Beneficial Insects

Thanks for clearing that up Sir.

I'm kind of a noob so I started actually reading up on the subject of beneficial insects. There is weird stuff out there. So my excitement to study insects came when I noticed large amounts of small white dots playing in the soil of my marijuana plants. I figure they are soil gnats and/or Springtails. Anyway, at first I was afraid they were spider mites, a very common pest that is part of the arachnid family but is actually a mite and spins little webs on your plants which is the easiest way, other than with a magnifying glass, to identify them. Soil gnats live in the top layer of your soil and look like little white dots that will eventually start flying (males only) when you disrupt the soil. Springtails however are small bugs that actually eat decaying organic matter, making them kind of beneficial for your soil, however they can sometimes get carried overboard with reproduction and turn on your sprouts and or root systems, so watch for them in the soil, if they aren't that bad then don't worry but if you have swarms you will want a malathion, neem oil or a 3-in-1 insect Disease and Mite control solution watered into the soil. You can buy 3 praying mantis eggs from www.carolina.com/world-alive, or you can try ladybugs. There are a number of places to acquire ladybugs, most noteworthy Home Depot. Many organic remedies for insects, other than more insects, exist such as adding pepper, soap and/or garlic to water. There is no real set rate for mixing. When choosing soap you should use like a mild dish soap. Also the aforementioned neem oil is good for some infections.

get a big bag of spiders and let them loose in your grow room

I know its been awhile, but thought id bump this up

Don't know if it's been mentioned cause I was too lazy to read this all, but has anybody used predator mites? I don't have any bug problems but have heard they are like spider mites only they eat spider mites, and their eggs, then when there is no more left to eat, they eat eachother leaving no bugs behind.

All 24 posts?

personally, if they are softbodied pets (mites, springtails, slugs, aphids, ants, etc) i just use Diatomaceous Earth (DE). totally organic, even available in good grade, and absolutely destoys the little buggers. got rid of my aphid infestation in one treatment. also provides silica =D sorry to mention this in a thread meant for beneficial insects, but it seems to me if you can keep any crawlies out period it would be better than lady bug carcasses and spider webs all over the place

Lady bugs work good for me. I spend about $12 every 6-8 weeks. If you spray them with alittle Pepsi or MTD, coke whatever, it'll keep them from flying away right away. Then they like the plants too, so it's not hard to keep them around. They will get in the light hood tho, gatta shop vac it 1x a wk. I have had no pest probs with lady bugs,but I'm only on my 3rd grow. so far so good. see ya
have a stoney night ........peace