Fungus Gnats Under Cover

Bipetual · July 17, 2015

I am growing in five gallon SIP made from buckets. I have noticed some fungus gnats and the last time I had a lot of them I used a soil drench of Gnatrol with good results. But this year I am using plastic covers, and I am a little reluctant to disturb them. Some of them are actual shower caps and work fine but they are a little brittle. I think they would tear if I lifted them up.

Also, we have had tons and ton of rain and since the containers are homemade the drainage probably isn't as good as it would be with commercial containers. I really hate to saturate them from the top.

Any other way of dealing with them? I do have yellow sticky traps out, but they seem to be of limited use.

TexasTycoon · July 17, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bipetual

I am growing in five gallon SIP made from buckets. I have noticed some fungus gnats and the last time I had a lot of them I used a soil drench of Gnatrol with good results. But this year I am using plastic covers, and I am a little reluctant to disturb them. Some of them are actual shower caps and work fine but they are a little brittle. I think they would tear if I lifted them up.

Also, we have had tons and ton of rain and since the containers are homemade the drainage probably isn't as good as it would be with commercial containers. I really hate to saturate them from the top.

Any other way of dealing with them? I do have yellow sticky traps out, but they seem to be of limited use.

I had them too, I dropped a mosquito dunk (solid BT rings, you can get them in multi-packs for pretty cheap at Home Depot and Lowe's) in my watering can and let it soak overnight. It took a couple of weeks but the gnats are gone and I just leave the dunk in the can and put a new one in when it fully dissolves. I have self-watering pots (which I'm assuming you have as well since you don't want to disturb your plastic) and this worked great for me.

Bipetual · July 17, 2015

I wondered if I could treat them from the bottom. Maybe I could pour just a little down the stem hole, too. I'm surprised that the same mind of bt works for skeeters and gnats. Great idea! I could also break the mosquito dunks and put them in the reservoirs, too. I did that last year, and come to think of it I didn't have any trouble with gnats. Brilliant! Thanks for your input, TT!

TexasTycoon · July 19, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bipetual

I wondered if I could treat them from the bottom. Maybe I could pour just a little down the stem hole, too. I'm surprised that the same mind of bt works for skeeters and gnats. Great idea! I could also break the mosquito dunks and put them in the reservoirs, too. I did that last year, and come to think of it I didn't have any trouble with gnats. Brilliant! Thanks for your input, TT!

Really glad I could help! I'm new at this, but if there's something I know how to fix I am eager to share what I know! I've seen more bugs this year than I've ever seen in my life. No one tells you when you start a garden that you're going to be worrying about bugs more than your plants a lot of the time!

Bipetual · July 19, 2015

I agree. I got obsessed with container gardening after checking out a book by Edward C. Smith. He talked about bugs and critters, in all fairness, but somehow in my fantasies that stuff never happened to me. I certainly never pictured my plants getting early blight every year. If only I had discovered Tomatoville sooner!

July 17, 2015	#1
Bipetual Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Illinois, zone 5a Posts: 579	Fungus Gnats Under Cover I am growing in five gallon SIP made from buckets. I have noticed some fungus gnats and the last time I had a lot of them I used a soil drench of Gnatrol with good results. But this year I am using plastic covers, and I am a little reluctant to disturb them. Some of them are actual shower caps and work fine but they are a little brittle. I think they would tear if I lifted them up. Also, we have had tons and ton of rain and since the containers are homemade the drainage probably isn't as good as it would be with commercial containers. I really hate to saturate them from the top. Any other way of dealing with them? I do have yellow sticky traps out, but they seem to be of limited use.

July 19, 2015	#5
Bipetual Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Illinois, zone 5a Posts: 579	I agree. I got obsessed with container gardening after checking out a book by Edward C. Smith. He talked about bugs and critters, in all fairness, but somehow in my fantasies that stuff never happened to me. I certainly never pictured my plants getting early blight every year. If only I had discovered Tomatoville sooner!