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pests First pests have arrived!

thirdcoasttx

thirdcoasttx

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Found a ton of these in my grow room this morning. They almost look and behave like fruit flys. Any idea what they are and how I get rid of them?
 
No idea by looking at that picture but if they behave like fruit flies then chances are they're fungus gnats. Sticky traps to catch the flying ones, hydrogen peroxide to kill the larvae.
 
Thanks I need to get them somewhat under control before the old lady gets home shes already pissed I turned my closet into a grow room
 
Yep. If they look and act like fruit flies, there is a real good chance they are fungus gnats. Get them quick. The larva will eat roots of young plants.
 
Ok I got 3 sticky traps, a fruit fly trap set out, and gave the soil a light spray of hydrogen peroxide and water mix.
Would sterilizing the soil next time I pot up be a good idea?
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Dont know if this pic is any better
 
Still blurry but look like gnats. Soil is usually sterilized when you buy it bug some survive the process. You can sterilize it your self ibelieve by cooking it but something tells me the old lady won't appreciate cooking dirt in the kitchen. You can drench the soil in h2o2 but you will kill every living organism.
 
Got quite a few on the sticky traps but it looks like the h2o2 did the trick got a bunch of dead ones around the pots and dont see any more movement this morning. Thanks for the help guys.
 
Keep your eyes on them, if any larvae survive and make more, you'll have another outbreak. If you see anything, give it another dose of h2o2
 
This morning I found one live gnat on the surface of the soil of my smallest scotch bonnet. Then after bottom watering I found 10-15 dead gnats floating in the water. About a week and a half ago I gave them a watered down dose of fish emulsion could that be where they came from or is it just the soil? Dont crucify me on this one but im using miracle grow organic potting soil.
 
Many of us been through the fungus gnat infestation a few times. Personally i've tried all of the easy solutions, and none of it worked long term.
 
The only thing that truly worked for me was BT (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) aka Mosquito Dunks. Ideally you would start with a gallon of dechlorinated water, then break up 1/2 a mosquito dunk and throw it in. Let that concoction age for 12-24 hours then begin soaking the dirt. Around two weeks of waterings should be enough to break the egg / larva / adult life cycle. You'll have to strike a balance between thorough soakings, but not overwatering at  the same time.
 
The larva supposedly only eat dead roots etc, i don't know for sure though.
 
If you have any houseplants, then they are likely infested by now as well. I would treat them too because the gnats can get so bad that the plants will be swarmed.
 
Wifie def wouldn't like that, i know mine didn't.....
 
Good luck either way.
 
Jetchuka said:
Many of us been through the fungus gnat infestation a few times. Personally i've tried all of the easy solutions, and none of it worked long term.
 
The only thing that truly worked for me was BT (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) aka Mosquito Dunks. Ideally you would start with a gallon of dechlorinated water, then break up 1/2 a mosquito dunk and throw it in. Let that concoction age for 12-24 hours then begin soaking the dirt. Around two weeks of waterings should be enough to break the egg / larva / adult life cycle. You'll have to strike a balance between thorough soakings, but not overwatering at  the same time.
 
The larva supposedly only eat dead roots etc, i don't know for sure though.
 
If you have any houseplants, then they are likely infested by now as well. I would treat them too because the gnats can get so bad that the plants will be swarmed.
 
Wifie def wouldn't like that, i know mine didn't.....
 
Good luck either way.
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If they ate only dead roots, they would be beneficial since it could prevent some root rot. They don't eat dead stuff, they eat the fine hairs that grow off the roots and the finer roots.
 
I was doing some googling today and came across some interesting remidies. The most interesting was sprinkling cinnamon on the top of the soil and working it in about an inch. The idea being the cinnamon kills the fungus that the larvae feed on. Others stated to let the soil completely dry and place vinegar and soap traps.
 
thirdcoasttx said:
I was doing some googling today and came across some interesting remidies. The most interesting was sprinkling cinnamon on the top of the soil and working it in about an inch. The idea being the cinnamon kills the fungus that the larvae feed on. Others stated to let the soil completely dry and place vinegar and soap traps.
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I saw an article where they laced cut-up potatoes with (i think it was) cheap pyrethrin insecticide, supposedly the larva go nuts over potatoes, eat it, then die.
 
It's been a while, but if i remember right, the article included pics of them gorging on it.
 
Edit: I just google searched "fungus gnats potatoes" and saw a bunch of articles, might be worth a look.
 
Did the cinnamon thing last year. Did the H2O2 thing last year. neither really worked all that well. Did the Azamax/Azatrol thing last year over several outbreaks. That did work well but that crap is expensive and if even a couple fungus gnats survive, they will repopulate quickly and you'll have to buy another expensive bottle to kill them again.
 
 
If I see fungus gnats this year, I am going straight to BT. Not messing around with them again, they killed too many babies last year. Nuke them hard with the mosquito dunks and don't look back.
 
GNATS. Do what you must to destroy them, they are Satan's pubic lice as far as I'm concerned. Mosquito dunks, letting the soil dry, and sticky traps worked for me, but I can never be sure I got them all. Nasty fuckers.
 
:flamethrower:  :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :flamethrower: :flamethrower:
 
Theres a mite you can bug which will eat the larvae. Look through my profile for a topic I started called in the topic of fungus gnats. H2o2 is cheap as and it did a good job at severely impeding their numbers but they're back. But this time the soil is much dryer and they have a hard time. I discussed my plans with another chap on here in regards to the little bastards using the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots to gain access. Letting the top dry is easy. Letting the bottom dry? No chance. Get some ultra fine mesh. A layer or two of fly screen and lay it in the bottom of the pots. Add a inch layer of small gravel followed by an inch layer of sand followed by your potting mix. To the top you can either maintain a dry surface by bottom watering or you can apply that other sandy stuff which will block out the fungus gnats. This will make your pots bullet proof against fungus gnats.

Down in aus we don't have mosquito dunks and some criminals on ebay charge about 40 to post them down!
 
God I hate these damn things. I got rid of them (pretty sure) from my scotch bonnets and fatalli. Noticed I had two naga vipers pop this morning in the little germination station, open it up and what do you know more freaking gnats.
 
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