Dr. Pye's Scanmask 10 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes - Kills Over 230 Bugs

For a year I had tried everything to get rid of the fungus gnats in my houseplant soil. I had purchased a bag of soil that was infested with the larvae, and they took over ALL of my plants, killing a number of them. They were out of control. Pesticides and fumigation would only kill the adults, and in another week I'd be right back where I started. Finally I did some research on the internet and read that nematodes were one of the best means of controlling fungus gnat larvae long term, but none of the local garden centers carried them. Hirt's was the only place I could find that carried Scanmask. The product arrived promptly and has worked beautifully! No more bugs!It kinda creeped me out at first to think of putting worms in the soil of my house plants, but they are microscopic and not harmful to people or pets. Besides, I'd rather have microscopic worms than fungus gnats flying in my face all day.There were a few things I wish the package instructions would have included: How to make up a smaller batch if you are only using part of the carton (it says it will treat 1050 4" pots!) and how much of the mix to put in each pot. I think I over did it, because it didn't go nearly that far, but it worked either way so I'm happy.I tell everyone I know that has houseplants and has noticed little bugs that look like fruit flies flying around to use this product. It is the only thing that works!

I used these for an indoor meyer lemon tree. I had some strange tiny white insects which were infesting the soil, and I needed a method to get rid of them without causing harm to my pets or family members. This product did the trick: within 2-3 weeks, all of the insects were gone and the tree has had a marked improvement. They were fairly easy to apply--I just mixed them into some top soil and covered the plant in the mixture, followed by adding some water.When shipped, these nematodes are microscopic... a few weeks out, you'll definitely see them. They look like smallish (1-1.5 inch), very aggressive earthworms. The one problem with using them in indoor plants is that they will escape the plant's container. They've been in there for about a month now, and 2-3 have somehow gotten out of the pot and onto the floor, and I've also found a number of them dead in the tree's drain pan. A bit gross if you're squeamish about those things, but nothing hard to clean up.My only critique is that these were shipped very poorly. They only had a tiny cold pack to keep them cool during a massive summer heat wave. I'm surprised as many survived as did!

The media could not be loaded. This product did a very good job for me and had almost eradicated gnats in my massive indoor infestation. 3 weeks after the treatment and I so see a few survivors, but the nematodes have destroyed hundreds if not thousands.I’ve given it only 4 stars because there are a few survivors, the relatively high price and the need to do more than one treatment and the relatively demanding application process. I do however find it to be a very effective method.I’ve applied it in my two indoor growing tents where I organically grow exotic herbs. The tents were infested with hundreds if not thousands of fungus gnats as it has taken me a while to realize what’s been going on. During that period of time the gnats have kept multiplying…My indoor setting includes about 35 2-7 gallon pots.Some tips:1. Use in conjunction with other methods. Yellow stickers, electric zappers and BT bacteria have helped greatly to restrain the infestation but haven’t completely stopped it.2. Order nematodes when whether can support their survival in transit.3. Use ASAP. I used instantly upon arrival of nematodes.4. Follow instructions for you situation.5. Keep temperature in the indoor environment ideal for the nematodes to last as long as possible or needed. Moisten the potting mix to further support nematodes and consider dimming or shutting off lights. I did for 36 hours.6. Give nematodes a few days or even a week to take affect.Please check out the video!

We used these last summer on the yard to help control white grubs (various beetle larvae). We live in Florida, and every type of bug grows down here. Used to be able to dig up a shovel of soil and it always had grubs of various sizes in it. We were planting fruit trees in the yard, so we got to see this several times. The nematodes really worked.We spray-applied with a hose-end sprayer and then watered a lot to make sure they made it down into the soil. Not too long after applying, a few weeks later, maybe a month, the next tree we were planting, we noticed far fewer grubs...we actually had to dig around and look for grubs on purpose, instead of them being visible in every shovel-full of dirt. And we didn’t find many.A wonderful side-effect is that we had fewer ants. We went through a canister of orthene every month trying to keep the fire ants at bay. We tried to keep them from encroaching on the patio area, and from around the fruit trees. After applying, we noticed fewer and fewer new mounds, and eventually we had no more fear of walking around in the yard.We’re noticing the ants starting to come back, and we found some grubs under a fruit tree, so it’s time to apply again!!

I was home to receive product luckily.. as it’s very hot. I opened and got into fridge immidiatly.. but the ice pack was completely thawed.. and the product was warm as hell. Hopefully will be fine— I just wanted to have some sort of record of its condition and didn’t see where to do that other than a return.Box looks a little beat up because it is soggy and wet from melted ice pack.

I just received these today. They arrived very fast and were very nicely packaged. I read the directions and decided to do the soil method. I used water that had been sitting for a few days outside in a bucket. I didn't think tsp water with all the chlorine would be good for them. After everything was mixed I put it on target areas in my flower beds. I have a terrible problem with Iris borders and Japanese beetles. I spread the soil mixture around the base of all affected plants. Now I wait. Will give an update soon.