buggggssss!!!!???? any suggestions..?

2 kinds of bugs i found last night 1 is 1 plans soil is covered in these might looking things..... like the size of fleas.... and the other is really little baby flies.... now i used horse shit for soil nutes drainage and compost so i am sure the flies came from there and i know flies dont hurt plants.... what about these mite looking things.... what can i use that wont hurt me or the plants?

ok plenty people looking some one say something cause these little might looking things have spread to my whole closet over night.....i didnt see them till i watered last night can i use pestacides and not affect the plants...?

My suggestion is to look all over this site and find something. also, any pesticides for tomatoes should be your best bet

the best thing i've found is diatomaceous earth. here's a link to a random site with more info... www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

i dont know what d- earth does exactly but i do know that my dad puts that stuff in his pool to keep the plaster white. Id be weary about putting that shit on my plants...

look up dannygreeneyes he knows alot about mites

lol, Hi Growman, small world.

John, first thing you have to do is identify it. I haven't run across any info on mites that are as big as fleas, adults are normally the size of a pin head. And ticks look a lot like mites, so be carefull.

There are 6,000 types of mites though, so I guess there might be a big one in the group. I don't know much about ticks, but if they're mites you can use insecticides or suffocants. Mites develop immunities quickly, so in my opinion suffocants are a more sure way, and they're organic using oils to suffocate the mites. You can find various brands at you local hardware store or nursery. Neem Oil suffocants seem to be very popular, just read the ingredients till you find one with Neem Oil, or some other type of oil.

If you want to use insecticides, I've heard good things about Flora-Mite, but it's on the expensive side. There are a lot of other ones on the market, again you just have to read the ingredients. You can find them also at hardware stores & nurseries.

Whether you use suffocants, insecticides, or both, you'll want to treat at least 3 times, 1 week apart from each other. If you're using insecticides you'll want to use a different one each time (different main ingredient in the ingredients). If you use a suffocant you might be able to get away using the same stuff all 3 times, but I'd suggest being on the safe side and using at least 2.

If you have the money you can also get predatory bugs, there are several. Predatory mites have to colonize before they'll take them out, so it can be weeks. But Mite Destroyers & Pirate Bugs work quicker. You can get them at your local nursery or grow store. They're expensive though, and they die from starvation after the mites are gone.

For prevention, you need to put a screen over your intake. Mite/thrip screens are best but stockings will work in a pinch.

Lady Bugs also make a good preventative measure. Mites wont nest where predators are present. But Lady Bugs aren't 100%. It is safe to use suffocants arround them though which is a plus. They'll keep the count down so your treatments will be more successful. Even with the lady bugs you'll still want to treat 3 times minimum.

Now there is a chance that they're not mites. Can you post a pic? If not, check this thread out and see if you see something that looks like what you have. https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/216537-self-diagnose-your-plants.html And if you don't have a microscope yet, get to radio shack and pick up a cheap one at least ($10). Make sure it's at least 60x magnification.

Also, white flies & fungus gnats can be destructive to your plants. Make sure your flies aren't either one of those.

thanks danny boy....i dont think my camera is good enough to capture these little shits..... annother thing i noticed..i read some where to put red pepper around your plants to repel bugs...i put it all around one of my least fav plants and MOST of them moved to the next pot... also i never see them on my plants(and i watch them "grow" enough to know) they are in the dirt and you only see them come out when you water or bump the planter pot. occassionaly youll see one wondering around but they never get to go back and tell whats out there cause they get squieshed, they actually hard to kill with your finger, and im talking a small flea not fleazilla.....lol thanks


oh yeah my plants look healthy(not growing as fast as I want) but i dont think these bugs are harming the plant, and the flies are baby house flies out of my horse shit compost....

johnathandoe said:

thanks danny boy....i dont think my camera is good enough to capture these little shits..... annother thing i noticed..i read some where to put red pepper around your plants to repel bugs...i put it all around one of my least fav plants and MOST of them moved to the next pot... also i never see them on my plants(and i watch them "grow" enough to know) they are in the dirt and you only see them come out when you water or bump the planter pot. occassionaly youll see one wondering around but they never get to go back and tell whats out there cause they get squieshed, they actually hard to kill with your finger, and im talking a small flea not fleazilla.....lol thanks


oh yeah my plants look healthy(not growing as fast as I want) but i dont think these bugs are harming the plant, and the flies are baby house flies out of my horse shit compost....

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The good news is what you're describing isn't mites. If you look under the leaves you would see mites starting with the lowest leaves first. They could be a lot of things though.

They might be causing the stunted growth if they're chewing on your roots or stealing nutes out of the soil.

It's probably best to pick up a cheap microscope from Radio Shack, or if you have the extra cash picking up a microscope that hooks up to your computer so you can take microscopic pics. If you can post pics I can probably ID it for you, if not you'll probably be able to ID it yourself using that link I posted.

I can't even tell you if they're hurting your plants before I know what they are. They could be Spring Tails which from what I understand are beneficial to your plants.

Also watch the house flies. They may not hurt your plant, but their larvae might eat roots and definately eat nutes right out of the soil. At this point the best thing is to cover the soil with a 1 or 2 inch layer of soil so the flies can't lay eggs in the soil. I'm not sure if they can lay eggs in the sand or not, but it's better than nothing.

And on your next grow I really wouldn't suggest using raw maneur. Home Depot has a pretty cheap soil with compost, just don't buy the cheapest stuff or you might get bugs from it. Raw maneur has to be....... steralized for lack of a better term, to make sure you don't get bugs or molds, mildew, etc...

Also, a flush probably wouldn't be a bad idea to flush out any unhatched eggs.