Identify this pest plus fungus gnat advice.

[Sanji]

Hey everyone, I have recently discovered that I have an infestation of what I believe may be fungus gnats(small flying black fly-like creatures coming from the soil and flying around), can anyone recommend the best method of eradicating them? I have read sticky traps are only useful for removing numbers but will not get rid of the issue as the larvae is what actually feed on the roots, besides letting the soil dry what are my options.

I have also found what appears to be a chewed on leaf, seems like something a caterpillar would do, couldn't find anything upon searching under the leaves, what do you guys think? Also if it is a caterpillar should I be concerned or will they only attack leaves and not the buds, I am mid flower atm. Here's a pic of said leaf

 

[mysticepipedon]

This is either a big pest, like a caterpillar or a grasshopper, or just physical damage that you or some other "entity" (cat) accidentally caused.

 

[Homesteader]

Looks like a cat bite or just a brittle leaf but sometimes that can be from magnesium being drawn out and the leaves in the back seem to be pulling reserves. No big deal either way but you could give it a bit of magnesium sulfate if you wanted to. With the gnats your best bet is letting it dry out and scrape the top one or two inches of soil around where the larvae are so they dry out and die.

 

[GNick55]

most important is killing the larvee and eggs.. there’s a few ways.. firstly do you have extra perlite? you can add an inch layer or so to the surface of your medium..

 

[Kampbe1l]

attack on multiple fronts - GNick55 suggestion was one measure i adopted, which is effective in keeping the population down - a thick layer of perlite on top of the pot, the gnats don't like such surfaces. but ofcourse perlite blows in the wind, so i added clayballs as well.

i had caterpillars just recently, amazing how much a single caterpillar eats in a day. INSPECT regularly!!! seek & destroy.

 

[Sanji]

This is either a big pest, like a caterpillar or a grasshopper, or just physical damage that you or some other "entity" (cat) accidentally caused.

Definitely not a cat, I'm leaning towards caterpillar, probably green which is why I can't see it

 

[Sanji]

Looks like a cat bite or just a brittle leaf but sometimes that can be from magnesium being drawn out and the leaves in the back seem to be pulling reserves. No big deal either way but you could give it a bit of magnesium sulfate if you wanted to. With the gnats your best bet is letting it dry out and scrape the top one or two inches of soil around where the larvae are so they dry out and die.

Not a cat or a brittle leaf since this leaf was green and lush the night before,

As for the magnesium issue that's what I thought so I lightly foliar fed and also fed via the soil but it didn't seem to work 100%, I'm thinking the yellowing may be due to my fungus gnat infestation as there are quite a few, I ran my fingers across the top and I saw atleast 10-15 gnats fly out.

I found a product called eradicator fungus gnat treatment, has anyone heard of this product? It claims to be 100% organic, I also plan to sprinkle some diatomaceous earth on top.

 

[Kampbe1l]

i found the caterpillars underneath the leaves. and just when you think you got them all, there's another munching away. odd, they attacked one strain, not the others, maybe that's just a coincidence.

 

[Sanji]

i found the caterpillars underneath the leaves. and just when you think you got them all, there's another munching away. odd, they attacked one strain, not the others, maybe that's just a coincidence.

I'm going to pull the plants out of the tent tonight and have a proper look, last thing I want is a bunch of stoned caterpillars feasting on my buds

 

[Sanji]

most important is killing the larvee and eggs.. there’s a few ways.. firstly do you have extra perlite? you can add an inch layer or so to the surface of your medium..

Would you recommend diatomaceous earth? Or should I just go with perlite? What's the best method to kill the larvae and eggs QUICKLY as I'm getting closer and closer to harvest and my plants are rapidly declining in health, and I believe fungus gnats have been my problem all along, I can't believe I missed them.

 

[GNick55]

Would you recommend diatomaceous earth? Or should I just go with perlite? What's the best method to kill the larvae and eggs QUICKLY as I'm getting closer and closer to harvest and my plants are rapidly declining in health, and I believe fungus gnats have been my problem all along, I can't believe I missed them.

rolling a joint and making a coffee
see ya in a min

 

[Sanji]

rolling a joint and making a coffee
see ya in a min

Sounds like a plan, also is neem oil safe to use as a soil drench? Or will the plant absorb some of it?

 

[GNick55]

Sounds like a plan, also is neem oil safe to use as a soil drench? Or will the plant absorb some of it?

ok firstly can i see how big the plants are and see them as a whole.. pictures..
what’s your growing medium?

 

[Sanji]

ok firstly can i see how big the plants are and see them as a whole.. pictures..
what’s your growing medium?

Soil

 

[GNick55]

SoilView attachment 1222818View attachment 1222821

mmm, get some sticky traps that you can hang to catch flyers, also what i would do is cover the soil and spray the plant with a light peroxide mix maybe
3-5% strength let sit for a joint than crank on the fans..
as for killing the eggs and larvee in the soil i start with drying it out and barely watering around the furthest edge of pot or bag for about 3 weeks while covering the soil with a thick layer of perlite..but i wouldn’t advise you do this especially in flower, you’ll have to use that earth stuff as i hear it works well here on the farm..
maybe just wait a bit and see what other methods growers can give you that may suit you better.,

 

[Sanji]

mmm, get some sticky traps that you can hang to catch flyers, also what i would do is cover the soil and spray the plant with a light peroxide mix maybe
3-5% strength let sit for a joint than crank on the fans..
as for killing the eggs and larvee in the soil i start with drying it out and barely watering around the furthest edge of pot or bag for about 3 weeks while covering the soil with a thick layer of perlite..but i wouldn’t advise you do this especially in flower, you’ll have to use that earth stuff as i hear it works well here on the farm..
maybe just wait a bit and see what other methods growers can give you that may suit you better.,

Here are the little bustards, have I correctly identified this as a fungus gnat? Also those yellow sticky traps have only been in there for a few minutes and I already see 10+ gnats, I think this infestation is quite bad, I will be spreading some diatomaceous earth today aswell, hopfully I can stop them but I honestly think it's too late since I'm getting so close to the end of flower

 

[GrnMtnGrowR]

Lost Coast Plant Therapy...spray on the soil and around any openings there may be in bottom of pots...If using fabric pots, spray the underside and sides of pots with it and the top of the soil.. Let the top of your soil dry up some if you can, maybe water the plant from the bottom tray or through a tube inserted half way into the pot of soil. Or you could use diatomaceous earth powder, sprinkle on top of soil...it will kill larvae and flying gnats will not continue to lay eggs, so in a period of time they will all fall down. either way works, but be careful not to breath in too much of the diatomaceous earth powder. Personally I go with the Lost Coast Plant Therapy.

 

[Sanji]

Lost Coast Plant Therapy...spray on the soil and around any openings there may be in bottom of pots...If using fabric pots, spray the underside and sides of pots with it and the top of the soil.. Let the top of your soil dry up some if you can, maybe water the plant from the bottom tray or through a tube inserted half way into the pot of soil. Or you could use diatomaceous earth powder, sprinkle on top of soil...it will kill larvae and flying gnats will not continue to lay eggs, so in a period of time they will all fall down. either way works, but be careful not to breath in too much of the diatomaceous earth powder. Personally I go with the Lost Coast Plant Therapy.

Hey man thanks for the reply, I purchased some diatomaceous earth today, along with some sticky traps, there were 10+ gnats on the traps within 5 minutes, I will sprinkle some of the diatomaceous earth tomorrow, how much do you recommend using? Just a light dusting over the soil or does it require an actual layer of powder?

 

[GrnMtnGrowR]

Hey man thanks for the reply, I purchased some diatomaceous earth today, along with some sticky traps, there were 10+ gnats on the traps within 5 minutes, I will sprinkle some of the diatomaceous earth tomorrow, how much do you recommend using? Just a light dusting over the soil or does it require an actual layer of powder?

A thin layer over all of the soil, not thick but enough so the fly would have to touch it to get into the soil to lay their eggs. I have even heard people mixing with their soil before they start, but not sure what ratio of DE to use mixed in soil. Just stick with it for a week, yellow sticky traps and soil care, eventually they will vanish, BUT most of the Fungus gnats I get come from the bags of soil I buy so it happens again and again. They don't really do any damage if you get them before it is out of hand, but you do need to keep combating them when you see them show up. And people thought growing weed was easy

 

[fishbuds]

getting excellent advice in here.

i would just emphasize, DRY SOIL.

So dry you could blow the pot over with your breath. then let it dry some more, like til it wilts a little.

then water the shit out of it. just a litlle at a time at first, then flood the pots and completely saturate the pot.
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