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These are fungus gnats right?

I find that fungus gnats don't really seem to harm the plants, at least in my case. I've seen 100's of fungus gnats around my plants and some seem to fly out of the soil when the plants are moved.
If you are really worried about it I'd set up sticky traps and use mosquito dunks.
 
megahot said:
I find that fungus gnats don't really seem to harm the plants, at least in my case. I've seen 100's of fungus gnats around my plants and some seem to fly out of the soil when the plants are moved.
If you are really worried about it I'd set up sticky traps and use mosquito dunks.
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Agreed, but they can become very annoying in numbers if your plants are indoors.  I also have used some yellow tape sticky side up, which seems to work quite well (as long as it is tacky enough)
 
megahot said:
I find that fungus gnats don't really seem to harm the plants, at least in my case. I've seen 100's of fungus gnats around my plants and some seem to fly out of the soil when the plants are moved.
If you are really worried about it I'd set up sticky traps and use mosquito dunks.
Click to expand...
 
 
-----1000000
 
Sorry Mega but I can't agree with this. IMHO They can be devastating to young roots. The larva eat them up fast. 
 
Yes, full grown plants won't be harmed, but small ones will be stunted or killed by the larva. 
 
 
Sand on top of the soil will keep them from penetrating the soil and laying eggs to hatch and have the larva eat the roots. 
 
I'm using Mosquito Bits and they're not having much of an effect. They die down a bit and then a new swath of adults comes in and keeps flying around. They're indoor plants and I hung a yellow trap yesterday.
 
I forgot about the sticky tape. The combination of the sticky tape and mosquito dunks is what works. Don't expect immediate results to be 100%. Be patient and continue to use the dunks for a while even if you don't see any more on the sticky tape. 
 
SciurusDoomus said:
I'm using Mosquito Bits and they're not having much of an effect. They die down a bit and then a new swath of adults comes in and keeps flying around. They're indoor plants and I hung a yellow trap yesterday.
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Keep being persistent....they will surely test your patience.
 
Jeff H said:
-----1000000
 
Sorry Mega but I can't agree with this. IMHO They can be devastating to young roots. The larva eat them up fast. 
 
Yes, full grown plants won't be harmed, but small ones will be stunted or killed by the larva. 
 
 
Sand on top of the soil will keep them from penetrating the soil and laying eggs to hatch and have the larva eat the roots.
Click to expand...
That's why I said "In my case" I've also heard the same from a few other growers. Have you experienced this personally?
 
megahot said:
That's why I said "In my case" I've also heard the same from a few other growers. Have you experienced this personally?
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Oh, yes. I probably lost 1/3 of my seedlings over the winter because I thought they were harmless fruit flies (new indoor gardener and didn't know any better) and didn't know their true evil intentions until they ate all the tender roots. Many more that didn't die were stunted and set back.
 
Last year I spent a small fortune on Azamax which did work, but I like the mosquito dunk idea better. I'll try that this winter if those little bastages come back. That and a good layer of sand over the soil on all of the potted plants.
 
Takes about two weeks worth of Dunk soakings to catch the full life cycle. But it gets more difficult if new adults keep flying into the home. They might be easier to eradicate in the winter time.
 
The first year i got them, the solo cups were infested with the larva, but i don't remember any damage being done to the seedlings, maybe i caught them in time...
 
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