Watering problems causing gnat problems.

[Purfict]

It’s been 6 days since watering and my 5 gallon plastic pots are still wet. It’s gotten gnats, which I gave dr zymes in the soil and DE on top. The gnats are a problem obviously, but it’s because of watering issues. When they were in a solo cup I would water every 2-3 days, but I bumped them up to 5 gallon pots and gave the whole pot a good watering until some runoff, and since then I’ve taken around 6-8 days between watering. I’ve been giving them all a liter exactly each watering, but I can’t seem to dry out the medium. I’m using fox farm OF and HF, which shouldn’t have great drainage problems considering I loosened the soil as much as I could. Anyways, here’s what they’re looking like now, not super healthy. They’re drooping heavily and I just caught another gnat flying around right before their night started (12:15-6:15) so I put even more DE down. Hopefully the drooping is from the gnats and not from being super thirsty since the soil is still not dry. Would you guys recommend even less water? I feel like a liter for a 5 gallon pot is not much at all when trying to distribute it throughout the pot.

 

[Captspaulding]

Those plants are waaaaaay too small to be saturating a pot that large. There isn’t enough root zone to take up all the water and feed. I would get that soil drying out as much as possible. Pot too large equals more feed than a fledgling vegging plant can uptake.
Dry her out. then consider potting down.

 

[Purfict]

I’ve only watered twice in a little over two weeks, I’m just worried they drink all they can and then remaining water will flow down or outward to where they can’t reach. Not sure if they’re dropping from being super thirsty or if the gnats are in the soil messing with roots.

 

[Captspaulding]

I’ve only watered twice in a little over two weeks, I’m just worried they drink all they can and then remaining water will flow down or outward to where they can’t reach. Not sure if they’re dropping from being super thirsty or if the gnats are in the soil messing with roots.

Not all of the water will run out of the pot.
Once it gets saturated at the bottom of the pot Your plants rootzone won’t be able to penetrate the bottom of the pot due overwatering. Then a bunch of issues start to snowballpop, nutrient uptake, wet dry cycles and possibly spurning root rot.

 

[Captspaulding]

Not all of the water will run out of the pot.
Once it gets saturated at the bottom of the pot Your plants rootzone won’t be able to penetrate the bottom of the pot due overwatering. Then a bunch of issues start to snowballpop, nutrient uptake, wet dry cycles and possibly spurning root rot.

Also when the lights go out, the plants rest. It’s a thing. I’d like to see them whe. Your lights are on……

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

It’s been 6 days since watering and my 5 gallon plastic pots are still wet. It’s gotten gnats, which I gave dr zymes in the soil and DE on top. The gnats are a problem obviously, but it’s because of watering issues. When they were in a solo cup I would water every 2-3 days, but I bumped them up to 5 gallon pots and gave the whole pot a good watering until some runoff, and since then I’ve taken around 6-8 days between watering. I’ve been giving them all a liter exactly each watering, but I can’t seem to dry out the medium. I’m using fox farm OF and HF, which shouldn’t have great drainage problems considering I loosened the soil as much as I could. Anyways, here’s what they’re looking like now, not super healthy. They’re drooping heavily and I just caught another gnat flying around right before their night started (12:15-6:15) so I put even more DE down. Hopefully the drooping is from the gnats and not from being super thirsty since the soil is still not dry. Would you guys recommend even less water? I feel like a liter for a 5 gallon pot is not much at all when trying to distribute it throughout the pot.

What are the air temperature and humidity near the soil?

I recommend removing the DE from the soil. I suspect it's keeping the moisture in the soil from evaporating. Covering the soil can keep the gnats from propagating, but the bigger problem is soil moisture. Loosen the soil at the top to help evaporation. Dr. Zymes should take care of the gnats, but if you still have problems with them, post again.

Plastic pots can be a problem. Fabric pots allow the soil to dry faster. Some growers drill holes in the sides of plastic pots to improve gas exchange. Aiming a fan at the soil can help, too.

I usually add about three quarts of water to my five-gallon pots.

 

[Purfict]

Also when the lights go out, the plants rest. It’s a thing. I’d like to see them whe. Your lights are on……

Here’s from yesterday when their lights turned on.

 

[Captspaulding]

Yep that be the gnats. They look hungry too. What are you using for nutrients?
How often?

 

[Purfict]

What are the air temperature and humidity near the soil?

I recommend removing the DE from the soil. I suspect it's keeping the moisture in the soil from evaporating. Covering the soil can keep the gnats from propagating, but the bigger problem is soil moisture. Loosen the soil at the top to help evaporation. Dr. Zymes should take care of the gnats, but if you still have problems with them, post again.

Plastic pots can be a problem. Fabric pots allow the soil to dry faster. Some growers drill holes in the sides of plastic pots to improve gas exchange. Aiming a fan at the soil can help, too.

I usually add about three quarts of water to my five-gallon pots.

RH steady around 60 and temp is 74 during day and 64-5 at night. There is plenty of large holes for drainage on the pot, but I do plan to go to fabric next grow this was my first attempt. I gave them dr zymes as a soil wash and did a light foliage spray 3 days ago, but right before lights off I caught more moving around in the soil so I added more DE.

 

[Purfict]

Yep that be the gnats. They look hungry too. What are you using for nutrients?
How often?

Their first feeding will be next watering, they haven’t gotten anything yet because the last time i watered their cot leaves were still vibrant green but they’ve yellowed since then. Just want to deal with these gnats before watering again. Unless you think I should water soon.

 

[Captspaulding]

Their first feeding will be next watering, they haven’t gotten anything yet because the last time i watered their cot leaves were still vibrant green but they’ve yellowed since then. Just want to deal with these gnats before watering again. Unless you think I should water soon.

Don’t water until your pots weight is in the ball park of styrofoam. They will get this light before a dry back wilt occurs. Always allow for a proper wet/dry cycle. It one of the keys to the kingdom……

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Drying the soil will help with the gnats. They lay their eggs near the surface of the soil and the eggs tend to hatch when the soil is moistened. Drying the top of the soil will slow their propagation. Unfortunately, they'll hatch the next watering. When I see them hatching after watering, I spray some hydrogen peroxide on the soil. That kills most of them, but never gets all of them.

Gnats like soil with wood chips in it, like Happy Frog and Ocean Forest. I've tried several ways to get rid of them, but I haven't tried Dr. Zymes yet. Most will control them to some degree. The key, I think, is either kill them before they can lay eggs or kill the eggs. Those yellow sticky insect traps will get a lot of them. Diatomaceous earth on the soil kills them while they're still crawling.

A healthy plant can defend itself better against gnats. Removing lower growth can also help.

 

[Purfict]

Drying the soil will help with the gnats. They lay their eggs near the surface of the soil and the eggs tend to hatch when the soil is moistened. Drying the top of the soil will slow their propagation. Unfortunately, they'll hatch the next watering. When I see them hatching after watering, I spray some hydrogen peroxide on the soil. That kills most of them, but never gets all of them.

Gnats like soil with wood chips in it, like Happy Frog and Ocean Forest. I've tried several ways to get rid of them, but I haven't tried Dr. Zymes yet. Most will control them to some degree. The key, I think, is either kill them before they can lay eggs or kill the eggs. Those yellow sticky insect traps will get a lot of them. Diatomaceous earth on the soil kills them while they're still crawling.

A healthy plant can defend itself better against gnats. Removing lower growth can also help.

I heard a lot of great things about dr zymes, but I only got a single serving of it so the one soil wash was all I got. I saved a spray bottle full to do some foliage spraying but have to rely on DE and drying the soil to kill them. I just hope they will be ok without water until then. The yellow sticky traps I ordered but the delivery time is a few days yet unfortunately.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I think DE works best when it's dry. It also tends to flow into the soil with the water. So, I made a shaker jar by drilling holes in the lid. I use it to shake DE onto the soil about a day after watering, when the top of the soil has dried and the gnat eggs are hatching.

DE kills them when they crawl across it. It scratches them, causing them to lose body moisture and die.

 

[Bilber]

Hey Per....

How is the airflow in the tent?

I run homemade plastic containers with cut/drilled holes and I do alright.....alot of people don't like plastic because of dryback time....

Having enough airflow/ air movement will help with dryback....

 

[Purfict]

I think DE works best when it's dry. It also tends to flow into the soil with the water. So, I made a shaker jar by drilling holes in the lid. I use it to shake DE onto the soil about a day after watering, when the top of the soil has dried and the gnat eggs are hatching.

DE kills them when they crawl across it. It scratches them, causing them to lose body moisture and die.

I think I’m going to do the same thing, I’m just worried the soil is too saturated in some spots but dry where the roots are.

 

[Purfict]

Hey Per....

How is the airflow in the tent?

I run homemade plastic containers with cut/drilled holes and I do alright.....alot of people don't like plastic because of dryback time....

Having enough airflow/ air movement will help with dryback....

I think the airflow is solid, I have a powerful fan blowing air into the tent in the bottom, oscillating fan blowing on the canopy/soil, and a small built in slit at the top with a tight bug net covering that. I had to sacrifice the 6 inch inline fan to keep temp up since I have to run my HID light at 60% power. I know that one of the reasons I got gnats in the first place was from my previous oscillating fan breaking, so it went about 3 or 4 days with no oscillating fan going, but had the fan blowing fresh air into the tent at least.

 

[ET12SECOND]

get some of this follow the directions for a soil soak and your gnat issue will de done. I do two waterings with it and the eggs/larve are dead. I also do a foliar spray with a 4-1 mix of 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts water. Kills the fliers. I hasve been growing in peat (promix) for years and this works awesome. Mosquito bits https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mosquito-Bits-30-oz-Granular-Biological-Mosquito-Control-117-6/206940251

 

[Purfict]

get some of this follow the directions for a soil soak and your gnat issue will de done. I do two waterings with it and the eggs/larve are dead. I also do a foliar spray with a 4-1 mix of 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts water. Kills the fliers. I hasve been growing in peat (promix) for years and this works awesome. Mosquito bits https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mosquito-Bits-30-oz-Granular-Biological-Mosquito-Control-117-6/206940251

I’ll get some tomorrow, thanks for the advice I’ll update this thread after. Hopefully the DE i used today is enough to slow them down and I can get rid of the problem all together after the bits.

 

[iX_Lazy_Xi]

When using any plastic container I drill extra holes in bottom and cut slits in sides with razor to help wet/dry.

try 1-3 gal after the solo. Like to get them drinking almost daily before sizing up