Gnat Problem

[alara]

It's been awhile since I've been on here, but I need help with a soil gnat problem!

I just had to throw out a couple of my pothos and Calathea Zebrina plants that I had near the top and middle of my enclosure because I found eggs in them. I took them outside and poured hydrogen peroxide on the soil to kill them. But I wasn't sure if they are still usable even if I repot them with fresh soil. So last week, I went a bought a new pothos plant, washed it, repotted and split it up into two pots to give my cham some coverage. But today, I noticed even more gnats flying around the top. I still need to check the 3 big plants I have on the bottom of the cage. I tried to look at the top of the soil, and they seem fine. But I really don't want to have to get rid of those too because they've been doing so well. I'm going to check them on Tuesday and go to home depot and get a bunch of new plants to fill up the now empty space.

But I guess my main question is, what's the best way to get rid of them fast? Do they ever go away or it's something I have to deal with now? I didn't have this problem before, until recently. It would just be a shame to keep throwing out my good plants just because I don't know what to do with them.

Also I want to mention that one of my pothos is under the misting nozzle. Maybe it's getting overwatered and not draining properly? Poor plant placement maybe? I just switched from a cheap mister that had stopped working, and am now using a mistking. But the leaves from my money tree are hovering over it so I thought it would be blocking it from getting too wet, but idk.

Sorry if this a long post, but gnats are frustrating lol

 

[EmilioTheAnkify]

I’d repot and use an Ariod soil mix.
Trim any bad roots.
Add some springtails to the soil.
Cinnamon is a natural fungicide, which I’ve sprinkled generously on top of the soil to help.
Good luck they are annoying.
Also reconsider your plant placement. Soil that’s wet all the time will cause root rott. Which is breading ground for fungus gnats.

 

[Multivitamins]

You can get a sundew for around the enclosure if you can find them. Or a katchy.

Reduce the access to soil using rocks or something to cover that your Cham cannot eat.

Reduce the water output without allowing humidity to tank

You can look into springtails isopods and nematodes perhaps even praying mantis for biological solutions the young mantids will prob be able to feast on the gnats and each other and your Cham can feast on the mantids as well.

 

[alara]

Cinnamon is a natural fungicide, which I’ve sprinkled generously on top of the soil to help.

I've heard about using cinnamon. Would I just keep it on the soil until the gnats are gone? And then change out the soil? Or keep it to avoid more gnats?

Also reconsider your plant placement. Soil that’s wet all the time will cause root rott. Which is breading ground for fungus gnats

So for plants near the misting nozzle, how would I prevent those plants from getting too wet? I already use rocks to cover the soil. Will just having plenty of foilage throughout the enclosure help to prevent excess moisture from getting to the soil? I used to have more coverage, before I had to start taking out plants

 

[alara]

You can get a sundew for around the enclosure if you can find them. Or a katchy.

Reduce the access to soil using rocks or something to cover that your Cham cannot eat.

Reduce the water output without allowing humidity to tank

You can look into springtails isopods and nematodes perhaps even praying mantis for biological solutions the young mantids will prob be able to feast on the gnats and each other and your Cham can feast on the mantids as well.

Would sticky traps be safe to use? Like ones that you stick in the soil?

 

[Multivitamins]

Would sticky traps be safe to use? Like ones that you stick in the soil?

I don't like having anything sticky or adhesive in the enclosure. You might have luck with them but I'd keep them outside to avoid any chance of the Cham getting in contact with it. Better safe than sorry.

 

[MissSkittles]

Would sticky traps be safe to use? Like ones that you stick in the soil?

Nothing sticky should ever go inside a chameleon enclosure. I have 4 bioactive enclosures in one room and so unfortunately I also have soil gnats. I use Katchy’s with some good results, but that hasn’t quite been enough. I have sundew plants (drosera capensis) but keep those in the rest of the house to eliminate any that escape the cham room. I had to wait for mantis ooths to become available, which has almost solved the problem. I let one hatch out in each enclosure. The baby mantids eat the gnats and the cham eats the baby mantids. Circle of life.

 

[EmilioTheAnkify]

The cinnamon will kill the fungus the gnats eat. I keep the cinnamon on the top of the soil until I’m able to repot with new soil.

If you can’t move the plant out of the misters spray. I would try pointing the nozzle in a different direction. Amazon has mistaking nozzles that come with elbows.

I’ve tried the yellow sticking traps…didn’t work for me.

For my free range tree I’ve used dish soap/vinegar/sugar trap mixture, which worked way better than the yellow sticky’s.

 

[MissSkittles]

The cinnamon will kill the fungus the gnats eat. I keep the cinnamon on the top of the soil until I’m able to repot with new soil.

If you can’t move the plant out of the misters spray. I would try pointing the nozzle in a different direction. Amazon has mistaking nozzles that come with elbows.

I’ve tried the yellow sticking traps…didn’t work for me.

For my free range tree I’ve used dish soap/vinegar/sugar trap mixture, which worked way better than the yellow sticky’s.

Do you know if cinnamon will harm isopods and springtails?

 

[EmilioTheAnkify]

Do you know if cinnamon will harm isopods and springtails?

It won’t harm them but the cinnamon kills the fungi which is what the clean up crew eats.

 

[alara]

The cinnamon will kill the fungus the gnats eat. I keep the cinnamon on the top of the soil until I’m able to repot with new soil.

If you can’t move the plant out of the misters spray. I would try pointing the nozzle in a different direction. Amazon has mistaking nozzles that come with elbows.

I’ve tried the yellow sticking traps…didn’t work for me.

For my free range tree I’ve used dish soap/vinegar/sugar trap mixture, which worked way better than the yellow sticky’s.

I'll try the cinnamon for now and look into the other stuff. I also plan on repotting everything later this week and getting more plants for backup in case I need to switch anything out. And change up my plant placement.

 

[alara]

Thanks everyone for your help! Fingers crossed something works!

 

[bruce the cham]

i had same problem until i added a bunch of isopods in my plant pots

 

[alara]

i had same problem until i added a bunch of isopods in my plant pots

Do isopods eat the gnats that are in the soil or the fungus?

 

[bruce the cham]

Do isopods eat the gnats that are in the soil or the fungus?

they eat any parasite in the soil so they don't eat gnats but eat the eggs so if you get rid of the gnats than put isopodes in no more ghats

 

[alara]

they eat any parasite in the soil so they don't eat gnats but eat the eggs so if you get rid of the gnats than put isopodes in no more ghats

Ok, so after the gnats are gone, can the isopods stay in there or change the soil to get them out? Sorry for all the questions. I researched a lot about keeping a chameleon, but not so much about botany lol

 

[bruce the cham]

Ok, so after the gnats are gone, can the isopods stay in there or change the soil to get them out? Sorry for all the questions. I researched a lot about keeping a chameleon, but not so much about botany lol

stay their they will help clean any bacteria

 

[alara]

stay their they will help clean any bacteria

Ok, thank you!

 

[Beman]

Supposedly cinnamon can be harmful to dogs if they inhale the powder.... I do not know that I would use this in a chams cage since they have very sensitive lungs.

 

[MissSkittles]

What about diatomaceous earth?