Damn flies!

So I've had my tent and bloom room set up for a while. Everything seems good but I have all these little flies in the tent and bloom room now. Not sure if there an adult thrip or something else. I don't seem to have any spots or yellowing on the leafs and don't see any sings of distress. I have blue sticky pads that do catch them but I'd love to get rid of whatever they are.

Fungus gnats. Thrips dont fly.

Do something soon.

Get Bt-Israelenensis. I use a mosquito pond treatment drops. I use every 4 days. Weekly ad suggested wont really break the life cycle. A pan of water will catch a lot of the adult flies too. Some say a little juice or sugar in the water catches more flies!

Snoopy808 said:

Fungus gnats. Thrips dont fly.

Do something soon.

Get Bt-Israelenensis. I use a mosquito pond treatment drops. I use every 4 days. Weekly ad suggested wont really break the life cycle. A pan of water will catch a lot of the adult flies too. Some say a little juice or sugar in the water catches more flies!

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Looks like gnats to me too, but thrips can fly in the later stage.

Hypoaspis miles would take care of the gnats in the soil. I'd top dress with some EWC, that's where mine came from. I haven't seen a gnat in over a year now.

H. miles, is that predator nematodes or something?

Snoopy808 said:

H. miles, is that predator nematodes or something?

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Predatory mites. They eat a lot of shit we don't want. Love the little guys. You can buy them separately too.

Might try that on the indoors. Until this indoor run ive never had fungus gnats. Ever. Im worried they might travel to the light dep or full term.

I believe i got them with some soil. A new brand.
And talking to the guys at the grow store theyve seen a lot of customers asking about fungus gnat controls. Im thinking the store might be now infested. Does that make sense?

I got some stuff called Gnatrol a while back but haven't needed to use it yet. It's some kind of bacterial root drench and is supposed to be really good.

I looked it up. This is a little different version I guess. It's all over the web.

Gnatrol WDG (Water Dispersible Granule) biological larvicide offers the same effective control of fungus gnat larvae that growers expect from Gnatrol, but with added product benefits.

Gnatrol WDG is a biological control for fungus gnat larvae. It contains a variety of bacillus thuringiensis bacteria that kills most gnat larvae. Apply as a soil drench or add to the nutrient solution of your growing system. Does not kill adult fungus gnats, but once the larvae is killed, the adults will quickly die off.

Can be used up to the day of harvest on all edible plants.

Snoopy808 said:

Might try that on the indoors. Until this indoor run ive never had fungus gnats. Ever. Im worried they might travel to the light dep or full term.

I believe i got them with some soil. A new brand.
And talking to the guys at the grow store theyve seen a lot of customers asking about fungus gnat controls. Im thinking the store might be now infested. Does that make sense?

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If the store has bags of soil in there or attached storage area there could be lots of bags infested and that's where most get them from. Any tear or breather hole in the bag is a nice place for a pregnant lady gnat to lay her eggs and start an infestation. Some bags sit for a year or longer before being bought so could be chock full of gnats.

I test for gnat larva by scooping a tsp of damp soil just under the surface an inch or two then putting that into a glass that I fill part way, stir then fill right to the brim so some stuff floats on top. Use a white paper towel and lay on top for a sec to pick up the flotsam then examine it with something like a 30x scope which is one I have. The larva look like tiny translucent grubs with two tiny black dots at one end. If you see those you got gnats. So check bags before use and don't store your bags anywhere near your plants.

Stick lots of sticky traps in the pots and hang some on the walls around the plants to knock back the adult population but the only way to win is to wipe out their young before they emerge and mate. That's all the adults do is screw, lay eggs on the soil and die. They don't feed as adults ergo no damage to your plants leaves. The roots are getting savaged tho from the larva. As the adults emerge from the soil they sit for a bit to lettheir wings dry then fly up to roost a bit and are attracted to the yellow traps as a place to land. The last place they'll ever land Muhahahahah!



Good luck!

PadawanWarrior said:

Looks like gnats to me too, but thrips can fly in the later stage.

Hypoaspis miles would take care of the gnats in the soil. I'd top dress with some EWC, that's where mine came from. I haven't seen a gnat in over a year now.

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Some species like the ones I've had never fly but they can jump like a grasshopper. One went right in my eye once and burned like a coal. Wanted to get out the tiger torch and fry their collective asses but cooled off and thought better of it.

Snoopy808 said:

Might try that on the indoors. Until this indoor run ive never had fungus gnats. Ever. Im worried they might travel to the light dep or full term.

I believe i got them with some soil. A new brand.
And talking to the guys at the grow store theyve seen a lot of customers asking about fungus gnat controls. Im thinking the store might be now infested. Does that make sense?

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A layer of Vermiculite sprinkled on the top of each pot will stop them breeding.

Yellow stickies for the adult flyers and 3 drenches with Gnatrol for the larvae......works every time.

OldMedUser said:

Some species like the ones I've had never fly but they can jump like a grasshopper. One went right in my eye once and burned like a coal. Wanted to get out the tiger torch and fry their collective asses but cooled off and thought better of it.

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Springtails will do that too.

Watch your overwatering , they thrive in moist conditions. Larvae can be controlled with hydrogen peroxide , nematodes, azamax , mosquito dunks . Continue sticky traps. Treat ALL PLANTS. You can also use a Castile soap spray to kill larvae in soil too.

Top soil cover using horticulture sand will block egg laying and provide a dry environment .

WORSE CASE scenario .... create a bottom watering method to water your plants using wicks or other ways.

PadawanWarrior said:

Springtails will do that too.

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Springtails live in soil do they not? Mine were definitely thrips and all over the leaves mid-flower so I spent an hour/day sitting on a pail hunting them by hand to keep the numbers down as I didn't want to spray anything. 27 f'n plants too! lol Still got a good harvest.

Budzbuddha said:

WORSE CASE scenario .... create a bottom watering method to water your plants using wicks or other ways.

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I have all plants in pans so just pour the water in the pan and let it wick up. A lot slower buy can keep the top 3 or 4" of the surface dry. A half inch of diatomaceous earth, (spell check gave me semiautomatic as the only replacement word lol), on top helps too.

The little buggers will get in thru the drain holes too so that's a problem. Some sort of fine mesh like panty hose or something could prevent them getting in but let the water pass.

OldMedUser said:

Springtails live in soil do they not? Mine were definitely thrips and all over the leaves mid-flower so I spent an hour/day sitting on a pail hunting them by hand to keep the numbers down as I didn't want to spray anything. 27 f'n plants too! lol Still got a good harvest.



I have all plants in pans so just pour the water in the pan and let it wick up. A lot slower buy can keep the top 3 or 4" of the surface dry. A half inch of diatomaceous earth, (spell check gave me semiautomatic as the only replacement word lol), on top helps too.

The little buggers will get in thru the drain holes too so that's a problem. Some sort of fine mesh like panty hose or something could prevent them getting in but let the water pass.

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Ya, I think you're right about the springtails staying in the soil. I've only seen one once in some soil.

Winged root aphid

Renfro said:

View attachment 4511921

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I sure wouldn't question ya, lol.

PadawanWarrior said:

Looks like gnats to me too, but thrips can fly in the later stage.

Hypoaspis miles would take care of the gnats in the soil. I'd top dress with some EWC, that's where mine came from. I haven't seen a gnat in over a year now.

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Yup that's been my experience too, the ewc top dressing as well as sprinkle or water in molasses or malt barley etc, this makes the Hypoaspis mites explode in numbers. Hasn't totally cured it but much better.

PadawanWarrior said:

I sure wouldn't question ya, lol.

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Well don't just listen to me, compare the images. The OP's image is a little out of focus when you zoom in but clear enough that one can observe the wing length : body length and even the merged thorax : abdomen.

Winged root aphids are commonly mistaken for fungus gnats simply because people don't look close enough. Using the sticky trap is ideal and allows for quick identification.

Winged root aphids fly with more strength than fungus gnats which seem to go wherever the breeze blows them lol. Identifying the bugs in the soil with a sticky trap there will confirm the diagnosis by capturing other stages of the root aphid that precede the flying stage. By the time you have fliers you have a very advanced population.

Soil drench with BotaniGard 22 WP is a safe way to help mitigate the population, combined with azadirachtin (azamax) you can hold your ground against the little devils but they are very hard to totally mitigate without a more toxic solution. In the end the best thing to do is start fresh after harvest.

A common way people get these bugs is in the soil. Always ask your supplier if there are any reports of specific products having the root aphids.

A poster on another site swears by a fan pointed directly at top of soil.
I had the problem a few years ago, but now use prevention rather than
intervention.