utrics like nanthaniel mentioned. They are very effective but for a sphagnous potting mix like Nepenthes or heliamphora soil you might need to use epiphytic utrics, which are tougher to grow and harder to find.
sad.gif
 
Back
Top