User avatar
vinyl217
Full Member
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri May 10, 2013 6:31 pm
Location: East Central Illinois

Re: HOW TO GET RID OF FUNGUS GNATS

Don't know about the cinnamon, but a good dusting with Diatomaceous Earth will dry those pesky gnats up quickly. I've used it in both beds and containers and found that after a good dusting a couple times over a week and they disappear, however, you also need to address the conditions that are making your bed a breeding ground for those gnats. But, the DE will at least take care of your current problem.

User avatar
jemsister
Senior Member
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 7:15 pm
Location: Western Washington, USA

Thankfully, I haven't seen any more fungus gnats since the sun came out! =D Not in the tomato bed anyway. They are still in the yard, but they always will be around here. =P

Scrappy Coco
Cool Member
Posts: 83
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 9:32 am
Location: Israel, Nazareth Illit

With great skepticism, I just sprinkled half a tea spoon of ground cinnamon on the soil of a cherry tomato plant, hopefully it will get rid of those insects. I'll update here, however, because as mentioned, I'm quite skeptic about this method. Not the getting rid of the fungus gnats part, it biologically makes sense, but I'm hoping the ground cinnamon will not damage the roots of the plant or the plant itself. Anyhow, I'll update here with more information about the impact of the cinnamon on the plant, whether it has done any good or bad. :)

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

I have never used cinnamon outdoors, because I have never had any trouble with fungus gnats outdoors. But I use cinnamon regularly with my indoor seedlings. The little seedlings can't be allowed to dry out and the air circulation is limited, and they are in potting soil which holds moisture and may come with fungus gnats already in it, so the conditions are ideal for them. I just always put a little cinnamon in the water I water with. So I can testify that the cinnamon does not harm the delicate roots of my seedlings. I would use it in moderation, but a half tsp spread around a plant sounds reasonably moderate. You may have to renew it every once in awhile.

With my indoor seedlings it is very simple: if I use the cinnamon regularly, I don't have fungus gnats. If I quit using, it I do.

Ostrich
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 5:55 pm

I've covered all my plants with cinniman and dried out the lot of them. I still see a few gnats fllting around though. Just this weekend I soaked them all in the camomile tea so I don't know how thats going todo but at this point I'll try anything.

taralea1979
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:29 am

So so happy I found this forum!! I used the ground cinnamon and immediately the gnats where going ballistic!! lol now I just have to wait til they die and quit flying in my face! Thanks so much for posting your find on the cinnamon! My husband was getting really irritated with the gnats and was trying to get me to get rid of my plants because I couldn't find anything to get rid of them! :D

Malray
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:01 am

Hi everybody
Re fungus gnats. These little blighters are awful once indoors and I tried various ways to kill them before they decimated my tender plants. In desperation I tried Nippon Ant Killer powder and found this to be very effective in killing them off. I have googled the ingredients and this does not appear to be harmful to plants but I don't have any animals such as cats so I think you should consider this if you try this method.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Wow.. but why would you want to use a potent poison to get rid of fungus gnats, which are usually more of an irritation than a serious problem and can be easily controlled with non-toxic means?

Active ingredient in the ant killer is Permethrin:

"Permethrin is highly toxic to both freshwater and estuarine aquatic organisms. Most agricultural, public health, and down-the-drain scenarios modeled resulted in exceedances in the acute risk quotient (RQ) for freshwater and estuarine fish, invertebrates, and sediment organisms. The agricultural and public health scenarios also showed the potential for chronic risks to estuarine and/or freshwater organisms. Further, there is a potential concern for direct effects to a variety of aquatic organisms ....Permethrin toxicity data show that the compound is highly toxic to honeybees, as well as other beneficial insects."

https://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsh ... rin_fs.htm

We really need to protect honeybees which are dying off in huge numbers. And you have done your garden no favor if you kill off beneficial insects to get rid of fungus gnats. Bad trade!! :(

But welcome to the Forum anyway... perhaps if you read more around here, you can learn more natural ways of dealing with problems.

Malray
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:01 am

Hi Rainbow Gardener
I stand corrected and agree entirely with your sentiments that our beneficial bees need to be protected. It was not my intention to recommend that chemicals should be used outside. My suggestion of ant powder was for the use on indoor plants only. I had tried more natural methods but those pesky gnats were winning and driving me to distraction. Thanks for your comments and as a new subscriber I know I have much to learn.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

The only place I ever have trouble with fungus gnats is with my seedlings, because tiny seedlings have to be kept moist and because my seed starting area is a somewhat confined space. If I ever get it together to add that fan I always talk about, I will probably have less trouble.

It should not be hard to get rid of fungus gnats from regular house plants. Fungus gnats and the fungus they live on must have moisture to survive. If you let your plants dry out thoroughly between waterings, you will not have fungus gnats. I water houseplants indoors twice a month.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Not at all meaning to beat up on you Malray. Just because I'm bored at work and looking back at old posts. Seeing this made me think. So for other people that may find this thread in the future.

Malray is right that if he (?) only uses the permethrin indoors, it can't directly harm bees and other beneficial insects. However, if people keep buying the stuff, companies will keep manufacturing it. In the manufacturing, bagging, shipping, etc processes, chemicals get released in to the environment. And other people may not be as careful with it. And then if you use it in indoor potted plants with saucers under them, what happens to the water in the saucers? Do you dump any down the drain? Then you are releasing permethrin in to the environment. What about the container the stuff came in? How do you dispose of that?

The earth is a closed system. There is no "away" or "out" to throw things (as in throwing it away, throwing it out). Everything we use, along with all of its packaging, comes from somewhere, goes through lots of places and processes and then goes SOMEwhere after we are done with it.

So those are some of the reasons I don't buy any of that kind of stuff.

Gwenivere
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:40 am

:-() :-() :-() :-() :-() :-() I'm so excited about finding something that works to kill fungus gnats!!!
I have been searching for a few days and this is what I have found. Many people use sand to top their dirt and that seems to help but I don't want sandy plants. I read about hydrogen peroxide mixed with water so I experimented. I put 3 fungus gnat larvae in a glass and added the H2O2 mixed with water. They looked fine. :evil: Like they were swimming when I expected them to appear to be in great pain, wiggle and stuff.
So H2O2 is excellent for aerating the soil and I will do that every now and then but fungus gnat larvae were fine. (I watered all my plants with mix and checked them the next day and the larvae were fine :(.

Ok so I found the perfect solution!!! It's called Beneficial Nematodes!!!! They are tiny little microscopic worms that eat fungus gnat larvae as well as any other larvae for breakfast lunch and dinner!!!
They have a video on YouTube about use of the beneficial nematodes in greenhouses and it's all they use. They put it everywhere since it's safe for humans and animals. There is a short clip in two of the ones I watched where you can see a fungus gnat larvae being eaten alive by the BN!!! It looks awesome :) I looked online and you can order them from Home Depot for $13 with gives you two treatments. (You just mix the BN with water and water them once and then again 7-10 days later a second time). I suppose you would want to not water your plants for a few days prior to receiving the BN so the soil is ready for a good BN watering. I am super excited to get mine!!!
I would suggest maybe watching the YouTube vid of the greenhouse use because it really shows how to mix it up with the water carefully and store the BN in a colder temp because they are alive and if you kill them before you water your plants with them ... It won't work bec they are dead lol.
I have to say I jumped the gun last night before I found out about BN and I took away all my houseplants soil and put them all in water. I was just so fed up with the evil little things!!!
Since you have to mix up the BN with water I will just repot the plants and water with BN water. ((Also the H2O2 mixed with water (1 part H2O2 4 parts water I think) kills the ugly looking fungus that forms on tops of houseplant dirt. So that looks much better as well as killing a source of fungus gnat food. But you still need the Nematodes because the FG will just eat roots instead.)) I will let you know how it works!!! :D

Gwenivere
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:40 am

Check out Beneficial Nematodes!!!! They eat Fungus Gnat Larvae!!!! And it's Eco friendly safe and cheap!!!

MI Gardner
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 2:26 pm
Location: Michigan Zone 5 (Mid-MIchigan)

I was plagued with these gnats. Here is what is working for me for the second year:

A biological solution

1. Bonide 803 Thuricide BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) Insect Killer - This thick liquid mixes with water to apply to plants. Within 72 hours the gnats are gone. Reapply in a cycle to prevent them coming back.


2. Bonide Mosquito Beater Water Soluble Pouches. If using a seed propagation system with expanding fiber disks and water in trays with a water conducting mat. Drop one of these granule packets (the packet will dissolve) into the water tray. I did not have any gnats this year.

User avatar
Countryladiesgardens
Green Thumb
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:05 am
Location: Canada Zone 7
Contact: Website

We just put cinnamon on the tops of some of our vegetables, will let you all know how it goes in a few days! **Fingers crossed**

User avatar
Countryladiesgardens
Green Thumb
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:05 am
Location: Canada Zone 7
Contact: Website

We tried the cinnamon fix and it didn't work. Any other natural methods? Thanks!

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

I'm not sure what you mean by putting cinnamon on "tops" of your vegetables. You mean on the leaves? That would not help anything. What you really care about are the larvae in the soil. For me it works very well to put cinnamon in the water I water with (and then water the soil, not the leaves). Alternatively you could fork a LITTLE bit into the soil and water it in.

User avatar
Countryladiesgardens
Green Thumb
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:05 am
Location: Canada Zone 7
Contact: Website

By the tops I mean on top of the soil. Seems like they enjoy the cinnamon to be honest with you. On to the next remedy I guess! :)

User avatar
Countryladiesgardens
Green Thumb
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:05 am
Location: Canada Zone 7
Contact: Website

Seems like the cinnamon method worked on our latest hot pepper seedlings! Excellent! :) :)

User avatar
grrlgeek
Senior Member
Posts: 162
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:03 pm
Location: Southern California Desert

I haven't tried cinnamon water yet, but a small contingent of these little guys have been controlling the fungus gnats remarkably well:
2014-05-08carnivore.jpg
2014-05-08carnivore.jpg (24.12 KiB) Viewed 2596 times

User avatar
Countryladiesgardens
Green Thumb
Posts: 309
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:05 am
Location: Canada Zone 7
Contact: Website

What little guys are you referring to grrlgeek? They look great! :) :)

User avatar
grrlgeek
Senior Member
Posts: 162
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:03 pm
Location: Southern California Desert

The ones in the picture are Octopus plants. https://carnivorousplants.wikia.com/wiki/Octupus_Plant. Specifically, Cape Sundew - Drosera capensis. Drosera is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundew .

They sell them at the bigbox home improvement stores as novelties, and that's originally why we bought one, until I noticed they were actually catching bugs! Now, every shelf in the light racks has one. Planted in peat and perlite, fed distilled water, they catch fungus gnats and then occasionally bloom like the two in the pic.

This one is a tropical, native to south Africa, but does great indoors for us. Amazon sells them too:

https://www.amazon.com/Cape-Sundew-Plant ... opus+plant

Cheers,



Return to “Container Gardening Forum”