1st grow and I found bugs

[slippery1]

This is my first grow and I'm in week 3 of flowering. About a week ago leaves started turning yellow. I looked for mites and gnats and didn't see anything. About 3 days ago some were flying around and when I watered I was able to see a bunch crawling in the dirt. I bought some neem oil and applied it but it did not help. I just applied a liberal layer of DE all over the top of the dirt. Is this all I need to do? Will it kill them immediately? Is there more that I should be paying attention to? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[One drop]

Hi welcome to the farm mate sounds like fun gas nat you can get some yellow sticky traps and place around you grow space that will attract then there I would take the DE off the top surface it will raise you ph and pro you set you into ph lockout the nets do not like it dry so let you medium dry out a bit while that’s drying out get some straight perlite and cover the entire surface of pot around the plant about 1 cm thick this also helps detour them they get cut up crawling to the surface . Regards Od .

 

[slippery1]

Hi welcome to the farm mate sounds like fun gas nat you can get some yellow sticky traps and place around you grow space that will attract then there I would take the DE off the top surface it will raise you ph and pro you set you into ph lockout the nets do not like it dry so let you medium dry out a bit while that’s drying out get some straight perlite and cover the entire surface of pot around the plant about 1 cm thick this also helps detour them they get cut up crawling to the surface . Regards Od .

I have a yellow sticky thing but they do not go to it. Literally caught one gnat in 4-5 days. I don't know anything about PH or PH lockout. CAn you expand please. Stll have the DE on the top of the soil as of now. Everything I've read said that will do the trick in a few days. I ordered some Potassium soap yesterday but it won't be here for at least 4-5 days. Worried.

 

[slippery1]

 

[CosmoGrows]

Hi welcome to the farm mate sounds like fun gas nat you can get some yellow sticky traps and place around you grow space that will attract then there I would take the DE off the top surface it will raise you ph and pro you set you into ph lockout the nets do not like it dry so let you medium dry out a bit while that’s drying out get some straight perlite and cover the entire surface of pot around the plant about 1 cm thick this also helps detour them they get cut up crawling to the surface . Regards Od .

*Take into consideration what one drop said before using DE with my method, watch your ph.*

I have a gnat here and there, Now. I had a small issue arising with fungus gnats. Between MicrobeLift BMC Bti product, DE, and sticky traps, i was able to pretty much tackle the whole issue. I havent seen any since.

I use microbelift bmc every watering.
DE for emergency situations, if i believe the problem is starting to arise, i will smack them with a DE top dress assuming it will help bring them down.
And when i say top dress, im talking a very minor, minor bit, i cover the top but barely. Ill do it for a watering or two.

I had this product suggested to me by knowledgeable user on here on the farm.

Goodluck
- CG

 

[slippery1]

*Take into consideration what one drop said before using DE with my method, watch your ph.*

I have a gnat here and there, Now. I had a small issue arising with fungus gnats. Between MicrobeLift BMC Bti product, DE, and sticky traps, i was able to pretty much tackle the whole issue. I havent seen any since.

I use microbelift bmc every watering.
DE for emergency situations, if i believe the problem is starting to arise, i will smack them with a DE top dress assuming it will help bring them down.
And when i say top dress, im talking a very minor, minor bit, i cover the top but barely. Ill do it for a watering or two.

View attachment 983938

I had this product suggested to me by knowledgeable user on here on the farm.

Goodluck
- CG

Shoot, so what I read was to use DE liberally so as you can see in the pictures, I covered the top of the soil with it. Should I spoon most of it off? I put a second fan in oscillating as the DE has pretty much not allowed the soil to completely dry out on a few of the pots. I have Potassium soap on the way but it's almost a week out. They don't go to the sticky pads at all. I ordered mosquito bits. Think I have a few days till they arrive. One of my plants looks pretty awful and it was beautiful a week and a half ago. I removed a ton of the yellow leaves, now it's bare and sad minus the flowers.

 

[CosmoGrows]

Do you have webbing between your plants buds?

I only use DE in very very small amounts, over a decent period of time. But i have seen it used differently, in different ratios.

 

[CosmoGrows]

Can we get more pictures of your grow? maybe some pictures with the lights turned off for a quick minute, to get a true light picture, a close up of two buds or something, it looks like you got something going on over here... Is it just the picture??? It looks like it is just that one spot, could it be DE Blowing up from fans? Do i need to go see an eye doctor?

 

[Dr.B]

Shoot, so what I read was to use DE liberally so as you can see in the pictures, I covered the top of the soil with it. Should I spoon most of it off? I put a second fan in oscillating as the DE has pretty much not allowed the soil to completely dry out on a few of the pots. I have Potassium soap on the way but it's almost a week out. They don't go to the sticky pads at all. I ordered mosquito bits. Think I have a few days till they arrive. One of my plants looks pretty awful and it was beautiful a week and a half ago. I removed a ton of the yellow leaves, now it's bare and sad minus the flowers.

You've got some good advice here...
The best weapon against fungus gnats is prevention, allowing the soil to dry completely between waterings will interupt the life cycle of the gnats. I had them once in flower really bad. I tried everything, nothing did the trick. Predatory mites, nematodes, followed by pyrethrins when friendly bugs failed ... Nothing knocked them out.

An inch of sand on the tops of the pots and watering through the sand layer with a funnel so as not to breach the sand barrier ended up doing the trick inside of two weeks. Because of all of this though, my yield came out as crap. I would try the layer of pearlite first.

Entry and exit procedures are what I suggest in subsequent grows. Don't bring the little bastards in with you. Set up a hand sanitizer station, shoes or footwear for tent use, something sanitize-able like chefs shoes or crocs. Don't wear outdoor clothing in the tent, clean clothes only...

 

[slippery1]

Hi welcome to the farm mate sounds like fun gas nat you can get some yellow sticky traps and place around you grow space that will attract then there I would take the DE off the top surface it will raise you ph and pro you set you into ph lockout the nets do not like it dry so let you medium dry out a bit while that’s drying out get some straight perlite and cover the entire surface of pot around the plant about 1 cm thick this also helps detour them they get cut up crawling to the surface . Regards Od .

Ok, I will remove the layer of DE that I have on them currently and I'll go pick up some Perilite. How do I monitor PH levels and if they are off how do I fix that? What are normal and healthy levels?

 

[slippery1]

Can we get more pictures of your grow? maybe some pictures with the lights turned off for a quick minute, to get a true light picture, a close up of two buds or something, it looks like you got something going on over here... Is it just the picture??? It looks like it is just that one spot, could it be DE Blowing up from fans? Do i need to go see an eye doctor?
View attachment 983941

Ok, I'll take a few more pics and yes that is DE that blew up from the fans.

 

[CosmoGrows]

Ok, I'll take a few more pics and yes that is DE that blew up from the fans.

Okay, aslong as its DE, from the pictures it looked like it could have been small bugs in webbing. You should be alright.

 

[slippery1]

You've got some good advice here...
The best weapon against fungus gnats is prevention, allowing the soil to dry completely between waterings will interupt the life cycle of the gnats. I had them once in flower really bad. I tried everything, nothing did the trick. Predatory mites, nematodes, followed by pyrethrins when friendly bugs failed ... Nothing knocked them out.

An inch of sand on the tops of the pots and watering through the sand layer with a funnel so as not to breach the sand barrier ended up doing the trick inside of two weeks. Because of all of this though, my yield came out as crap. I would try the layer of pearlite first.

Entry and exit procedures are what I suggest in subsequent grows. Don't bring the little bastards in with you. Set up a hand sanitizer station, shoes or footwear for tent use, something sanitize-able like chefs shoes or crocs. Don't wear outdoor clothing in the tent, clean clothes only...

Ok, thank you for the advice. I appreciate it.

 

[redshift75]

*Take into consideration what one drop said before using DE with my method, watch your ph.*

I have a gnat here and there, Now. I had a small issue arising with fungus gnats. Between MicrobeLift BMC Bti product, DE, and sticky traps, i was able to pretty much tackle the whole issue. I havent seen any since.

I use microbelift bmc every watering.
DE for emergency situations, if i believe the problem is starting to arise, i will smack them with a DE top dress assuming it will help bring them down.
And when i say top dress, im talking a very minor, minor bit, i cover the top but barely. Ill do it for a watering or two.

View attachment 983938

I had this product suggested to me by knowledgeable user on here on the farm.

Goodluck
- CG

Just to throw other brands in the mix that are just as effective. I recommend mosquito bits or Gnatrol WDG. is a few others. But for the price of the 2 oz ive learned i can get 8oz of gnatrol. Which i think Gnatrol goes a lot farther than either brand. Essentially every brand is the same thing. So its more about who gives the most value for the cash for me. Just to give others alternatives. there are other brands i dont recommend like aquabac or vectobac.

edit: pics are just for reference * i take no credit for the photos.



the beauty of gnatrol (like most bti products) doesnt impact fertilizing. So can mix it right in water tanks/sprayer/feeding jugs.


from my experience with the fogger and mosquito control doing paid trail management in my remote location. I get further with mosquito bits, but im able to get a higher concentration with Gnatrol. So i tend to add a 1/4 cup of bits to my big sprayer with a tbs p or 2 of gnatrol. Thats how i manage 40 acres of wet lands.


speaking to cannabis, I just put a little bit in my gallon jugs of bits each watering outside just to maintain preventative. Ive been fighting fungus gnats this whole season. But not the larvae. Just the flying adults that pester you. one the roots were infested. Since then a good soak and transplant to larger pot. Bounced back and havent had an issue since. Honestly when speaking to Fgnats(and mosquito control). nothing seems to beat BTI treatments.

 

[mancorn]

Shoot, so what I read was to use DE liberally so as you can see in the pictures, I covered the top of the soil with it. Should I spoon most of it off? I put a second fan in oscillating as the DE has pretty much not allowed the soil to completely dry out on a few of the pots. I have Potassium soap on the way but it's almost a week out. They don't go to the sticky pads at all. I ordered mosquito bits. Think I have a few days till they arrive. One of my plants looks pretty awful and it was beautiful a week and a half ago. I removed a ton of the yellow leaves, now it's bare and sad minus the flowers.

The stick traps are only useful as a means to monitor what bugs you have, not as a way to kill the gnats. The Mosquito Bites you ordered is the same active ingredient used in the product Cosmo posted (Bti) and will kill the gnat larvae real quick.

 

[Anthem]

The stick traps are only useful as a means to monitor what bugs you have, not as a way to kill the gnats. The Mosquito Bites you ordered is the same active ingredient used in the product Cosmo posted (Bti) and will kill the gnat larvae real quick.

Actually the Yellow Sticky straps are great for knocking down the adult fungal gnat population. Combining the yellow sticky traps and BTI in what ever form you prefer is a great way to eliminate the problem. BTI interrupts the breading cycle by killing off what is in the ground. But you still have the adults around laying eggs. Using the two in combination will knock down the population faster but you are still going to have to use do a second or third treatment of BTI. It only kills those in the media. If you look up the life cycle of the gnat and space out the BTI treatment you should have no trouble completely eliminating the problem.

 

[slippery1]

Hi welcome to the farm mate sounds like fun gas nat you can get some yellow sticky traps and place around you grow space that will attract then there I would take the DE off the top surface it will raise you ph and pro you set you into ph lockout the nets do not like it dry so let you medium dry out a bit while that’s drying out get some straight perlite and cover the entire surface of pot around the plant about 1 cm thick this also helps detour them they get cut up crawling to the surface . Regards Od .

Thanks for the tip. I just got some Perlite and layered it on the top of the soil as you suggested. Spooned as much of the DE off the soil as I could. Fingers crossed my plants start getting happy again.