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Help with bug Identification

Clayton_Bigsby

Clayton_Bigsby

Active member
Been having mysterious deficiency problems with my organic soil grow for months now. Have tried just about everything treating the problem like an over fertilization, deficiency, light burn problem until i found a thread about fungus gnats. Checked my soil and put some yellow sticky traps down and sure enough theres something flying around and larva in my soil. I just need an ID to confirm what i have now.
 

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exploziv

exploziv

pure dynamite
Administrator
Veteran
Fungus gnats. The larvae eat your roots. If infection is advanced enaugh it can be the reason your plants do bad.
 
buzzmobile

buzzmobile

Well-known member
Veteran
Kill adult fliers with a soap spray and use Gnatrol as a drench to kill larvae. Well done with the sticky traps.
 
T

TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
Clayton_Bigsby said:
Been having mysterious deficiency problems with my organic soil grow for months now. Have tried just about everything treating the problem like an over fertilization, deficiency, light burn problem until i found a thread about fungus gnats. Checked my soil and put some yellow sticky traps down and sure enough theres something flying around and larva in my soil. I just need an ID to confirm what i have now.
Click to expand...
- Fungus Gnats

- Moist soil

The adult flies do not feed at all, however their larvae are what do the damage. They mainly feed on rotting organic material, but will also infest germinating seeds and kill them.

What could be doing more damage than the gnats would be overwatering.

The best way to water in soil is to soak the soil slowly and thoroughly. Then do not water again until the top of the soil has no moisture in it in the morning/before the lights go on.

That way the plants are always adequately watered through evaporation. Which is the way to think about watering plants.
 
G

Guest

Also if you have more sticky traps use them. They are quite effective in helping keeping the numbers down.
 
Clayton_Bigsby

Clayton_Bigsby

Active member
TanzanianMagic said:
- Fungus Gnats

- Moist soil

The adult flies do not feed at all, however their larvae are what do the damage. They mainly feed on rotting organic material, but will also infest germinating seeds and kill them.

What could be doing more damage than the gnats would be overwatering.

The best way to water in soil is to soak the soil slowly and thoroughly. Then do not water again until the top of the soil has no moisture in it in the morning/before the lights go on.

That way the plants are always adequately watered through evaporation. Which is the way to think about watering plants.
Click to expand...


I use Blumats so the soil constantly stays somewhat moist. Im also doing organics so I prefer the moister to keep the microbial activity thriving.

I ordered Gnatrol and Biowar Root and Foliar packs. Going to hit these suckers hard and go from there.

I will probably end up cutting my flowering plants since they are too far gone. Borderline dead. They're at 8 weeks and most of them are already ready anyways. The salivas will be cut a couple of weeks early though.
 
buzzmobile

buzzmobile

Well-known member
Veteran
Be patient after applying the Gnatrol. It will take several days to see reduced numbers of adult flies.
 
M

Mr. J

Well-known member
Gnats aren't going to kill an adult plant. You would have to have a serious, serious, did I say serious??, serious gnat problem for the plants to be so far gone that you need to cut them down.

You're probably kinda relieved that you think you've solved the problem and figured out your deficiency issue but that's not the case I can promise you that. I mean, deal with the gnsts, but that's not the main issue.
 
T

TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
Clayton_Bigsby said:
I use Blumats so the soil constantly stays somewhat moist. Im also doing organics so I prefer the moister to keep the microbial activity thriving.
Click to expand...
The solution to keep the soil evenly moist and not wet is to use a very thin layer of mulch.

I prefer hemp bedding, which you can buy in petstores and online, where it is used for reptiles. Because they're very sensitive to any kind of poison, it is guaranteed to not contain heavy metals, pesticides, etc.

Hemp bedding also has the extra benefit that it has hemp specific or friendly mycorrhizal spores on it.

Just a light sprinkling is enough because it absorbs water and expands.
 
exploziv

exploziv

pure dynamite
Administrator
Veteran
Mulch is a great ideea but it may help the fungus gnats as the have lots of places to lay eggs and basically the rotting vegetal matter attracts them.
If soil is fluffy and has good absorbtion of water you could water from the bottom and avoid having the surface of the soil very moist.
 
R

redlaser

Active member
Veteran
If gnats are showing up, excess moisture likely is happening. Blumats are supposed to regulate that but it sounds like they need adjustments or at least verifying it’s working.
I would recommend a moisture meter to be sure, or at least give you more info.

I grow in beds about a foot deep, six foot wide, and found the center 3-4 ft was consistently more wet than the outer two feet. Also found pockets of dryness , sometimes layers of it.
Also nice to be able to verify when the bed is drying out on the bottom if that is what you are trying to do.)
Reotemp makes a sturdy one for about 35$, have to calibrate it yourself which seems odd at first.
 
F2F

F2F

Well-known member
No experience whatsoever, but have heard others say diatomaceous earth works well. Sprinkle on top or even blend into soil mix. Might be better ways but seems pretty simple and inert.

Peace
F2F

Peace
F2F
 
Clayton_Bigsby

Clayton_Bigsby

Active member
redlaser said:
If gnats are showing up, excess moisture likely is happening. Blumats are supposed to regulate that but it sounds like they need adjustments or at least verifying it’s working.
I would recommend a moisture meter to be sure, or at least give you more info.

I grow in beds about a foot deep, six foot wide, and found the center 3-4 ft was consistently more wet than the outer two feet. Also found pockets of dryness , sometimes layers of it.
Also nice to be able to verify when the bed is drying out on the bottom if that is what you are trying to do.)
Reotemp makes a sturdy one for about 35$, have to calibrate it yourself which seems odd at first.
Click to expand...

I use blumats moisture meter. The blumats drip as the soil gets a little dry. Plants in full flower drink a lot of water which causes dripping daily. the top stays a little damp most of the time.
 
T

TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
exploziv said:
Mulch is a great ideea but it may help the fungus gnats as the have lots of places to lay eggs and basically the rotting vegetal matter attracts them.
If soil is fluffy and has good absorbtion of water you could water from the bottom and avoid having the surface of the soil very moist.
Click to expand...
The top of the mulch is dry and seems to have some effect.

Also, the mycorrhizal fungi in the hemp bedding make the soil more microbally active.

And with it being organic and natural, it leaves space for soil dwelling predators, like the Steinernema larvae.

Specifically against fungus gnat larvae and similar:

https://www.koppert.com/entonem/

https://blog.bugsforgrowers.com/nat...inate-fungus-gnats-with-beneficial-nematodes/
 
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