little buggers

[Guest guest]

In my greenhouse experience with soil-less potting media and year round warmth I

find fungas gnats mostly when my medium gets too wet and my air circulation is

decreased. By allowing the medium to dry out some and adding fans, that is an

easy way of eliminating the problem. I am very doubtful about the vinegar trap

working on them, as they aren't really attracted to the fruit or sugar so much

as the bacteria and such that is working in the less than perfect anaerobic

environment of the overwet medium. As mentioned, the yellow sticky traps are a

somewhat effective control, but are much better used as a monitoring device to

alert you of their presence.

Fruit flies on the other hand are very effectively controled with the little

funnel traps. As well as house flies and many others if using the right kind of

'bait'.. House flies like something dead and stinky (mouse, dog poo, rotting

hamburger etc....).. Realize too that fruit fly eggs are present on any fruit

that is not cold stored or shipped cold. The video of the banana in a jar was

most likely an aquariust raising fruit flies as a live food for baby fishes.

That is a very common and easy practice, as banana skins are mostly garunteed to

have eggs.

My main pests are aphids and whitefly which I normally let the good guys take

care of. If I have to treat, in the past I have used neem oil and dish soap

very effectively. After visiting with some other local growers and a little web

searching I am now trying some sugar and hydrogen peroxide. Mix one part sugar,

one part peroxide and fifteen parts water. I also add one part vinegar as my

water is over 9pH. I have only been using this a few times this spring, but it

has totally eliminated the aphids and is making a drastic impact on the

whitefly. It is not an immediate and complete control as you get with harsh

chemicals, but I am NOT afraid to spray it over my chickens, worm beds and fish

barrels.

I have decided I will incorporate some micro-greens, or perhaps mini-greens

after reading some on the sproutpeople website, to my rotation and find out how

me and the chinckens like the stuff.

Bill Addington

dba Taste the Wild

880-8927