How often do you get bugs in your FFOF?

[Chunky Stool]

soooo only read the first and last page but here is what i know. The ffof bugs are preditory mites as stated. Origonaly added to control our friend the gnat. Its been a couple years since ff had the gnat problem. There rep for my store told me they still add them because they also eat mold which can form on the inside of the bags. ( dont know wether to believe him because it sounds wierd to me that a preditor also eats mold?) even if you get a few gnats, regardless of soil type they die out fairly quickly as long as you dont over water. It dosnt mater what your amending with indoors your blood meal isnt going to attract gnats if there arnt any to attract. If there are gnats present regardless of what amendments you use the gnats are going to eat whats available. Say liver is your most hated food. If you havent eaten in a couple days you will eat the liver and be happy. If you have an infestation first fix the problem.... Watering to often... The microbe life misquito control is a larvaside and works well. Personaly i prefer SM90. onily needed to use it once but its awsome. Its a root inoculant with the added bonus of killing off fg. Its best if you use mechanicle traps with your treatments aka sticky traps

I seem to have less gnat trouble with mediums that dry quickly. Because of this, I prefer Promix HP over BX.
Seems like the best strategy so far has been to go into flower with plants that would require watering twice a day -- but with deep trays, I only have to water once. Don't over due it though. Trays should be empty a few hours before sunset/lights out.
Gotta pay attention...

 

[Chunky Stool]

Oh and the yellow sticky cards kick butt on gnats. They are drawn to them.
Don't get the cheap paper ones. The best are plastic & say "BASF".

Another trick: if you've got gnats indoors, sprinkle DE on the floor and make sure you've got lots of airflow. Gnats can't fly worth a shit so they prefer to crawl on the floor when there's wind. That's where the DE fucks em up.
Just gotta keep the floor dry.

 

[Odin*]

Dr. Bronner's Castile, Peppermint.

 

[QtrNdaPuss]

Oh and the yellow sticky cards kick butt on gnats. They are drawn to them.
Don't get the cheap paper ones. The best are plastic & say "BASF".

Another trick: if you've got gnats indoors, sprinkle DE on the floor and make sure you've got lots of airflow. Gnats can't fly worth a shit so they prefer to crawl on the floor when there's wind. That's where the DE fucks em up.
Just gotta keep the floor dry.

I found huge savings buying the paper traps made for horse stables. at the garden store you can get like 5 4x6 sticky traps for like 9 dollars. if you go to a farm store in the equine section they sell rolls that are 20 inches by 20 ft for 6. I tried DE and dusted the tops of pots and around the bases it didn't seem very effective to me but maybe I was using it wrong. then I went and got some mosquito dunks and crushed them up into a powder and dusted the pots with that and they seemed to gone within a week or so. And I had a major infestation of them I'd only see a couple flying around but then within a week of having my walls lined in sticky traps I swear there were hundreds and hundreds of the little bastards on the traps. made me feel like a bad plant dad. lol

 

[Buba Blend]

soooo only read the first and last page but here is what i know. The ffof bugs are preditory mites as stated. Origonaly added to control our friend the gnat. Its been a couple years since ff had the gnat problem. There rep for my store told me they still add them because they also eat mold which can form on the inside of the bags. ( dont know wether to believe him because it sounds wierd to me that a preditor also eats mold?) even if you get a few gnats, regardless of soil type they die out fairly quickly as long as you dont over water. It dosnt mater what your amending with indoors your blood meal isnt going to attract gnats if there arnt any to attract. If there are gnats present regardless of what amendments you use the gnats are going to eat whats available. Say liver is your most hated food. If you havent eaten in a couple days you will eat the liver and be happy. If you have an infestation first fix the problem.... Watering to often... The microbe life misquito control is a larvaside and works well. Personaly i prefer SM90. onily needed to use it once but its awsome. Its a root inoculant with the added bonus of killing off fg. Its best if you use mechanicle traps with your treatments aka sticky traps

from this link about FG's
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7448.html

I pulled this from the paragraph on "Water and Soil Management"

Avoid fertilizing with excessive amounts of manure, blood meal, or similar organic materials.

Why are those amendments specified over others?
I wish instead of saying similar organic material they specified which ones other than those two, or said all other organic materials.
If not all organic materials. Then are some amendments excluded or less troublesome?

I posted the above on the last page.
Why blood meal versus other amendment?
In my article link above they mention compost also.
Is there a list of certain other amendments that draw them or make them happier than others?

 

[Dynamo626]

im sure there are things they prefer to eat and things they try to stay away from.but a starving man will eat anything in front of him. besides adult fungus gnats dont eat in there short lifetime only the larva eat. the larva arnt very mobile (excepting infestation in which case there everywhere. ive even seen a couple climbing up a tent wall.) the adults are the ones who can easily travel but if they dont eat can a particular food attract them?
the easiest thing is just not to have them. sometimes when i go into my last pot ill see a few buzzing around but within a week a see them no more. no traps no chems just let the pot dry real good between watering s. smart pots will help them dry faster.
amendments that stay moist longer make them happiest like coco which holds 8 times its weight in water

 

[Buba Blend]

This is to no one in particular, I'm just thinking out loud.
Last grow I had gnats in my soil till about 5 weeks into flowering. Once I fixed my watering problem they were fading away within 10 days or so till gone.
The larvae will eat the roots and the food in the soil.
If there are a fair quantity of larvae in the soil. How much impact are they having on the quantities of amendments in the soil?
If they have favorite foods and all amendments are in the soil. Will they cause a food deficiency for the colonies of certain amendments?
I suppose their impact to the food in the soil is negligible since they only live in the top section of the soil.

 

[Dynamo626]

This is to no one in particular, I'm just thinking out loud.
Last grow I had gnats in my soil till about 5 weeks into flowering. Once I fixed my watering problem they were fading away within 10 days or so till gone.
The larvae will eat the roots and the food in the soil.
If there are a fair quantity of larvae in the soil. How much impact are they having on the quantities of amendments in the soil?
If they have favorite foods and all amendments are in the soil. Will they cause a food deficiency for the colonies of certain amendments?
I suppose their impact to the food in the soil is negligible since they only live in the top section of the soil.

Good point. If infested some amendments my need readded.. Someone with surplus equiptment should quarenrine a plant and infest it with gnats then send soil samples out to be tested. Soil that was infested with larva and control see what the difference is in fertility

 

[Buba Blend]

Good point. If infested some amendments my need readded.. Someone with surplus equiptment should quarenrine a plant and infest it with gnats then send soil samples out to be tested. Soil that was infested with larva and control see what the difference is in fertility

I was about to add this the moment your post appeared:

I do not believe my quetions in previous posts about ffof got any responces regarding the wood chips in ffof causing more problems versus other soils.
Great answers but not touching on the wood chips.
So I just read a reputable grower say that wood chips will keep soil wet longer when used in another thread.
Is this true? I don't believe this was said here on this thread.
If it is true how can you argue ffof would be similar to other soils in creating a happy environment for fg's?
Sounds to me that if wood chips keep soil damp longer the argument still appears the same to me. The people that can't control fg's in ffof just haven't learned how to grow in it. (no but hurt intended) just calling it like I see it.

 

[Chunky Stool]

I posted the above on the last page.
Why blood meal versus other amendment?
In my article link above they mention compost also.
Is there a list of certain other amendments that draw them or make them happier than others?

Bugs aren't fond of neem seed meal.
I mix it with my scraps for the worm bin to keep bugs under control. Smothering the surface helps a lot too. I use wet newspaper to blanket the bedding in my bin.

 

[Chunky Stool]

I was about to add this the moment your post appeared:

I do not believe my quetions in previous posts about ffof got any responces regarding the wood chips in ffof causing more problems versus other soils.
Great answers but not touching on the wood chips.
So I just read a reputable grower say that wood chips will keep soil wet longer when used in another thread.
Is this true? I don't believe this was said here on this thread.
If it is true how can you argue ffof would be similar to other soils in creating a happy environment for fg's?
Sounds to me that if wood chips keep soil damp longer the argument still appears the same to me. The people that can't control fg's in ffof just haven't learned how to grow in it. (no but hurt intended) just calling it like I see it.

Don't be a condescending dickhole.

 

[MichiganMedGrower]

I was about to add this the moment your post appeared:

I do not believe my quetions in previous posts about ffof got any responces regarding the wood chips in ffof causing more problems versus other soils.
Great answers but not touching on the wood chips.
So I just read a reputable grower say that wood chips will keep soil wet longer when used in another thread.
Is this true? I don't believe this was said here on this thread.
If it is true how can you argue ffof would be similar to other soils in creating a happy environment for fg's?
Sounds to me that if wood chips keep soil damp longer the argument still appears the same to me. The people that can't control fg's in ffof just haven't learned how to grow in it. (no but hurt intended) just calling it like I see it.

With perlite added to equal the consistency of pro mix Hp approximately Ocean Forest dries the same amount of time in my room as the pro mix.

Without the extra perlite it has worse drainage so it holds water longer. But I think it is the worm castings that hold more water. The bark seems to dry out first.

 

[Buba Blend]

With perlite added to equal the consistency of pro mix Hp approximately Ocean Forest dries the same amount of time in my room as the pro mix.

Without the extra perlite it has worse drainage so it holds water longer. But I think it is the worm castings that hold more water. The bark seems to dry out first.

Dumb Buba question wood chips and bark are the same right?
So do you agree or disagree with this:
wood chips keep soil moist for longer?

 

[Dynamo626]

Wood chips keep the soil damp longer if used as a multch. Slows surfice evaporation. It takes wood a long time submerged to absorb water. The chips in ffof thurly water to 100% runoff and break a chip in half. Its only moist on the outside and dry as a bone in the middle

 

[Dynamo626]

Don't be a condescending dickhole.

Ya what he said lol

 

[Buba Blend]

Wood chips keep the soil damp longer if used as a multch. Slows surfice evaporation. It takes wood a long time submerged to absorb water. The chips in ffof thurly water to 100% runoff and break a chip in half. Its only moist on the outside and dry as a bone in the middle

Has me thinking now. Next grow I was planning to go water only daily on a few plants in flower, Experimenting with @Dr. Who"s style of watering. I was going to use amended ffof that has been recycled a couple of times. Now I am thinking I need to try a couple with the amended ffof and a couple with a soil that has no chips in it.

 

[Dynamo626]

Dumb Buba question wood chips and bark are the same right?
So do you agree or disagree with this:
wood chips keep soil moist for longer?

I would think woodchips add drainage as water is more likley to run around wood than be absorbed. Take all the wood out and the mix is much heavier

 

[Buba Blend]

Don't be a condescending dickhole.

Not surprised to hear that, still see it the same way, guess I should have softened it.

 

[Dynamo626]

Has me thinking now. Next grow I was planning to go water only daily on a few plants in flower, Experimenting with @Dr. Who"s style of watering. I was going to use amended ffof that has been recycled a couple of times. Now I am thinking I need to try a couple with the amended ffof and a couple with a soil that has no chips in it.

Let us know the results pls

 

[MichiganMedGrower]

Dumb Buba question wood chips and bark are the same right?
So do you agree or disagree with this:
wood chips keep soil moist for longer?

Yes the wood chips and bark are the same. Ocean forest is mostly composted bark and peat.

And no. I think the wood dries out with the peat and rest of the mix the same or maybe faster.

But drainage and aeration is key and ocean forest is too dense for my liking straight out of the bag.

That is what keeps it wet longer. And brings the gnats.