Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Over the last few years I have been conducting numerous horticultural, agricultural, and botanical experiments. Subsequently I have encountered a few garden pests here and there, specifically with *outdoor* experiments. Having a pest slip into a controlled laboratory would be a catastrophe and a total failure of numerous lab protocols. Therefore, I went through dozens of pest solutions and pesticides for ALL plants that I decided to bring into my laboratories for testing. This was one of the products tested that failed (completely) for any reduction or control of gnats. This was disappointing as Gnats are a rather simple pest to treat when using an effective product. It also made me HIGHLY question the validity of the reviews that I read that led me to purchase the product. I had read “rave” reviews here on Amazon regarding this product and decided to try this for my wife’s greenhouse/plants. This last year she has acquired gnats in her (outdoor) greenhouse from some plants purchased at Home Depot. The gnats absolutely frustrated her. My wife always tries to utilize natural methods to no avail. There is a plethora of non-scientific bloggers and “influencers” that recommend ridiculous methods for houseplant pests. If you want pests gone: kill them and nullify their ability to procreate. Her previous methods included: Peppermint Oil - little to no effect on control or reduction Soap Spray - little to no effect on control or reduction Neem Oil - slight control, slight reduction Garlic oil spray - little to no effect on control or reduction and a terrible smell. Drying the soil out with an Axis high CFM component fan, one fan per pot. - Good control, decent reduction. Diatomaceous - pronounced (DIE-UH-TOE-MUH- CEE-US): excellent control, almost complete eradication, buuuut …… absolute DUST nightmare The all around most effective natural solution that led to a decent reduction was the the simplest, the drying out of the top layers of soil by the high CFM component fan, which always inhibits/interrupts procreating conditions for the gnats. The diatomaceous worked extremely well but the white dust that spreads everywhere is too much of a negative side effect to make that recommendation. Mosquito Bits arrives in a container that looks similar to the Bacon Bits bottle. The Mosquito Bits themselves resemble Grape Nuts and are small hard nodules. Our experiments with Mosquito bits were applied in several varying methods in order to test the effectiveness. Regardless of the methodology ….we utilized a significant amount OVER the recommended dosage. For example…I applied an entire top layer of Mosquito bits on a small 6 inch pot. After I applied the Mosquito bits you could not see soil anymore. The top was completely covered in a thick layer of Mosquito bits. The plant had been watered the day PRIOR, the top soil was dry, and then this was applied. The pot was watered every 4 days. Gnats continued to develop and come out of the 6 inch pot. After several weeks the Mosquito bits turned to mush and lmade the top soil layer look unpleasant. In another method I applied the Mosquito bits in the recommended amount on an 8 Inch pot and applied some water to test if the effectiveness of the product was limited to dispersion/distribution by moisture. This also proved ineffective in any reduction or removal of the gnats. All in all we tried this in 10 different pots with very little to no reduction in GNATS. I am not an etymologist however I can naturally assume that there is a difference between the effectiveness on MOSQUITOS versus fungus/soil gnats. This product may be highly effective for Mosquitoes but I was using it for the reduction/eradication of gnats. What my wife ended up using was Bionide BND857 = Pyrethrin (sold here on Amazon). Pyrethrin naturally occurs in chrysanthemum flowers and is considered to be one of the best biodegradable insecticides. Consider this stuff an equivalent to an atomic bomb on bugs. It will safely neutralize all bugs and pests while leaving all your plants, vegetables, and fruits, (and foliage) safe and still ready to eat. We diluted 3 tablespoons to 1 gallon of water and sprayed the entire greenhouse. In a single application of Pyrethrin we successfully eradicated her greenhouse of gnats. It has been several months and still there is no sign of gnats. To further test this we applied yellow fly paper following the treatment. Not a single gnat or living bug on them.