Soil Gnat Infestation in Bucket Garden

[MuddyBuckets]

Help! It seems all of my buckets and container (SIP and non-SIP) have been infested with soil gnats this year. Only had one planter infested last year and it was dumped, cleaned and replanted with new media. Hope someone has a safe solution to get rid of these pesky and destructive insects. I tried peppermint tea drench and found it totally ineffictive. Thanks for any suggestions...getting desperate as plants grow larger.

[Cole_Robbie]

Mosquito dunks. Let them soak in the water that you use on the plants. They are bacillus thuringensis bacteria (BT), and harmless to humans and plants.

[Johnniemar]

I used mosquito dunks this past march on my tomato starts. They were infested also. They worked great. Took about 3 or 4 weeks to get rid of them all, but worked fine.

[bower]

Plus one for mosquito dunks.
Also, use sticky traps placed down near the soil, catch those adults before they lay more eggs.

[ilex]

Air flow

[fonseca]

This is one reason why I started adding neem seed meal to my soilless mix. I top dress containers with it as well.

I have also found that thoroughly drenching container media with 1-2 TBSP cold-pressed neem oil per gallon water will get rid of them within a few days. Sometimes I apply again a week later but it's not usually necessary.

Neem works systemically (PDF warning) when taken up by plant roots. I haven't seen an aphid in three years, which I attribute to neem seed meal. I don't have fungus gnats in my outdoor containers either, although I still get them indoors with non-sterile seed-starting mixes.

Active neem constituents can be absorbed through plant roots and systemically
move upward through the plant through xylem tissues (Gill and Lewis
1971, Larew 1988, Nisbet, et al. 1993, Osman and Port 1990). This works
best when sufficient quantities are applied to the root zone. Systemic effects
are much less apparent from foliar sprays. Different plant species also differ
widely in their ability to have systemic effects from neem. Neem constituents
last much longer within the plant than when sprayed on the leaves.
However, over time they will be diluted by growth.

[ilex]

Air flow = wind

They are very bad flyers, and can only succeed when air doesn't move. Just the smallest fan will control them.

You can also put a happy drosera or pinguicula next to your pots.

[ginger2778]

I use Thurcide liquid concentrate, 1 Tbsp per gallon. Also BT. Works great.

[bower]

Originally Posted by ilex

Air flow = wind

They are very bad flyers, and can only succeed when air doesn't move. Just the smallest fan will control them.

You can also put a happy drosera or pinguicula next to your pots.

This must be why they aren't a problem outdoors here.
Great idea with the carnivorous plants.

[brownrexx]

bt (thuricide) or mosquito dunks will take care of them but next year put your seed starting mix in the freezer for a few days before using it. It kills the eggs.

I live in PA so it is a big freezer outdoors during the winter so I store my soilless mix outside before using it and have no gnat problem in my seed starting trays anymore.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by fonseca

This is one reason why I started adding neem seed meal to my soilless mix. I top dress containers with it as well.

I have also found that thoroughly drenching container media with 1-2 TBSP cold-pressed neem oil per gallon water will get rid of them within a few days. Sometimes I apply again a week later but it's not usually necessary.

Neem works systemically (PDF warning) when taken up by plant roots. I haven't seen an aphid in three years, which I attribute to neem seed meal. I don't have fungus gnats in my outdoor containers either, although I still get them indoors with non-sterile seed-starting mixes.

I was wondering about this, since I still hand fertilize some, especially early season I was considering adding neem to the mix every watering to see if it helped as I dont like to spray the leaves any more than I have to.