Gnat/Flies Infesting My Micro Grow!!

[IGrowTrees]

Okay...I'm using some Miracle Gro potting soil..always have used it except for a couple times when I tried Fox Farm years ago..anyways...It seems that some sort of fly/gnat has infested my soil...I try to kill them all when I peek into my closet, but I never seem to kill them all.

What can I do to kill these little buggers w/o harming my plants?

 

[GreenBush 420]

you can't do much about it now bro. Once those little bastards take hold they are nearly impossible to completly get rid of. The good news is that won't eat anything plant related and apart from sticking to the THC, won't cause any real harm. (if they are just fruit flies or gnats) a picture would help, but I know they are tiny....at least I hope they are.

I have had problems in the past with these gnats and there are some things that have really helped, but you have to start treating for them BEFORE you start to see them, because they have a very short life cycle and reproduce like mice.

First, you need to understand that they eat and reproduce on and in the first layer of your soil, so lets start there. The best defense is to make the surface of the soil less attractive to them by increasing the air flow. Place a fan blowing across the surface of the containers to make it difficult for thier little wings to handle. You can also consider some sticky traps, both the hanging fly type and the mice traps that will just sit on the surface of the soil.

I have found that by taking these simple actions I have almost elliminated my gnat problem. Hope it helps for your situation.....

good luck

 

[sallyforthDeleted member 75382]

If they are fungus gnats, you have to get rid of them. They is like larvae that feeds off your roots then turn into little midges flying aroun yer plants sticking to the resin on the buds so yousee little balck dots on them. They can kill your plants over time, or at best give you a half decent bud. Gnatoff or Gnatrol are good. If you cannot get that, get some garlic powder and put a layer of it on each topsoil in the pots. Put loads at the base of the stem. This gets rid of them slowly but fuck does it stink you'll neeed odour control LOL. They'll be gone for good in a week, the plants also like the garlic...but you won't.

 

[cork144]

are they black? i have a blackfly infestation thats comes around constantly, i can never seem to rid of them.

 

[StickyIcky29A]

If they are black they are most likely fungus gnats. Lowes sells fly paper for like 2 bucks. Also Gnatrol is expensive. The active ingredient is a bacteria called BT-i. Lowes has Mosquito Dunks which has the same bacteria in it. It seems to be a general larvacide. Kill them before they become adults and lay eggs. And hurry, each fly can lay up to 200 eggs. Also the larva eat root hairs making it easier for fungus. I even read that they introduce the fungus to the soil so it can multiply. Killing your plants and creating food for themselves.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Like GreenBush 420 says, they don't really do any harm. I'm not sure where the rumors that they're harmful got started. I've always had fungus gnats to some degree, but I've never seen any damage from them. It's probably like so much other cannabis lore, people have problems they can't diagnose, so it must be the gnats.

If you don't like them flying up your nose, which I agree is pretty annoying, top dressings work well to stop them. If you're not so organically inclined, Sevin is not TOO toxic to large organisms like us, works great and is cheap. I use diatomaceous earth powder like you buy in bags for pool filters. DE is very effective when it's dry but you have to reapply it after watering.

 

[darookie2000]

Predatory nematodes and gnatrol work well. Hot shot no pest strips are good for the adults. It's easier to kill them if you let your plants dry out before you water them. They like moist soil.

They are not necessarily harmful for older plants, but the larvae can eat the roots of younger ones and the gnats can be disease vectors which can lead to other stuff happening. As far as it being a myth, I can tell you that I had to cut down a seedling because of a gnat infestation. They completely stalled out the growth and chewed up the roots. Having adults stick to your buds is a pretty big nuisance too.

 

[s13sr20det]

sticky traps do wonders

sounds like the soil is staying wet. make sure to let it dry out completely and even let the plant wilt a little bit before watering.