On the topic of Fungus Gnats

Sarge

Sarge

Hey all,
 
Ive been reading a few different websites for information on neutralizing these pests. Ive tried some of the methods to catch the flying ones and to kill the ones below the soil but do have my concerns about hydrogen peroxide on the tiny seedlings.
 
I went to the shop near my place, actually the reject shop, they have a nice little selection of gardening stuff there. I was looking at their pesticides and what not and want to ask if these are harmful to peppers or in general.
 
I think the active ingredient is probably the most important factor. Note none of these mentioned anything about fungus gnats but they cover most other critters Ive heard of.
 
Theres Yates Natural Pest oil which Ive found and claims to be a natural pest killer, then you have a more synthetic brother Confidor which I was told by the chap who sold me my seeds that this is his last resort and it works.
 
One Australian made product is called White oil plant insecticide and leaf shine. its active ingredient is 150g of petroleum oil per kg.
 
The next item was Aphid Spray, a natural l Pyretherum insect spray and its active ingredients are pyrethrins at .25g per kg and 1g per kg of piperonyl butoxide.
 
The next one was BugGuard from Multicrop who's active ingredient is 8.5g per litre of Potassium salts of fatty acids??
 
The next item was Pyrethrum plus Garlic insect spray. Same active ingredients ast he Aphid spray but also has garlic extract. I have dried the top layer of my seedlings and they are not drooping from lack of water but even though the top surface is dryer than before, I'm still seeing these bastards flying around when I lift the cover off. Ive got half an A4 page of yellow paper covered with petroleum jelly to act as a sticky sheet and Ive caught 0 so far. One was stuck in the moisture residing on the inside of the cover.
 
If I decided to stick with the Hydrogen Peroxide, should I give them a feed after using the solution on them? Pages Ive read said that Hydrogen Peroxide will kill any form of positive, living organisms in the soil and will leave little nutrients for the plant to suck up. Is this correct?
 
I haven't answers to your questions about those pesticides and Hydrogen Peroxide, but through my research/exploration online most sources I've found have pointed towards using "Mosquito Dunks" as a mean of killing them at the source (the larvae in the soil).
 
As I understand, it's a natural bacteria that is primarily only harmful to mosquitoes, fungus gnats, and black flies and is safe for use around plants, in fish aquariums and around animals/pets - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis_israelensis
 
I have bought some, but I have yet to give it a try. I likely will in not too long because I'm having an issue with fungus gnats as well.
 
Sprays get the bugs that are on the stems and leaves of the plants. Fungus gnats are only harmful as larva in the soil so that is where they need to be killed. Azamax, Aatrol, and mosquito dunks are proven performers at killing the larva. SNS also has a natural (rosemary oil I think) product that the plants ingest in their water that is suppose to deter the larva from eating the roots.
 
Mix diatomaceous earth in the top layer of your soil to kill larvae and hang yellow sticky traps around to catch adults. The problem will be solved in a couple of weeks. Diatomaceous earth under a microscope has razor sharp edges and shreds the larvae.
 
Mosquito dunks aren't available in Australia, I don't think we have any product with BTI as the active ingredient but we have a similar strain with BTK.
 
I'm gonna give those D.E a try if the local stocks it. During my pot upsize ill mix some into the upper inch or two layers of soil and see how it goes. Or maybe do that and also a hit of hydrogen peroxide while they're still in their cells and when I transfer them to new soil they can have fresh available nutrients there.
 
My damn traps aren't working. I threw some sand and dirt at my traps and they stick just fine, just not seeing any bugs.
 
I am in New Zealand so this might not be applicable to you Sarge but I have included it for interests sakes.  I have around 100 plants in my kitchen and after seeing a post on THP came to the realization the "fruit flies" hanging by my peppers were actually Fungus Gnats and Shore flies,  I also found Mosquitos dunks suggested but was unable to locate them here so this week I purchased "Hyper-mites".  http://www.bioforce.net.nz/products/Hyper-Mite.html
 
Basically you get a tube that looks like wood shavings and perlite but has 10,000 hyper-mite eggs scattered around in it.  It is just applied to the soil surface. Meant to take 2 weeks to make a noticible difference.  I will let you know if they do the damage.  I guess there should be an equivalent in Aussie?  Sorry I am not sure what species hyper-mites actually are.
 
There were pretty reasonable at $30NZD (~20USD) delivered overnight.
 
Wow those things look awesome. Ive only got about 20 plants but damn thats a name I'm writing down if I do a bigger grow next year! Unless they can be found in Australia, I don't think it will pass quarantine..
 
Confidor can kill your pollinating insects, I wouldnt use that stuff. I second what rebelgrower3 suggested, it worked for me. Got them bad just before autumn this year. The diatomaceous earth was hard for me to find locally but if you are in brisbane, there is a produce shop at rothwell that stocks it. I had some tiny little flies turn up that were quite fond of killing the gnats, so I ended up taking the sticky traps away after I realized that they were catching the good flies, geckos and lady beetles as well. Good luck.
 
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