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Getting Rid of Gnats (Update)
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Author:  jp4LSU [ Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:26 am ]
Post subject:  Getting Rid of Gnats (Update)

I live in an area with lots of mature trees close to Eagle Mtn Lake in Fort Worth.

The gnats are driving me crazy. They start swarming above the grass at dusk and during the day they are laying on the eaves of the house and in the thick bushes.

What will be the best way to get rid of them?

Because of this we have spiders and spider webs going up everywhere. I can knock down webs around the house and they are back in 12 hrs.

The spider webs and gnats are getting very annoying and limits my desire to spend time outside and on the porch.
Thanks for the help.
-JP

Author:  northwesterner [ Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats

The spiders probably eat the gnats.

Gnats seem to be a sign of a healthy environment, I don't try to do anything about them, just walk around them. You can repel insects in various ways, you might want to try sprinkling dry garlic powder around the area (I use it to repel flies and mosquitoes around the house, particularly in the areas where the dogs hang out in the yard).

There are lots of solutions people have come up with. Take some time visiting the site library and search through the forums for various suggestions.

Author:  jp4LSU [ Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats

Thanks again NW'r.
I just came across a garlic product to make a barrier for gnats and mosquitoes. I went ahead and ordered some garlic barrier concentrate and will give it a shot.

I'll couple this with my mosquito dunks and bits and hopefully keep the gnats and mosquitoes in check this summer.

Author:  jp4LSU [ Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats

So I sprayed this garlic Mosquito Barrier 2 nights ago. As I sprayed in the grass the gnats were coming out the by the hundreds as I got clos to them. The gnTs were not in certain areas but everywhere. The product says it kills and repels gnats and mosquitoes.

Well late last night I turned on the floodlight and thousands swarmed the light and started coming out the grass to the light. So I dont think this did anything to kill or repel gnats.

At dusk they start swaming out of the grass and it is very annoying.

Author:  jp4LSU [ Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats (Update)

OK, I sprayed Mosquito Barrier (Garlic) around in the grass to keep away mosquitoes and gnats.

It didn't do a lot for the gnats though. I would have millions of gnats start swarming at different spots around the house at dusk. Very annoying and they would come to light in the windows and die on the porch by the thousands.

So I took Dawn Dish soap and mixed several ounces in a 4 gallon sprayer and did this 3 times. I then sprayed the grass from the house out to 20 feet. I really hit the spots where they swarmed.

They huddle in the grass before dusk so when I would hit an area where they were they would fly and try and get away. The spray would knock them back down and I just hit those spots hard. I then waited for dusk and wait for the swams to appear.

I would nail the swarms with the sprayer and it would knock a lot down.

This has affected the population tremendously. I would highly recommend this if you have swarming gnats.

Author:  northwesterner [ Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats

You've done a great job with that research! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Author:  jp4LSU [ Wed Jul 03, 2013 2:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats

Update on my soap treatment.

The gnats were the worst in the St Augustine grass off our back porch. I focused most of my Dish Soap and Water spraying here. There are still no gnats back there. I do have some in the front yard, but I didn't focus a whole lot of attention up there. I'll hit them this weekend.

These gnats begin swarming at dusk and I haven't seen swarms all week.

Our lot and the neighbor's lot is 1 acre. I had to go retrieve my dog from their front yard and walked through swarms of gnats. So I think my process has worked pretty well. I'll update how long this last.

Yesterday I sprinkled red cedar pellets in the back yard to hopefully repel them and mosquitoes.

Author:  jp4LSU [ Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats (Update)

OK here's an update.
My treatment lasted a 1-2 weeks.
They have come back with a vengenance this week.
It's possible that I should've stayed on top of them by spraying once a week for a while to kill any budding larvae that mature.

So I sprayed late yesterday like I did previously and got a lot of them in the grass, similar to before. I might have had more in the grass this time around than before. Don't know if it is the hot weather that is helping them.

So last night I turned on the back flood light to gauge how many gnats were back there. Well they flooded to the light in numbers I haven't seen previously. I sprayed them at the light with the soap mixture and thousands would just keep coming to the light as the ones getting sprayed would fall. The numbers I killed was astonishing and the number still coming to the light was astonishing.

So I'm not sure if what I did is working. Either I need to spray once a week for a while, or they are drawn to the smell of soap. Yesterday after spraying the soap, it was almost like others were drawn to the smell.

I felt like carpet bombing with pesticides last night it was almost Biblical.

Author:  jp4LSU [ Thu Jul 11, 2013 11:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Getting Rid of Gnats (Update)

So last night the gnats were much better than the night before. The only thing that I can think of is that the smell of soap water I put down in the yard attracted swarms from surrounding lots.

I put down garlic juice/water combo last night. Things were better.

I've noticed the soap water will knock them down and keep them in the grass. So I think spraying with soak/water will kill a bunch of them immediately. I haven't determined if this soap also attracted more from neighboring lots.

But I believe the garlic juice/water combo will keep them from being attracted to your location. It should also kill the ones in the ground as you are spraying. It doesn't seem to knock them down and kill them immediately like the soap water though.

So I'll keep after them once a week with some combination of the soap and garlic and see what works. I need to stay on them for a bit to be sure to get any budding larvae that is in the ground now.

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