Hello, from what I gathered Mosquito Bits cannot be found in Canada and are somewhat banned. Does anyone know why? Mosquito Dunks are sold in garden centres. Has anyone tried it? Are they safe to use indoors? What other products are available in Canada (BC) to eliminate fungus gnats? Thanks
Natural Insect Control, NIC specializes in Canadian Beneficial Nematodes, grub control, Beneficial Insects, good bugs to control bad bugs. Organic, environment friendly products for home, garden, orchard and farm. 500g Mosquito Larvicide | Home Hardware There's a couple of products similar to Mosquito Bits. Personally I prefer to use the liquid bti. Three drops in a quart sprayer of non-chlorinated water, spray all my plants including soil, and fungus gnats are soon gone for the year. I use a product called Microbe-Lift BMC - Biological Mosquito Control. I don't know if you can get it in Canada, but I see that bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) is definitely approved for use in Canada for widespread use to control mosquitoes, so you should be able to get it somewhere.
I could not find liquid BTI where I am in Canada. The dunks I believe are just the same as the bits (just crumbled up). I have had a serious fungus gnat issue these pet few months. The first thing I did was buy yellow sticky sheets on Amazon because it was significantly cheaper than the ones you find in the stores here. I think I got 25 or 50. Small sheets 6x8 or so for about $18. I cut them into strips and paper punch two holes in them and then use small bamboo skewers from the dollar store. If you don’t use these sticky sheets, get them because they help get the adult fungus gnats. The BTI targets the larvae And won’t kill the adult ones. So I bought that and then I bought the mosquito dunks from a local hydroponic shop. You can also find them at a variety of stores here in Canada. I was going to order it from urban Gardner I believe it is because they are a lot cheaper. Now the packaging is a little challenging with the hard plastic so I put the package of six in a large Ziploc bag and then I Used a tool to try to break it up a little bit inside the package. It did bust the hard plastic a bit but I recommend trying to break them up before removing them on the package because the tiniest little parts go everywhere. Yes they’re safer in the house as far as I have researched. I use gloves Though for everything due to sensitive skin. I try not to breathe it in LOL. As far as I have researched it is a bacteria and it is not poisonous to animals or people in the concentrations that we have for house plants etc. I crumble a bit of a dunk And put in a 5 gallon bucket with lid in water for at least 24 hours maybe a couple days. I make sure that it is a little bit broken up. Can I water my plants with that and it’s supposedly good for 30 days.I noticed a significant reduction in fungus gnats but just remember that it can take a few weeks because there’s adult ones that you have to deal with and a continual watering To manage any larvae. The second bucket full of water that I used I try to use less and I noticed it didn’t work as well. I’m still trying to figure out how much to use. sorry for formatting (mobile) And if I repeated any obvious things to you. Definitely not an expert lol
Thanks for the detailed info. I have had many plants for the past 10 years but I have never had such a bad infestation of fungus gnats. I have also started with trapping the adults. Looked at the price of those yellow sticky tags in the local store and online and ended up buying those rolls from home depot that attract fruit flies and are 2 for a dollar. I also used the little bamboo skewers and cut the stickies from the roll into pieces and attached them to the skewers. I have more than 50 plants and that costed me really not much . But I was not sure if the mosquito dunks would work. Happy to hear that it does work. And thanks for the tips as how to use them. Could you please confirm the amount you used that you think was effective. Thanks
I use 3-4 drops of liquid bti in a quart sprayer, shake it up, and give a quick mist to all plants including their soil and leaves, plus any spots they may congregate like a certain window sill. Remember to use non-chlorinated, clean water like distilled or similar, since these are live bacteria you are carefully keeping alive. This can make a huge difference! :)
I dunno. Never tried that. If I did, I'd probably soak a dunk in a half gallon of distilled water over night, maybe swishing it around a few times periodically. You could break it up to get better transfer, but then the bits might clog your sprayer. I'm not sure! :)
I looked and one tablet of mosquito dunk covers around 100 square feet of surface water. It has to be soaked in the water for a day or two and then used on the surface meaning probably watering the surface of the soil with that . Emandli, How much did you use for your plants that you noticed it was effective. It is hard to calculate. I also have trays with pebbles for some plants that need humidity. Should I add this mix to those?
Use a 1/4 of a dunk in about 4litres of water. I put that 1/4 dunk in a fine net bag to soak 24-48 hrs. Bag I use is because the dunks don’t dissolve. Then after the soak time , I can dispose of the pieces left in the bag.
Fungus gnats thrive in wet soil - there's a good chance that if you have them, your plant is also being overwatered. Which is worse than anything fungus gnats do. Let your pots dry out a bit more between waterings. Another useful tip - every time you find a spider in the house, put it on the pots. They'll catch and eat the fungus gnats. Far better than using unsafe poisons.
An interesting offer with a spider. Maybe a frog can work in the same way? They also like to eat mosquitoes.
