Fungus gnats -- some good inexpensive ways to dispense with them

[Bud]

Try this mix spray:

10 drops dish soap(any kindalmolive, dawn, ivory)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon extract(McKormick or any brand in the supermarket aisle together with vanilla and almond extracts)

2 cups tepid water(run hot water in sink for a min)

this mix kills flies on perch if I spray it...spiders and cockroaches

Id soak the pot in a basin of this mix for 5 min(to kill the eggs in the media)...and you can spray generously all over the plant because its not a toxic chemical...and its cheap

[RosieC]

Thanks Bud.

My only concern would be Cinnamon around the roots because I try and avoid that due to it's desiccating affect. Maybe the extract does not have that problem.

I am tempted to try this though

[keithrs]

Buds on point..... The cinnamon will kill the lava. Just becarful the water is not too hot.... I only say that because my tap water can get to 140 in the summer and you will shock your plants.

You can use horticultural soap instead of dish soap if you want.

I would buy zerotol in stead of physan 20.

All that being said... You still have fungus

[keithrs]

How many plants do you have?

[cythaenopsis]

Thanks for the tip, Bud. Sounds like a very inexpensive way to help rid the plants of those pests.

For the time being, I re-potted my affected plants (just 3 phals) and got rid of the previous potting mix (mostly moss). Before re-potting I gave the plant roots a splash of vinegar for a short time then a thorough jet rinse. I realize I may have to do this again, without having done any other treatment, but I wanted to get rid of any possible larvae that might be getting reading to spawn. So far, there has been only a couple of incidental gnats, otherwise the population is practically non-existent for the moment. I'll try this suggested treatment now to see if it helps keep them away.

Keith, why do you prefer Zerotol over Physan 20?

[keithrs]

Originally Posted by cythaenopsis

Keith, why do you prefer Zerotol over Physan 20?

Physan is chlorine base product that can give your plants photo toxicity. Zerotol is a oxidizing fungicide so in theory the fungi can't become resistant to it. Bottom line it safer and "nicer" to you and your plants. I have limited use with it. Ray from First Rays is more knowledgable in it. Zerotol will kill fungus gnats and its lava..... not sure if Physan can or not.

[keithrs]

I had a very bad experience with vinegar....... I saved the plants but not there roots..... I used it to remove white scale on the leaves. I thought I gave a good enough rinse.... a week later all the root where dead. If I water with tap I get root burn to because the ph is way to high.....

[cythaenopsis]

Interesting... I wonder if "Zerotol" is anything like "Zero Tolerance", another organic fungicide I've seen more widely available. Thanks for mentioning FirstRays... he has some interesting simple remedies, one of which is very similar to what Bud mentioned. Bummer about your vinegar experience. I didn't expose the roots too long in it and rinsed thoroughly... hopefully they'll be OK.


Hey Bud, I noticed that you recommended a 5 minute soak in your mix. How many applications and how long apart would be your general recommendation? Also, what about watering after the soak... should you treat the soak as if it were a general watering and wait a week?

[fig]

i know i'm coming to this discussion late, but i wonder if the problem is that you have a fungus gnat reservoir in your other houseplants or in your sink and bathtub drainpipes.

i brought home a single infested houseplant a year ago, and battled the gnats for months. however, they never settled in my bark-potted orchid. i think the rough edges of the bark are inhospitable to young larvae. maybe they'll leave your orchids alone if you switch to a bark medium.

you might also want to flush your sinks and bathtubs with hot or boiling water and some bleach. apparently, gnats can live there, too.

things i tried (on the non-orchid houseplants) that worked temporarily:
* bottom watering only when necessary
* putting a layer of sand over the soil surface (the sharp edges kill the larvae)
* soil drenches of hottest tapwater and a little bleach
* permethrin spray (i hate pesticides, but i was desperate. it didn't work so well, though)
* rubbing alchohol sprayed on the soil surface daily to kill adult gnats and dry out the topsoil a little

however, the one thing that really worked (knock on wood) was the heatwave last summer. room temperatures of 85 degrees and upwards really did the trick!

[Ray]

I wouldn't say that Physan is a "chlorine-based" chemical. It is quaternary ammonium salts, with the chlorine merely the anion in the salt - a very minor part of the chemistry. Table salt is far more "chlorine-based", if that's how you define "having chlorine in it".

I also wouldn't think of using a fungicide/disinfectant as an insecticide. Yes, Physan and Zero-tol will certainly kill the fungus bloom, but then the larvae will attack the root structure of the plants, having no other food source. I have no knowledge about whether Zero-tol will kill the larvae.

Zero-tol is a peroxyacetic acid stabilized hydrogen peroxide product.

Zero Tolerance Herbal Insecticide is >95% water, 2-3% glycerine, <1% lecithin, <1% total of (cinnamon bark, berry, and leaf oils, rosemary oil, thyme oil, clove bud oil).