Vectobac 12as - Larvicide to remove gnats

[mcgrath111]

Hi All,

 

I purchased some Vectobac 12 as which is a form of baccilius thurgensis - israelensis, which is meant to remove gnats. I've followed application rates and even increased beyond the recommend application, yet still gnats!

 

Could it be  that the soil is too moist? (Always keep the pere's fairly wet)

Could it be the substrate? 

 

I thought vectobac would be my cure for gnats, not yet unfortunately

 

Thoughts and advice appreciated!

 

Thanks, 

[fyzygy]

Have you tried diatomaceous earth?

[Zedo]

I’ve learnt diatomaceous earth is one of the best control measures for pests in the garden. Also fly traps - mix a heaped table spoon of vegemite with boiling water (to dissolve) and a squirt of dishwashing liquid. And put in a fly trap. I found vegemite works better than the crap sold at bunnies. 
 

we had a bad fruit fly problem last year, so I put 6 traps through the yard and perimeter of the fence line. Took a while and constant changes of the vegemite mix (lasts around a 2-4 weeks) but got on top of it. Now the fly traps are always there. 

[waterboy 2.0]

Too much organic matter not broken down enough be my guess... Using a "barky" mix? 

[mcgrath111]

Yeah too organic matter / cheap soil mix. They seem to like the kleensorb diatomite which is bizzare lol

 

I've tried de and stick traps so far, guess I'll move onto vegemite (I'm saddened to say, I don't have any in the pantry.

 

Thanks All!

[waterboy 2.0]

If your plant can take it.. Drown the pot and the fckn gnats.... Itll take a coupla dunks to murder a coupla generations. 

 

Ive changed media before to win wars with them. 

[Halcyon Daze]

Use a soil-wetter when dunking too. Eg a couple drops of detergent or a couple teaspoons of molasses. It helps the water stick to the larvae and drown them. Otherwise they can survive in little air pockets through out the mix.

Also I've read that crab-shell-meal works wel, as the bacteria that thrive on the ?Chitin? will eat the exoskeletons of the larvae. 

 

Sticky yellow traps can be made with cut-up plastic pots and vasoline. 

 

Let us know how it all goes

[Zedo]

Oh, does organic matter cause gnats? I use sugarcane mulch in the veggie patch, would this cause them to breed more? The garden beds have wood chips. So maybe they are coming from the garden not the veggie patch. 

[Darklight]

Never had any luck with Vectobac, sorry. Dunno if stock was too old, wrong species or what.

 

 

 

 

[mcgrath111]

On 15/08/2021 at 4:31 PM, Darklight said:

Never had any luck with Vectobac, sorry. Dunno if stock was too old, wrong species or what.

Interesting to know, I've just contacted customer support - odd that it hasn't worked for another person. I wouldn't be surprised if old stock. I'll post an update to see what they say.