Gnats Larvae? Advice Please

[ndzbnln]

Hello rollitup, I'm having a bug issue. I did some research and it seems to be fungus gnat larvae. After killing a male plant I broke open the dirt & found a BUNCH of worms. I previously had fungus gnats and covered about 1 inch of the dirt with beach sand. That got rid of the flying gnat problem, but the larvae still remains. any advice on what I can do to get rid of them and how to prevent this from happening to future grows?
also I'm using potting soil mixed with organic compost with Foxfarm nutes.

Here's a few that I picked out, is my observation correct (gnats larvae)?

oh also I heard these pests like to munch on the roots, can this have turned my plant hermie/male?

 

[bostoner]

After a little research i found that over watered plants are the perfect breeding ground for the larvae. It says try to wait till the soil is drier before you water again. There is something called gnatrol that kills gnats and the larvae. Releasing beneficial Nematodes, not sure which ones, but Nematodes are like round worms and flat worms. I saw something called Hypoaspis mites. these are tiny predetorial mites that eat eggs and dead insects. Not sure if they have a negative effect for marijuana plants but they shouldn't. Its just scary releasing mites because it makes you think of spider mites. I guess insecticide sprays rarely kill the larvae just the adults. Insecticide drenches will work but that is a last resort, I know I wouldn't smoke stuff once drenched with harsh chemicals. Hope at least helped a little.

 

[ndzbnln]

Thanks for the info buddy... & yeah i tried the RAID Earth Options which is plant friendly. I haven't sprayed it directly on the plants (just in the corners of the grow room) because I want to do more research on it. But I just checked out the other plants soil and sadly they have the same problem too. Also I water my plants every 3 days so the soil should be pretty dry. I just can't believe how much were in the soil !! my poor babys lol .. If I were to resort to releasing other mites to kill the larvae, would the replacement mites eventually die off? oh and they're deeeeep in the soil, all the way at the bottom & all through-out the 3 gallon pot.

&& could larvae cause a sex change in the plant?

and to prevent this in future grows should I not use organic compost? or is it possible the problem could occur either way?

I alsof forgot to mention that this isn't the only species of bugs in there.. there's little white bugs, centipide lookin bugs, and some ants.. i need helppp

 

[thegreensurfer]

those are worms in your pics, not gnat larvae

 

[jondamon]

those are worms in your pics, not gnat larvae

agreed


Fungus Gnat larvae are small translucant worms with black dots at one end.

View attachment 1681915





J

 

[tyson53]

those critters in your picture are small red wrigglers worms..earth worms..lol..they will not harm any thing..most they will do is feed the soil and aerate it it...I have my plants in raised beds in a greenhouse and I put redworms in the beds for that reason...its all organicly fed so no harm to them...just let them do thier job is all..they will not harm nothing

Al