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Diatomaceous earth vs. Fungus gnats

BronsonAndBrody
BronsonAndBrodystarted grow question 5y ago
I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth on the top soil of my plants to combat some fungus gnats. Will the diatomaceous earth harm the leaves if some got on them?
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Week 5
Leaves. Other
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kushinator
kushinatoranswered grow question 5y ago
My last plant almost died from a biblical fungus gnat infestation (dozens of flyers around the plant) and I'm currently having some gnats (very few and controlled) on my new plant. Diatomaceous earth only helps when it's dry and neem oil didn't work for me on my last grow. I'm currently treating my plant with yellow sticky traps (it's a must) and BTI (bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, better in a liquid form, not mosquito bits although they work too) and the problem looks really controlled. The latter is an organic fungi that kills the fungus gnat larvae when they eat it, cutting their life cycle, whilst the sticky traps kill the adults. And, obviously, another must you should do apart from BTI and sticky traps is water AS LESS AS POSSIBLE. Keep the top layer of soil dry and they will go away. Make sure to take care of them asap since you already have some yellow leaves, which is the first symptom of fungus gnat damage. After it your leaves will become brittle, dry, and burned at the edges, completely yellow. The growth will stop if untreated. Good luck in this war and happy growing!
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Automistress
Automistressanswered grow question 5y ago
Pre mixed neem oil is the answer to gnats, thrips, flies and any other mofo leaf suckers. it’s the only thing I have found to work other than knocking them off with a spray of water.....but that just dislodges them and they fall back into the soil again, ready to resurface later. I love neem oil. A cold press, ready mixed bottle of Neem oil is always in my plant First Aid Kit.
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the_canna_scientist
the_canna_scientistanswered grow question 5y ago
Every interaction I've had with these guys have been fixed with watering less ( allowing top 2 inches to dry out) The larvae and eggs have like a 48-72 hour gestation period and then a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution on the top 1inch of soil only. The gnats larvae/eggs are in the top soil, when you water you can sometimes see them jumping in the water, a quick spray of H2O2 when they are on the surface like that will knock them out. If you are doing organic, make sure you sprinkle some microbes back on top after a couple days.
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deFharo
deFharoanswered grow question 5y ago
La tierra de diatomeas no quemará tus hojas, es un mineral con mucho silicio que romperá los estómagos de los mosquitos y cuando acabe disolviéndose por los riegos será una fuente de calcio y silicio.
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GaiaGreenGiant
GaiaGreenGiantanswered grow question 5y ago
That’s right! It needs to stay dry to work. Just need to water plants from the bottom through capillary action. No need to buy more stuff. Cheers 🍻
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Mr_Weeds_Autos
Mr_Weeds_Autosanswered grow question 5y ago
Hey Growmie, Its safe for use on plants and the lack of harm it causes to roots as well as other parts of the plant is another reason organic gardeners prize the substance so much. Hopefully, this was helpful and remember ..."Happy Growing" and "Free your mind one puff at a time".
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Experimentgreen
Experimentgreenanswered grow question 5y ago
Ugh fungus gnats awful! I've had an ongoing battle with them recently and it sucked. I thought diamataceous earth too..but it only really works if its dry and contacts the bugs. Your better off buying a thing called mosquito bites it's like a brown sand looking stuff...sprinkle on top of soil, but also smash some up and leave it in a gallon of water for a day and then water the soil with it. Also if you have access to Dr.Bonners Castile soap, that works wonders on almost all bugs and doesn't hurt the plants. That's their deal...being "earth friendly " mix it with water in a spray bottle and you have one badass bug buster.👍
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GaiaGreenGiant
GaiaGreenGiantanswered grow question 5y ago
No your leaves will be fine. It may prevent leaves from capturing light at full potential if lots are on them though. Can be rinsed off of them with ease with spray bottle. Just make sure your light intensity isn too strong when doing so. I love seeing gnats crawl out of that stuff all messed up. Sure works good. Cheers 🍻
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greenAF
greenAF
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