Is this Fungus Gnats?

[Gnarwal]

Here are some photos of my quite sick looking females.

http://imgur.com/a/qs9HI#0

I've had these plants for about a month from clones in soil. I have them under 200w of CFLs. I currently have a fungus gnat problem I'm trying to resolve by putting pearlite on top of the soil to kill the larvae and some fly paper to catch the adults. Will fungus gnats cause the leaves to die like this? This problem has been going on for 3 weeks now and only seems to be getting worse. I fed them once before they started turning yellow and I've flushed with 100% water for two weeks and it's only getting worse. I am definitely not over watering as I have been only watering once a week they don't seem to be very thirsty so maybe a root problem? I've used this brand of soil before and had good results. My runoff PH seems fine at 6.5. What am I missing or are the gnats my problem?

 

[F. Dupp]

Root Aphids.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=159960

 

[Gnarwal]

Root Aphids.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=159960

Damn. Sounds like I'm screwed then eh?

 

[F. Dupp]

Yup. Get a look at your roots, there should be some creepy crawlies in there. There are several species of root aphid. Some are VERY small and you might need a loupe to see them. If you find them get a bottle of Evergreen 60-6. I fought the micro RA's all summer using a bunch of nasty chemicals, none of them worked til I used Evergreen. It wiped em out instantly. Its also safe for humans as long as you dont huff it.

 

[Gnarwal]

Well I dug up the roots a bit and I can't see any bugs on them even with my handheld microscope. I've never heard of the Evergreen product. Where do I find it? Maybe the hydro shop?

 

[fletch]

DON'T KILL THE POOR THING --- Before you throw it out - here is what I would do. You have very little to lose as this looks like a very small plant in veg. It is obviously in distress so it needs some quick attention. Turn it upside down and take it from the pot. If it has aphids your not going to hurt it!!! Take it to a garden hose and wash all of the dirt off of the roots. Clean the pot with very hot water till it shines. Replant the thing back into the pot with good clean bug free soil. Make sure you mud it in good and mix in about 15ml to a gal of water with Bayer tree and shrub (home depot) to inoculate against aphids. Feed it very little for the next couple of weeks - good dirt should be enough. Oh and cut off ALL of its larger fan leaves so it can focus on fixing its roots. In your second watering - crush 1 350mg aspirin tab - not buffered - and add to a gallon of water and water the plant - this will activate several of the plants defense mechanisms and I predict in less than 4 weeks a large good looking plant. I would do this treatment for almost any problem that made my girls look like that. After the aspirin water only for three weeks as long as you got some good dirt. I hope this helps - really I do. fletch
If you try it and it works - post some pics

 

[F. Dupp]

Well I dug up the roots a bit and I can't see any bugs on them even with my handheld microscope. I've never heard of the Evergreen product. Where do I find it? Maybe the hydro shop?

You better positively identify these "fungus gnats" before you do anything. Read into the root aphid thread. You will see pictures of fungus gnats and pictures of winged root aphids. Winged root aphids have 2 little "tailpipes" protruding from their ass on either side. Collect some dead ones and magnify them.

If they are root aphids, the cure can be found here-http://www.groworganic.com/catalogsearch/result/?order=relevance&dir=desc&q=evergreen+60-6

 

[stihgnobevoli]

i can't tell what kinda critters you may or may not have, i certainly don't encourage you to go leaping off the deep end without identifying your problem first either.

simplest thing to do at this point is to get a gallon of water and add a couple of teaspoons of peroxide to it. then water your plants. this will cause whatever may be living in there to come to the surface. if nothing comes up, then there is probably nothing in there and you have another problem. cut a chunk of a potato and stick it in your soil just push it down in there some. i am told this will attract fungus gnat larvae out of your soil and to the potato. i have not tried this since i have only recently encountered fungus gnats to the point where i am trying this potato thing. but according to everything i read in a couple of days you will see them all over the potato if they are in there.

at this next stage since everything you say leads me to believe your roots are the issue, plus looking at your plants. i would let the pot dry out completely before your next watering. if you do have fungus gnats drying out the pot will kill them. after the pot is completely dry then water again with your nutes at half strength and wait for the pot to dry out again.

by this time you will have one of 2 things. a plant that is recovering, or a dead plant.