Gnats, are they really that bad?

[dionysus]

are gnats bad for phrags, phals, dendrobiums, or any kind of oncidium, subspecies included? i have a ton in my small green house, but they don't seem to be a big problem. any suggestions on ridding my self of them?

[Tess1]

get a frog

[kmarch]

I don't think gnats are harmful. i have them and have never noticed any signs of harm.

On a different note, all genus names (Oncidiums, Phrag, etc) are capitalized.

[pikevi]

You could try non-toxic glue boards to trap the gnats.

[Tobi]

Dionysus,
The good news is that they are not destructive to the plants. The bad news
is that they are quite a nuisance and they multiply faster than a bunch of
rabbits on Viagra. I have used a mild dish washing detergent diluted with
water to temporarily get rid of them. A couple of applications when you
routinely water. Cynthia has also recommended using Mosquito Dunks which
you can buy at garden centers. Keeping the air circulation high also helps.
They like the dampness from the decomposing bark.

[WIB]

Your gnats, if not harmful, are probably useless, but in their native habitats, many orchids, including many of the pleurothallids, are pollinated by gnats, midges, or no-see-ums (all common terms for very, very small flies). (Kevin: Should I have capitalized "pleurothallid"?) -- Bill

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Get some mosquito dunks from a home center or nursery, and put a small chunk in your watering can. This is a biological that that puts living organisms into your mix that will consume the gnat larvae. Works.

[slippery_biscuit]

Here is my answer to gnats. Two of these keep them to a minimum in my greenhouse. So far they have been in bloom continuously since early summer (blooms not shown). I think the effectiveness is self-evident.

[justloveorchids]

My friend from USA ordered and got me Mosquito Dunks and I have used them as suggested since Sept but i still get a problem with fungal gnats

i cant find a sell by date on the dunks but i wonder if they are too old or had been badly stored
As they cost $15 because she had to order them via the internet its annoying

[dionysus]

well, i have a sundew and a tropical piture plant in there, but they are still prolific and i don't think that my parents would be too keen on having a frog in my greenhouse. i did try coating a yellow sheet of paper in vaseline, htat seemes to work okay. and sorry bout the caps.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Hi justloveorchids. I have just had a dreadful case myself here in my home with a 15' tall dracena (big pot). They were so far advanced because I kept forgetting to bring the dunks in from the greenhouse, and hundreds of them were coming up from the pot (no other plants were affected). So, adding the dunk laced water to the pot didn't affect the near to fully mature gnats. To handle that, I took a bottle of ready mixed Pyrethrin and lightly sprayed the top of the pot. Didn't want to get the pesticide into the pot because I assume that it would kill the organisms provided by the Dunk.

But I also have the question about the shelf life of the Dunks, as I bought this package about 6 months ago. So my plan is to mix a little in some water and look at it under a powerful microscope. Well, that is the plan, but I have been planning it for several days now and just don't seem to find the time. But when I do, I'll report back if there is any useful info to be discerned by this. I am also concerned about any left over pesticide in the pot or water source (my RO tank) from previous problem solving. So, if I can see the organisms and see that they are alive, I may try to see what happens to them with some of my usual chemical treatments watered down. But don't hold your breath on this one. I have far more experiments planned than I have time for.

Also of note, I have been checking my pot for the last couple of days, since the Pyrethrin on the surface, and nothing living has shown itself.

[Nancy]

I keep birds and sometimes I get gnats if I'm a little late cleaning the cages. One thing that helps is putting stale beer in a cup or an old medicine bottle. Put a few drops of dish soap into this. The gnats are attracted to the beer but they can't get out of the cup because they can't get past the soap. This really helps to keep the population down. Hope this helps.

[dionysus]

i had forgotten about the super helping powers of beer. thanks!

[Laura L.]

Gardensalive.com has a great picture showing the cycle of fungus gnats. It's when they are in the larvae stage (underground) when they are harmful - eating roots. Gardens Alive sells a product, but you have to use it when the gnats are in that larvae stage to kill them. I tried the vaseline on yellow paper, no luck. The real aphid sticky paper, or whatever it is called really got them, but I like the beer and sun dew ideas, too! Seeing those things flying around made me feel things are not clean and/or healthy. Dislike them.

Somewhere on the web, as I was researching orchids, I came across a note about cleaning the orchid leaves with so much water, so many drops of olive oil, and so many drops of "washing up soap."

Being a newbie, I tried that concoction and loved how it cleaned the leaves. Guess what - it also caught a few of the gnats.

Now, after just purchasing a Neregelia carolinae (probably spelled wrong - bromelliad), and researching, found a note about not using "oil-based leaf cleaners" as it would inhibit the ability to take in moisture, or something like that.

Any comments/advice? The orchids were cleaned about 2 months ago - do not notice anything strange, except perhaps a little water beading up on the leaves.

[Mister]

Hello everyone, I'm new to all this. I just got my orchid and I have little white bugs on the flowers. I haven't noticed them anywhere else. Also three of the unopened flowers have fell off. Please If anyone can help I don't want this one to die!

[articuno75]

Sounds like you have aphids. The quickest treatment is to take dishsoap and Cinnamon extract and give it a good spraying. Also pictures would be great just to confirm. Yucky little boogers what ever it is.

[dionysus]

hmm, something spicy is just what the doctor ordered. i would suggest also trying cayanne pepper (or the hottest you have) and dilute it a bit and spray it directly on the little poo heads. also try lemon juice. the limonoids are suppossed to kill them. not too sure though as i havn't tried it myself yet.

you seem better A.75. i hope that i am not assuming wrong.

[articuno75]

Everyday gets a little better. Take it day by day. Everyone is feeling better from being sick too! Yeah, it helps when you got good 'Ol Capital One card and a few hundred orchid shop sites

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Back to gnats. I think the mosquito dunks have a limited life span, so could be problematic with not knowing how long the packages have been around. I have been pretty free of gnats lately. could be the pyrethrin sprayed on the top of the pot every so often, which kills the gnats on their way out of the mix. Had a few residual for a while, but suspected that they were coming in thru my front door where the sill has been changing shape (log home) and leaving a gap. It has been below freezing every night for the last 3 months, so think that maybe the outside gnats are in dormancy. That, or the ones in the pots indoors are in dormancy. but doubt that such would be possible in such a warm environment.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

Back to gnats. I think the mosquito dunks have a limited life span, so could be problematic with not knowing how long the packages have been around.

Most of the sources I can find give shelf lives for BT products at between 2-4 years if kept cool and dry. I've read anecdotal reports of it being effective 10 years after purchase.