Mystery bugs plz help

[BakedasBeans]

Hey farmers, I recently had some cuttings that were taking WAY too long root (30+days). So I decided to pull one of them to inspect the stemp and see if any roots were even starting. I found a that there were some bugs that I had never seen before. Thay are white and look like tiny worms about 2-3mm long. They move like a caterpillar with a pure white body (almost looked like a root for a second) and a little black dot or bead on the head. This was moving around on the very base of the stem where it was cut from the mother plant. I also notice some very tiny black things moving around where this bug was. Im guessing these are its babies but not positive. I didnt have a camera that would have focosed enough to get a clear pic of it or else I would have. Any help would be greatly appreciated as Ive never seen these before and dont know how serious of an infestation they are. Thank you

 

[VenomPimp]

could be little gnatlings....and/or springtails...there's no way to be sure without a picture. Do you have any flying insects around?

 

[seabass212]

could be little fungus gnat larvas. they are notorius for eating roots. pix would help

 

[BakedasBeans]

Thanks guys. I wish i could have gotton a pic but my camera wont fucus enough to get a good one. I know they arent springtails ive had those before. Do gnatlings look like little catterpillars or maggots? and there were tiny tiny black things moving around almost inside the stem which im guessing were fresh hatchlings? I did have some plants around that had thrips or something flying with them but i thought i got rid of the plants before it spread but a few could have escaped without me knowing. What does an adult fungus knat look like? I did notice a thick hard substance around the exposed poarts of the cutting (the parts where i removed nodes that would be below the surface to encourage root growth). It was a milky white color. Could this be from the rooting gel i used?? I do have a somewhat clear picture of this substance that i will post

 

[BakedasBeans]

heres a pic of that weird stuff on the stem. It looks a little brown in the picture because i was poking at it and picking at it to try to see what it was. When i first pulled it out it was a milky white. This was on most of thos babies but not all of them.

 

[bigrippen]

root knot nematode? do you have any roots at all? can you see any bugs feeding on the roots?

 

[BakedasBeans]

Out of 36 cutting i only had 4 that rooted. The one i looked at with roots was the one with the biggest and most bugs on it. And yes it looked one of the caterpillar looking bugs was munching on the little root comming off the bottom of the cutting. However the bugs werent limited to only the rooted cuttings just more abundant in the rooted ones

 

[BakedasBeans]

Found it!! I started typing all of your suggestions into trusty old google and im 99% sure they are fungus gnat larvae. What exactly do fungus gnats do? and how serious of a pest is it? Heres the pic i found online, it was labeled fungus gnat larvea so if it was labeled correctly then thats what they are because whatevers in this picture is exacly what i saw.

thank you guys so much for your help!

 

[bigrippen]

bti. mosquito dunks, gnatrol or vectobac. yellow sticky traps for fliers. good luck!

 

[Papa]

you beat me by minutes!

Papa

 

[bigrippen]

to me, any pest is a serious problem. they will eat your roots (apparently) and the fliers will get stuck in your bud.
what medium are you growing in?

 

[BakedasBeans]

Thank you still though papa, i didnt look at a pic of an adult but that looks like what i mentionded a few posts ago that i thought i had gotton ri of but it deffinatly looks like i had straggler or two get loose

 

[BakedasBeans]

Bigrippen, These are in small rockwool cubes but i normally transplant into coco or a coco blend. I also believe that any pest is a serious problem i meant more along the lines of how difficult are they to get rid of? Would gnatrol and sticky traps be sufficient? Or is it a pest that you need to completly nuke lke root aphids??

 

[Ryan Park]

Bt Worm Killer by Green Light: contains Bacillus Thuringiensis (12.0%) a eliminating bacterial organism which causes disease in certain insects, thereby controlling them. An insect that eats B.T. will stop feeding immediately. They will then die one to five days later due to disintegration of the digestive tract and the resulting starvation. - It's made to spray on leaves but you can water it into the soil. The larva eat the roots, ingesting the Bt and then they die within days. I heard Mosquito Dunks work also. Both products can be found at Walmart, Lowes or Home Depot.

 

[BakedasBeans]

Thanks Ryan! Do I need to re-apply every few days like most other drenches to kill the hatching larvae or is it a one shot kill?