geissene

Hi everyone,

I have 6 indoor bananas in 5 gallon pots and no matter what I do, I always seem to get fungus gnats in the soil every year when I bring the plants inside. This is annoying because the plants stay in my dining room over winter and then the flies bother anyone at the dining table.

I just wanted to mention that this year I have been keeping my fungus gnat problem under control with a small portable bug zapper that runs/charges from a USB cable. I have been running this small light at night and it attracts the gnats, any mosquitoes, and even house flies. It kills silently and doesn't have enough power to kill a house fly immediately but eventually the fly gets stuck inside the light and then zapped long enough to expire.

The price of a small zapper varies but many types on amazon can be purchased for under $30. Perhaps this would be a good gift for yourself or someone else.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Erik G

zfallon84

The flies aren't the only problem. The larvae eat plant roots. Though, they might not be able to kill your large plants. They can still kill your little plants (TC banana's, etc..). They killed most of my garden this past spring. As soon as the vegetables started popping up, most of the plants died.

geissene

I totally agree! Sorry to hear you had garden plant losses.

I water the pots about every 10 days sparingly but the bugs still manage to multiply. In the past I have tried gnatrol and yellow sticky tape solutions to reduce bug levels in the house. The zapper has been a better alternative for me and it can be used as a portable light. (I do nothing to protect outdoor plants from gnats)

cincinnana

Ingenius......I will have to check that one out.

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Iowa

I got the zapper idea this year also. I have sticky traps and gnatrol, I use gnatrol on my Elephant Ears but not my Bananas. I have also been using vanilla scent wax in a scentsy, I use vanilla in a little spray bottle as a repellent on myself so tried the wax inside. It seems to help . This year I got a couple plug in bug zapper's, I haven't used them yet, but I think they may help. I found some yellow ones on ebay.
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Growing Musa Orinoco since 1993 - Added 2018-Basjoo, Zebrina' Rojo, Ensete Red Abyssinian - Added 2019-Goldfinger - Added 2020-Kokopo (Short Cycle), Double (Mahoi), Highgate, Super Dwarf Cavendish - Added 2021-Pisang Ceylon(Mysore), Musa Margarita, Ensete Ventricosum - Added 2023 - Siam Ruby

jmc96

If they are fungus gnats and you are looking for 100% control, you can't go past a biological pesticide known as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, or BT (i) for short.
I have this same problem with my mushroom growing endeavours and kills every last one. There is a similar variety known as BT, but you have to get the BT (i), it's mostly sold as a mosquito control, but very effective on gnats.

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Currently growing:
M.velutina, M.ornata, M.zebrina, M.sikkimensis, M.basjoo,
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M. rajapuri, Blue Java, dwarf red dacca, Williams, Dwarf Chinese plantain (same as dwarf cav?), dwarf cav, super dwarf cav, Choui cau (Senorita), Goldfinger, Pisang ceylan, and Four Tongan varieties I'm working through,one is popoulu. Newly added: Gros michele, lakatan and saba.

aruzinsky

Thanks for telling me that it is effective against fungus gnats. I don't have that problem in my greenhouse because I spray monthly for other things.

But, a couple of years ago, I had a pantry moth infestation in my house. They are the worst! I bought a bug zapper with a fluorescent tube style blacklight which wasn't very effective. On Ebay, I saw a lot of LED bug zappers for under $5 from China, but, they all operated on 240 VAC. More recently, I found 120 VAC versions:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1X-Mosquito...D/202487149535

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Socket-...U/323329924757

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Socket-...U/323296686654

but, I have no experience with them. At one point, I considered making my own bug zapper out of an electric fly swatter like this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-Bu...E/113213606296

Electric fly swatters are fun; everyone should own one. The basic plan was to replace the batteries with a plug in power supply and put ultraviolet LEDs on one side of the fly swatter to attract bugs. I decided that I am too old and lazy for this, but, if I were a young man, I would probably have done it and posted a YouTube video to make money.

Richard

I use Leverage 360.

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

jmc96

Yes, very effective systemic insecticide, they are trying to ban the main ingredient, Imidacloprid, here in Australia. They say it gets carried up to the flowers where the bees cart it off to their hive which apparently, don't know if it's been positively proven as yet, is damaging the young brood.

__________________
Currently growing:
M.velutina, M.ornata, M.zebrina, M.sikkimensis, M.basjoo,
~~~~~~
M. rajapuri, Blue Java, dwarf red dacca, Williams, Dwarf Chinese plantain (same as dwarf cav?), dwarf cav, super dwarf cav, Choui cau (Senorita), Goldfinger, Pisang ceylan, and Four Tongan varieties I'm working through,one is popoulu. Newly added: Gros michele, lakatan and saba.

Richard

The issue with Imidacloprid is when it is used as a pre-emergent seed coating. That use is banned in California and the EU for grain crops. I'm all for that.

The "organic lifestyle" magazines have misreported this as a total ban. Organic pesticide companies don't like competition.

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

aruzinsky

In my experience, Imidacloprid was the only insecticide that eradicated white mealy bugs. Another, cheaper, systemic insecticide that I tried was Acephate, which caused them to stir and come out of their hiding spots and die on upper leaf surfaces, but, it never completely eradicated them.

I bought my Imidacloprid here:

https://www.domyown.com/prime-source...i-p-12208.html

I mention my source because it was the cheapest that I could find and, as a public service, help others save money.

Notice not for sale in AK, CA, CT, HI, MO, MT, ND, NE, NY, NV, SD, WY. Growers with mealy bugs in those states are so screwed. If you buy plants from growers in those states, beware of mealy bugs, especially white mealy bugs because they camouflage themselves as perlite that has splashed onto plant surfaces.

Iowa

My zapper's and yellow sticky traps do well. This year I found Microbe-Lift BMC. It helped with control of the larva in the soil. There are several Microbe-lift's so make sure it's BMC, Biological Mosquito Control. You can check it out on the web. https://www.planetnatural.com/forums...-fungus-gnats/ I water with 2 drops of BMC per gallon of water.

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Growing Musa Orinoco since 1993 - Added 2018-Basjoo, Zebrina' Rojo, Ensete Red Abyssinian - Added 2019-Goldfinger - Added 2020-Kokopo (Short Cycle), Double (Mahoi), Highgate, Super Dwarf Cavendish - Added 2021-Pisang Ceylon(Mysore), Musa Margarita, Ensete Ventricosum - Added 2023 - Siam Ruby