Spiders

[JackTheGrower]

Spiders that Eat things.. I am letting my soil process all the plant material and yes the Gnats are hatching out..

Well also I have a spider web I have been watching grow into a spider universe in the corner of the room.

It just made quick work of a gnat.


I see the little spider has the resources to run a lot of web.

So is it possible to employ spiders against Gnats?

I'm thinking the light will be too bright.. Dumb ass Gnats fly at the light and survive.. if so what Spiders?

 

[habeeb]

spiders, fine. but lets not go breeding spiders for gnats. there are so many options for gnats that the controllability and or required work of spiders is far to much work, as there is so many other methods that are so much easier

sure, I sometimes have spiders in my grow room, but I keep them there as I don't feel the need to kill them. I don't use them as a gnat catcher

 

[neongreen]

Hey Jack,

Hook up a bright white LED on a wire that you can carefully slide in to the back of the web, and tape it in place. Hopefully that should attract a few more.

Are you/have you tried using "yellow sticky-traps". A bit like artificial spiderwebs, although nothing beats the real thing

 

[JackTheGrower]

Hey Jack,

Hook up a bright white LED on a wire that you can carefully slide in to the back of the web, and tape it in place. Hopefully that should attract a few more.

Are you/have you tried using "yellow sticky-traps". A bit like artificial spiderwebs, although nothing beats the real thing

yeah Traps are standard equipment..

I like the LED idea! I'll have to see how that goes.. Radio shack should have one I can use.

I couldn't come up with a practical concept for using spiders.. I thought of something like a Bat box but I doubt I can get a spider to stick with that if they feel it's better over yonder..

Nifty idea tho..

Well the standard de-gnat for me is run the light and turn the top soil under often..

 

[ballplayer 2]

yep, I let the spiders live in my growspace as well. Not big black ones though, or even the large clear/brown house spiders. I do have plenty of daddy long legs though. I let them stay as long as they like. Probably got like five or six on duty right now.

As far as using spiders to control gnats. I dont think it will be effective, especially not for an infestation. Sure they will catch the occasional one in their webs, but it an accident, and likely will not actively hunt them. sticky traps and a product by the name GoGnats works pretty well for me.

On a side note, about a week ago I got a kick out of watching one my daddy long legs do battle with a centipede which wandered into its web. Watched them do battle for about 20 minutes while tending to the garden. Spidey seemed to have things under control, so I did some chores for a bit. Came back to check in (for I really dont want centipedes running loose in my home) and sure as heck spidey took care of business. I would not rely on them to control numerours small, flying insects though. You would have to have some kind of web to get the job done.

Funny topic though.

 

[DARC MIND]

sorry, i had too

 

[jaykush]

i have 2 jumping spiders living on my plant atm. they showed up on there own and are great pest control.

 

[maryjohn]

jumping spiders are fucking awesome!

They are usually so small, but I have one in my house the size of a pinky nail. It's so cool to watch him interact with a finger.

Jack: why not make a shelf and keep some sundews? I believe drosera adelae and spatulata don't need a dormancy period, and i can vouch that adelae needs less water than most, and make lots of babies. And they don't need intense light, so off to the side is fine. The catch is that they need pretty sterile media. I use peat and perlite 50/50. No ferts, ever, and tap water is considered a fert. Rain, distilled, or R/O only.

they will catch 50 gnats to the spider's 1.

 

[jaykush]

jumping spiders are fucking awesome!

They are usually so small, but I have one in my house the size of a pinky nail. It's so cool to watch him interact with a finger.

i have counted around 10 species here. from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch. all colors and patterns. they really do a kick ass job on the plant itself. but under the mulch like darc mind posted, the wolf spider reigns supreme. jumping spiders like it inside though. they eat mites too. before the population explodes.

 

[One Love 731]

I have a ton of spiders, the only thing that sucks is avoiding them. I love the idea of some terrible bug ready to lay eggs being pray to the spider colony. I like the led idea. I kill nothing, although I just cant dig the idea of a spider crawling on me. Karma, One Love

 

[oldbootz]

i had a bunch of fruit flies swarming in and around my soil and i added some molasses to the water and the top layer of soil hardened up like a cap. haven't seen them since.

 

[DARC MIND]

i have counted around 10 species here. from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch. all colors and patterns. they really do a kick ass job on the plant itself. but under the mulch like darc mind posted, the wolf spider reigns supreme. jumping spiders like it inside though. they eat mites too. before the population explodes.

ahhh, so its a wolf spider
i too am a fan of spiders, i got them all around my garden and they do a hell of a job.i usually feed them critters i find eating my goods and all most every MJ plant i planted outdoors, has had a spider companion living on the buds. they really like living with cannabis!!!
mantids are KING IMO, i love my mantises
some more images

the jumpers

i love taking pictures of them, its hard to get a good shot of them eating. especially the garden spiders with the classic webs, man i love those guys

 

[oldbootz]

nice pics darc mind

i have some similar spiders to those tiny black ones at bottom right i think thats the wolf spider?

but yeah mantises are the bomb i get loads of baby ones on my indoor MJ here lol they just sense it or something and fly through the window.

 

[medi-useA]

I have been putting Lady Birds on my plant to control the Borg who just moved in....7 days later the LB's are still there, fluttering around content...and Larger!
I've used daddy long legs in my cabs before. Supply a place that's dark, sheltered and cool and they'll hang around and clear out almost everything. A foam box with a cardboard sleeve insert would do fine...place it in a place prone to daddy long legs {Attic? Shed? Mother-in-Law's knickers?} and wait for them to set up shop...or go catch 'em and put them in the spiderhotel in the growroom.

I've had an orb weaver in my cab before...about 5 weeks...then it vanished....It would rebuild it's web every day...fascinating to watch baked!

If you have access to orb weavers...steal their webs! You could place them in problem spots to catch bugs and throw out every few days and steal another one!...I've seen a tv show where they were 'farmed' by this guy who was building an 'indestructible suit'.

Here are some other beneficial bugs...

http://www.arbico-organics.com/organic-pest-control-beneficial-insects-organisms.html

Mantis's

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/mantids/p/mantids.htm

http://insects.about.com/od/roachesandmantids/p/mantodea.htm

And what wikki has to say on Beneficial Insects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneficial_insects

maryjohn said
why not make a shelf and keep some sundews? I believe drosera adelae and spatulata don't need a dormancy period, and i can vouch that adelae needs less water than most, and make lots of babies. And they don't need intense light, so off to the side is fine. The catch is that they need pretty sterile media. I use peat and perlite 50/50. No ferts, ever, and tap water is considered a fert. Rain, distilled, or R/O only.

they will catch 50 gnats to the spider's 1.

Damn good Idea!

I was also going to suggest carnivorous plants as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivorous_plant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_fly_trap

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_fly_trap

Hope this Helps

muA

 

[maryjohn]

tiny one bottow right is a jumping spiders.

for wolf spiders all the eyes are up front, so the head is much smaller. they are much larger spiders. enough to scare females into wanting some squooshing out of you, which is always an argument.

kept one in a jar once, but it needed to roam.

 

[jaykush]

this is a wolf spider, notice the face. mainly the eyes and there location.

jumping spiders are easily identified by there eyes as well. they jump ( and fly sometimes)

mantis are great outdoors, they keep the moths and butterflies from laying eggs.

 

[DARC MIND]

tiny one bottow right is a jumping spiders.

for wolf spiders all the eyes are up front, so the head is much smaller. they are much larger spiders. enough to scare females into wanting some squooshing out of you, which is always an argument.

hehe, my lady always want me to kill these wonderful creatures. she freaks out when i just let them crawl on me and move them, i have yet to get bitten..maybe its karma?
EDIT
great pics and explanation on IDing, if i could i give rep!!

 

[JackTheGrower]

Nice Photos!


Wolf Spiders , my mother said were good guys..

I believe they eat cockroaches? Does that sound right?

 

[JackTheGrower]

jumping spiders are fucking awesome!

They are usually so small, but I have one in my house the size of a pinky nail. It's so cool to watch him interact with a finger.

Jack: why not make a shelf and keep some sundews? I believe drosera adelae and spatulata don't need a dormancy period, and i can vouch that adelae needs less water than most, and make lots of babies. And they don't need intense light, so off to the side is fine. The catch is that they need pretty sterile media. I use peat and perlite 50/50. No ferts, ever, and tap water is considered a fert. Rain, distilled, or R/O only.

they will catch 50 gnats to the spider's 1.

I'm debating a short green manure cycle. I'm thinking to fire up the pile with the fresh green manure to clear all gnats..

 

[h.h.]

Nice Photos!


Wolf Spiders , my mother said were good guys..

I believe they eat cockroaches? Does that sound right?

Not to us cockroaches. No sir.