BioLogic's Scanmask Steinernema Feltiae (Sf) Beneficial Nematodes for Natural Insect Pest Control, 5 Million Size

Spendy, but if you have fungus gnats, you will find it well worth your money! There really could be better instructions. I always overthink things when there's not a clear explanation. I got these for my house plants so I had to convert the instructions from gardening, to make them applicable. In the end, after several emails back and forth with the company, who by the way are really great, this is what I had to do: This packet of 5 billion did all 35 of my houseplants-2 times. I estimated by dumping the packet onto a clean paper plate, separating half. I put half the powder in a 5 gal pale filled with 2 gallons of water and put the remaining powder back in the packet. I filled my little watering can from the mix in the bucket and watered my plants. I put the tiny bit of left over water from the bucket into a water jug that I could fit into the fridge. THAT HAD TO BE USED within one day. The next day I hit my most needy plants again with the left over water. [I think that a person could make a more diluted solution (ie: mixing ½ packet with 3 gallons of water rather than 2) so you don’t have to be so conservative and thorough while watering plants. That would also alleviate the step recommended by many to go back and water with plain water the next day to assist in even distribution. That’s just my thought. ] About 3 weeks later, I used the remaining contents of the package before the expiration date on the packet. *You will not be able to see any signs of life without a microscope! Just get them in the fridge when they arrive. Keep the packet closed and dry and put an extra zip lock over it while in the fridge. Mix with cold water. Apply at night because the directions say to, but I don't think it's that important for inside plants unless it's midday and they're getting enough sun to kill the nematodes before they get safely down in the soil-so use when the sun goes down. Store the mixed solution in the fridge, use it up within 24 hours, and trust! You see nothing happen. It's when you realize that fewer and eventually no gnats are flying around, that they worked. I am reordering to get the others that were in a stage that I missed. I think this will take care of my problem for good. I have been using mosquito bits since the nematode application and they help, but some gnats are slowly reappearing. You need both, and probably a few cycles-two for sure, to erradicate the problem. Mine was BAD. I tried all of the home remedies and wasted so much time. Just get these and some mosquito bits and get rid of the problem once and for all. Order them ASAP when you see a gnat reappear! Expect to maybe do preventative maintenance at least once per year even if you don't see any gnats When you mix, you will see the DE floating around and remaining clumping looking. It's only in with the nematodes as a de-caking agent. It is nothing to worry about. With the vague instructions and in overthinking all of this, I did a lot of research. Some DE, and lots of mosquito bits will not hurt the nematodes but fertilizer, and of course-pesticide is said to be harmful to them. Therefore, you kind of need to plan things out. I used insect frass as a fertilizer, and neem oil about a week before my nematode application, and I didn't have to worry about that hurting the little fellas.

This stuff really works, it got rid of the gnat in just a few days.

I appreciated the review/tips by SHEILA R TWITE, but felt like I needed more information... so I'm sharing with you what I did that yielded fantastic results. Fungus Gnats are annoying, but also harmful to plants. I so appreciate this product and will use again if needed in the future! TIPS FOR USING BENEFICIAL NEMATODES TO CONTROL FUNGUS GNATS IN INDOOR PLANTS 1. Keep the Beneficial Nematodes (BN) in original packaging and place inside a mailing envelope or manilla envelope to minimize light exposure. YOU MUST STORE IN REFRIGERATOR. Avoid direct sunlight or warm places as this could kill the BN. 2. Always treat plants in the evening after dark. Again, this is to minimize the possibility that sunlight/heat could kill BNs before they get a chance to burrow into the plant soil. 3. Packaging states that it contains 5 million BNs and that 1 packed teaspoon = 5 million BNs. I found that my package had more than 1 teaspoon in the package. The packaging provides tips for mixing up the entire package, but you do not need to use the entire package at once. In fact, depending on the number of plants you need to treat, you can likely get multiple treatments out of one package, with treatments spread over a period of several weeks. By doing so, this helps to ensure that you are catching all the fungus gnats in your home since treatment only targets the larval stage. I also recommend that you use yellow sticky traps (Amazon) to help catch/kill adult gnats to limit additional eggs from being laid in the soil during your treatment period. 4. Start by mixing 1/4 teaspoon of BN (packed) with one gallon of cold water. Mix well and wait 15 minutes before using. While waiting those 15 minutes, water your plants with plain water (before treating with BN solution). You do not have to fully saturate plants – but just get the top of plant soil wet in preparation for the BN solution. 5. When BN solution is ready, transfer to a watering can and then treat your plant’s soil. Goal is to split this gallon among all your plants. Bigger pots will need more solution. {I have 20 plants and I chose to mix up 2 gallons (1/2 tsp of BN) to treat all my plants.} You will be watering again with plain water in the next step. 6. After using BN solution, water your plants again with plain water. This sort of “waters in” your BN solution, but also ensures your plants are adequately watered- it is up to you how much water your plants can tolerate. The BN directions also mention rinsing off BN solution from foliage. I don’t believe the solution is harmful to the foliage, so this step is really to make sure that all the BNs make it into the soil and are not wasted (and may apply more to outdoor applications?). I pretty much treated the soil (not foliage), so I didn't worry about rinsing off the foliage. 7. Note the “use by” date and make a plan for using the entire package over the period of several weeks. See #3 regarding spreading out treatments. 8. I found that the vast majority of my fungus gnats disappeared after the first treatment, but it is important to note that a surviving (or new adult) fungus gnat can continue to lay eggs thus continuing the life cycle. This is why I recommend multiple treatments over several weeks and using yellow sticky traps to capture the adults before they can lay more eggs. Directionsm from BioLogic website: https://biologicco.wpengine.com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/Sprayable-Directions.pdf

Update - I’d up my review to 4.5 stars. As much as 99% of the fungus gnats are gone and this is quite a while after application. I’ve been keeping the soil moist which I think helps the worms keep thriving. I do still see a occasional fungus gnat but seeing one per day is a lot better than thousands. I’m happy with the purchase. I like the concept very much but the results I got were not quite as good as I hoped for. About 90% of the fungus gnats in my house plants were eliminated, but remaining 10% is enough to re-populate. I was hoping the worms would continue to thrive and ultimately eliminate all of the fungus gnats but that has not happened

I purchased these for an indoor setup. It has been a month with treatments every other week. Through sampling I can verify that I did not observe any dead nematodes before application. Gnat larva has been reduced by approx 80%, adults are down by 95%. When added to an IPM these are amazing at protecting the medium against infestation level events. I would recommend anyone who is in trouble with gnats in greenhouses or labs to try these little monsters. Warning, details below: I sampled a larva with medium and approx 50 nematodes, monitored over a week. The larva clearly stopped its regular behavior of feeding nonstop, became more agitated. By day 5 it was actually biting at itself and the nematodes had clearly entered its body. By day 6 it was no longer feeding and seemed to be attempting to "remove" the nematodes within its body. By day 8 it was orange and non responsive. I forgot to continue to watch the sample for the nematode larva or bacterial decay, but I assume it would have happened.