Hundreds of bugs suddenly crawling in my soil.

B

BigB 420

Well-Known Member
The wife just noticed that there are hundreds if bugs crawling around in my soil. It's as if they all just hatched in the last hour.

They're black, about 1/8 inch long with a Long leg of either side of their body.

They're hoping around like they're trying to fly.

Any idea what they could be?

I'll try to take a picture but they're pretty small.
 
kinddiesel

kinddiesel

Well-Known Member
if the are wing don't panic, are they nats ? very common not harm full . but what your describing are thurps or beatle if not winged . its time to hit the panic button, use bug spray now and use it heavy, if you don't have any use soapy water dish soap 1 tsp per gallon shake it up spray the soil heavy, if that don't work tonight hit the hydro store, get some bug killer of your choice, the could be eating the roots out a lot of beatles love roots, ither way use the dish soap trick tonight ,
 
B

BigB 420

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the quick reply.

They don't look like fungus gnats but maybe they look different when they first become flyers?

They do have a gnat look to them.

I hit them with 1tbsp per gallon soap and 1 tbsp per gallon neem oil just to be safe. Seemed to fuck them up pretty good. They stopped moving and got stuck upside down. They're only move if agitated right now.

I got a couple pictures. I'll try to post them now.
 
mr sunshine

mr sunshine

Well-Known Member
mix the neem oil with a paint mixer for 20 min add soap like u did but really tho 20 min very important.
 
Bakatare666

Bakatare666

Well-Known Member
I don't know what putting that much soap in the water will do to your plant man, usually just a few drops per gallon is enough.
You just sprayed, not watered with it, didn't you?
 
Reklaw

Reklaw

Active Member
i would go buy new soil.... and transplant all all my plants... fuck tryin to throw dish soap on them.. if u got that man thats gonna be a problem, u will either loose to bugs or fuckin up with dish soap....
 
B

BigB 420

Well-Known Member
Bakatare666 said:
I don't know what putting that much soap in the water will do to your plant man, usually just a few drops per gallon is enough.
You just sprayed, not watered with it, didn't you?
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Just sprayed on the surface of the soil and around the pots with a fine mist from a presurized sprayer. Didn't spray the plants themselves and didn't flood the soil. A good amount of the soap went down the drain as foam when I filled my mixing jug.

Did I use too much soap? I always though dawn dish soap was safe for plants. I usually use about a tsp when I spray directly on the plants with no issue.

Can anyone identify those bugs from the pictures?

I can't replace 350 gallons of soil.

The bugs appear to have all died during the night.
 
Bakatare666

Bakatare666

Well-Known Member
BigB 420 said:
Just sprayed on the surface of the soil and around the pots with a fine mist from a presurized sprayer. Didn't spray the plants themselves and didn't flood the soil. A good amount of the soap went down the drain as foam when I filled my mixing jug.

Did I use too much soap? I always though dawn dish soap was safe for plants. I usually use about a tsp when I spray directly on the plants with no issue.

Can anyone identify those bugs from the pictures?

I can't replace 350 gallons of soil.

The bugs appear to have all died during the night.
Click to expand...
Dawn is safe, in moderation anyways..........
I was just picturing you worst case scenario pouring that water into your soil, sorry.
I think you're OK, just keep a watchful eye in case they had a chance to lay eggs.
Check out these two links.;-)
https://www.rollitup.org/bugs/223611-guide-recognising-removing-bugs.html
https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/171075-pests-bugs-guide.html
 
B

BigB 420

Well-Known Member
Bakatare666 said:
Dawn is safe, in moderation anyways..........
I was just picturing you worst case scenario pouring that water into your soil, sorry.
I think you're OK, just keep a watchful eye in case they had a chance to lay eggs.
Check out these two links.;-)
https://www.rollitup.org/bugs/223611-guide-recognising-removing-bugs.html
https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/171075-pests-bugs-guide.html
Click to expand...
Thanks man. No worries. Scared me for a second though. I'm new at this so I fight the urge to overdo it.

I can't seem to find this bug on any guide but I will keep a close eye on things hopefully they're harmless. My best guess is that they came free with my soil. The place I get my soil from does all their composting outdoors so there are bound to be a few bugs in it.
 
B

BigB 420

Well-Known Member
The soil seems good so far. Drains rapidly and the plants seem happy.

It's got a bit of wood fiber content that I could do without but it doesn't seem to cause any problems so far. Hard the complain when you can fill a truck bed for $40.

I used 2 different soils from a local soil producer and mixed them together in a 2 to 1 ratio and added 25% perlite, about 10% worm conpost, garden lime, and neem seed meal.

2 parts this:

Organic nursery planter mix - $41 a yard.
ingredients:
-Organic Horse Compost
-1/8- red lava sand
-5/16- crushed red lava rock
-1/4-fir bark
-Oyster shell flour
-Blood meal
-Bone meal
-Kelp meal
-Azomite
-Soil Sulfur

I part this:

420 blend - $135 a yard.
ingredients:
-Peat Moss
-Redwood Fiber Mulch
-Perlite
-Lava
-Oyster Shell
-Peruvian Seabird Guano
-Greensand
-Bloodmeal
-Bonemeal
-Dolomite
-Trace Minerals
 
B

BigB 420

Well-Known Member
kinddiesel said:
people, dish soap will not hurt your plants , im not going to give bad advice to kill some ones plant,
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Thanks for the help man. I did you use more soap than you suggested, I read it wrong. My fault not yours.

I found only 1 bug living so far. Looks like the spiders ate a bunch as well. Wish I knew what they are.
 
Bakatare666

Bakatare666

Well-Known Member
kinddiesel said:
people, dish soap will not hurt your plants , im not going to give bad advice to kill some ones plant,
Click to expand...
I was NOT implying that man, I was just concerned, not knowing the OP previous to this thread, didn't know if he would mist, or water with the soapy solution, and I don't know to what extent watering with soapy water would have affected his soil.
 
bigboybuds

bigboybuds

Well-Known Member
Could you not just call the place where you get your soil, and ask them wtf they are, and the best way to deal with them? I'm sure your not the only one with this problem.
 
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