wfatjonw9745
Active Member
These bugs appeared a few weeks ago, i think their knats but their small black bugs. I heard organic garlic powder works and it wont kill your plant. has anyone tried this before? Or have any ideas?
Bugs in the soil
- Thread starter wfatjonw9745
- Start date
mockingbird131313
Well-Known Member
Several flower & vegitable sprays are available that kill 100+ creatures. They come in spray bottles at Lowes for $5. All of them are pretty good.
HippiePower
Well-Known Member
will they hurt the plant...im just curious?
mockingbird131313
Well-Known Member
Right! Lady bugs are available at all the 7-Elevans where I live. If they are not easily available near you then try spraying the soil with Ortho - Max. Lowes $5. Otherwise, your plants will be eaten before the postman delivers your lady bugs.
~*KushSmoker27*~
Active Member
will ortho-max hurt the plant?
imthemedic
Well-Known Member
Lady bugs are best, but Neem oil is great and all organic. Its made from Indian trees and will not hurt your plant or effect the taste. Several people use it on this site so you have no worries.
mockingbird131313
Well-Known Member
I tried to say "no", but the RIU service won't allow an answer that short. But, now that I have wasted a few lines with nothing of value, and the server is very happy, let me start over.
No.
mockingbird131313
Well-Known Member
I do not think there is a an issue with spraying the soil with a chem-prep. But, I would like to try Neem oil myself. Where is it available? I have never seen it anywhere.
~*KushSmoker27*~
Active Member
the lady bugs wont eat your plant?
Fungus gnats. The larvae will munch on your roots if you don't kill them, and they'll make more adults of course. Gnatrol, or anything with BTi in it, will kill them but you have to drench the soil a time or two with a strong mix I just fought a battle with these things a couple weeks ago. No info that this will hurt the plants, taste, etc., but to kill the larvae you have to get something down into the soil. Spays on the leaves, etc. won't do anything for the larvae. Once the larvae are gone the adults die in a few days or a week and that's the end of them. Best to treat the soil with BTi before you use it as many commercial potting soils have dormant eggs in them. If you don't get rid of them they can damage the plants via damage to the roots.
-Snake
mockingbird131313
Well-Known Member
Sorry, we may have left some people out of the loop. So let me start over, and try to offer some help.
First, cannabis has a smell that attracts almost all animals and insects. So, I assume you started your grow with seeds indoors. But, bugs, of all sorts, emerge from the soil. Then the bugs decide they have a great host plant and start eating like hell.
Most bugs are herbivores and eat your plants. A few bugs, like lady bugs, are carnivores. They eat other bugs. So it is in your best interest to keep lady bugs, mantises, spiders, and geckos (a reptile) in your grow area to eat all stash-munchers.
Today a new class of insecticides are in place that are designed for flowers, fruits, and vegies. These new products are frequently distilled from tobacco. So, I recommend that you consider spraying the potting soil and base of your plants once a week to keep out all bugs rather than relying on insects to control insects.
If I could plant outdoors I would try for more lady bugs.
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
I'll bet you $1.00 you are using Miracle Grow Organic. Every bag is filthy with gnats just waiting to hatch.
AcitoDaGreat
Active Member
i just wondering what would b a good soil to use bcuz i just bought a bag of Mircale Gro Organic and what is bti and where can i find it
LeRoy JaBluntski
Well-Known Member
just take your soil before you use it and put it in a bowl in the microwave for a minute to a minute and a half until you see some steam coming from it. This will get rid of any living creature that you don't want in there..... just make sure you let it cool down before you plant anything in it.
Picasso345
Well-Known Member
Do you have a local Hydro store? They would have good soil. Online you can buy Fox Farms Ocean Forest from many places which is very popular. I use Pro-Mix from Home Depot. 60% Pro-Mix, 20% Perlite, 20% worm casting, and a SMALL handful of lime.
People seem to have good luck with Miracle Grow Organic aside from the gnats. So if you don't mind/can handle the bugs in it you are fine.
Heating the soil (180-190F) certainly works if you have the time and oven for it and can stink up the house for a while. BTi is available in some form at most hydroponics stores or local garden centers (sold as mosquito larvae killer). Just ask them for it, or order Gnatrol from a web site such as Discount Hydroponics (enter GNATQT in their search box). It's definitely better to kill these things before planting in the soil rather than fighting bugs after your plants are growing.
-Snake
HippiePower
Well-Known Member
no lady bugs eat pests. They are beneficial to plants, which means they both give something to each other. the plant feeds the lady bugs with its bugs trying to eat it, while it gets cleaned up and healthy from pests and other vermon. but dont worry lady bugs rule!!
Ok guys here it is, this is the deal with gnats. The larvae eat decaying material in the soil and usually your roots arent decaying the soil is so they are eating the soil. I am not saying that they wont eat the roots but unless the plant is a seedling or a new clone with not a small root system it wont effect it on a huge scale. In most of my grows i am worried about the plant getting rootbound. And as far as using ladybugs it is not going to work. Lady bugs and all its instars only eat slow moving insects that are on the plants surface. They do not burrow into the soil to eat soil insects(i.e. fungus gnat larvae), nor are they able to move fast enough to catch the adult fungus gnats in order to control them. What is the best control method is to create a barrier of non-organic matter on top of the soil surface so the fungus gnats cant get down into the soil. These products can be bought at your local nursery or landscape supply store. You can use rocks, use about a 1/2" size or smaller. Wash and sterilize the rocks first, then put a layer about 2" or more and leave on until the gnats are gone and then 2 weeks longer, or for continuous control leave on till the end. Also the black filter fabric cut to size works too, but it is harder to cover the soil perfectly and the water doesnt flow through as well as i would like. I have also used filter floss for ponds and aquariums, have better water flow through it but have soil coverage and installation issues. If you try one method and i doesnt work put black filter fabric with a layer of rocks on top. Oh yeah, spider is best bet mantis eats far too much to survive on gnats, it needs meater insects. I consider the spiders on my plants pets, and make sure they stick around until harvest. I hope this helps. Now i need to 
Oh yeah i almost forgot the holes in your pots for drainage, the gnats can fit in through them. That has been the greatest challenge creating a barrier to cover my drainage holes. However the covering of the top layer seems to reduce them drastically. In conjunction with yellow sticky cards and bowls with water in them you should be able to control them very well.