What the fuck are these white, little worm-like creatures under my smartpots?

kill em!

I think I'm just going to let the pots dry out a little extra long... it is quite apparent that they don't like to be exposed to air. Another thing I noticed is that they mostly seem to be under the pots in which I used Roots original. The other 30 plants were potted using Sunshine #4 advanced/ProMix BX. Not sure if this is coincidence or not.

So yeah, letting everything dry out as much as possible then think I will do a drench on the 3 plants where I've seen them in abundance. I'd hate to think I'm killing something that's not harming my plants, but I'd rather not risk it.

i noticed exact same 'worms' prior to the chop. plants showed no sign of ill effect and i only noticed when pulled the pot from auto tray. i just turned off rez, took all pots from auto trays and emptied all water from trays. only noticed 2 trays with the 'worms'. doesn't seem to have effected the smoke in the slightest

was using coco

Holdin' said:

I think I'm just going to let the pots dry out a little extra long... it is quite apparent that they don't like to be exposed to air. Another thing I noticed is that they mostly seem to be under the pots in which I used Roots original. The other 30 plants were potted using Sunshine #4 advanced/ProMix BX. Not sure if this is coincidence or not.

So yeah, letting everything dry out as much as possible then think I will do a drench on the 3 plants where I've seen them in abundance. I'd hate to think I'm killing something that's not harming my plants, but I'd rather not risk it.

Click to expand...

Unlike fungus gnats, a dry period won't effect a nematode. I have them, and I used Sunshine #4(along with a hydro setup). Convinced that's where they are from.

More than likely they are free living nematodes. You will need a good high power scope. You need to examine whether or not it has a stylet (needle like piercing tool in mouth) and if has one, what it looks like. All bad nematodes have a stylet, but some good have one as well.

Your best bet is to buy predatory nematodes and forget about it. $20 bucks and you can sleep!

Oh yeah, nematodes and soil mites are supposed top be in healthy soil! Save the drenching for FGs! You'll just waste money and perhaps slow the growth by drenching w chems. Get those predatory nematodes!

medicalmj said:

Oh yeah, nematodes and soil mites are supposed top be in healthy soil! Save the drenching for FGs! You'll just waste money and perhaps slow the growth by drenching w chems. Get those predatory nematodes!

Click to expand...

I tried to mention that before in this thread,.... just not as blunt about it I guess!

Thanks for the advice guys - and medicalmj, I just read another thread with you speaking of and giving advice regarding the many different forms of mites, and now I must say, you know your critters

I haven't done a drench yet, and will not do a drench if it won't do me any good. I watered this morning, checked under the pots about an hour ago just to see if I saw any, and didn't see a single one. I lowered the RH in my garden to 35%, and I do believe that the elevated humidity was creating an ideal environment for them between the bottom of the pot and the tray.

Now I'm guessing they just crawled back up into pots.

So it sounds like it's really nothing to worry about, and I've just got some good organic action brewing amongst my medium? But, due to the fact that I don't have a good high powered scope and won't be able to properly identify, I'm guess it would be a good idea to get the predatory nematodes?

Right now everything is healthy as can be and in the past week I've actually seen accelerated growth. Everything is looking great minus a tiny bit of PM I found today which I already GreenCure'd.

But I'm all about prevention... if there's the possibility of a problem, $20 is more than worth it on the predatory nematodes. I've got 35 plants under 4k, 30 of which are 7 weeks into veg and I planning on flipping this week. Don't need any problems!

So if I should get the predatory nematodes, could you point me in the right direction as to which species and a supplier?

Canniwhatsis - Thank you for your input as well!

Finding a good supplier is KEY. They'll die if not handled properly. Your also gonna want to buy more than the $20 worth for that many plants if your going that direction. All I can say is check your hydro store. They got em stock by me. See if they have a high powered scope to check the goods if dropping $$$, as you might want to buy 10x of them. Usually 2 million nematodes per sponge. And yes, ACT (aerated compost tea) is the way go! I use it in both soil and my hydro set up. With your set up I'd be looking for a quality stereoscope. You can then use it to check your ACT microbe density.

GL!

Quick follow up...

After the next dry out, I only saw a few dead nematodes under the plants in question, and have seen one here and there since. Now, almost 2 weeks into flower, I haven't seen one for a while now. Weird! But, I can't say I miss them, and everything is looking fabulous!

medicalmj, thank you for your advice, and I will definitely look into your recommendations. Could you recommend a quality stereoscope brand/model? I'm interested...