Bugs?? Neam Oil?

I just recently installed a 4" inline fan with a carbon filter to pull hot air from the top of my tent. I've opened small screened windows on the bottom of my tent to pull air in from there & the fan only runs when the temperature goes above 79F+. Now that my tent is pulling in external air, I suspect that the 1 -2 small flying bugs I've seen in my tent could have had help getting in being near the zipper opening & even got sucked in.

That being said I'm not totally freaking out(yet). I have sprayed neam oil twice this last week just in case & this week is also the 1st time I've seen a bug in the tent.

What suggestions do you have on keeping bugs out or mitigating their influence in my tent? I'm nearing the switch to flower & have heard not to use neam oil near buds etc.

Not the fan as a bug didn't make it threw the filter if it did you need to tape something up better. Probably mold gnats would check your drains in the house and any potted plants that's probably where they came from. If it's mold gnats its debatable weather they will harm the plants or not i use Azamax it's neam oil but has something in it to make it more water soluble. Bleach works ok in drains if that's where they are coming from. If you have them good luck my place i have a constant battle with the things, I get rid of them and then for some reason they keep getting back in my bathroom sink drain. They will lay eggs in your media if conditions are right then you get like little magots looking things then the gnats HATE THEM!!!! IF you buy a house plant ffroma sotre or flowers with soil you can bring them in that way. No clue how they keep coming back to my bathroom there is a little crack in the screen and i leave the window open sometimes not sure.

https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/fungus-gnat-control/ Hate those things!

My tent is outside on my back porch though. It's been pretty cold here in Nor Cal up until this point so no bugs at all. My only thought is that the bugs got in via the small opening between where the 2 bottom zippers come together & that if they were to get there & the fan was running it'd sort of pull them in.

I have a 2x4x5 tent. I have a Inkbird controller(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019Q3K4EI) keeping the temperature around 77F w/lights on & 69F when off. I also have a 30 pint dehumidifier keeping the RH at 65-70%(with fan off, when on it drops to 40-50%). That being said I'm very happy with what I see as a perfect environment & my plants are loving it!

I will see about trying to even better seal my tent from bugs getting in but aside from using neam oil while in veg what can I do once I flip to 12/12 to fend off pests?

Btw I also have an inch of hydroton on top of my soil that helps with evaporation but I've heard it also helps keep pests from making a home in the top layers of soil?

Thanks again!

Can use Method 1, Azamax or Neam oil until second week of flower i think for the top of the soil could use diatomaceous earth http://diatomaceous.org/ but if soil imagin your top feeding and diatomaceous earth isn't very effective if wet. Outside i would ask the no till guys for some advice as really you need to make the conditions right so the environment takes care of the pest. No clue on that though sorry that's why i'm inside lol if you can seal the back porch that would probably be the best idea unless you plan on sticking the plants in the ground later

Method 1 https://growth-e-tech.com/product/method-1-pps-16oz/
Azamx https://www.planetnatural.com/product/azamax-azadirachtin/

I've even considered something like the BioWave: http://www.greenstategardener.com/biowave-subsonic-harmonic-emitter-dl-9200?gclid=CLfW4vql8tECFdRyfgodNAkCYA

Except for paying $1800. I might be able to build something myself or I've even heard that those ultrasound cleaning devices will keep pests away really well. Thoughts?

Captain jacks spinosad.

whitebb2727 said:

Captain jacks spinosad.

Click to expand...

Do/can I use it in flower?

Not really supposed to use anything in flower unless your ok with smoking whatever it is... Some say you can use Azamax or Method 1 in flower... Think i would let lose the predatory mites http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-mites?gclid=Cj0KEQiAzsvEBRDEluzk96e4rqABEiQAezEOoAMDoYjnIUpX0jRGJyfIBkAfAsgPSWYOjTkXnGlJMNkaAiV58P8HAQ or just chop it and figure out were the critters came from and eliminate the problem next time. Not sure about you but I don't want to smoke any pesticides organic or not!

Please don't be one of those @55 holes selling pesticide infused buds plenty of them already

siforek said:

Do/can I use it in flower?

Click to expand...

Yes. It is a harmless bacteria to humans. It is safe on food stuff up to harvest.

I wouldn't use it the last couple weeks.

You can also add it to water for systemic effect.

All this is documented in my thread. Only a couple treatments to wipe mites out. Haven't seen them since.

Yeah if you are outside insects are doing ninja warrior to get Into Paradise.
Sticky fly tape.
Those bug vapor strips that you stick above the lights.
Counter planting with sheet bugs hate, like cilantro etc.
Make a blood sacrifice to the volcano god to burn the pestilence away...

I got a few sticky traps in there & after a couple days caught 5-10 of them. They look like gnats for sure. I've also sprayed neam oil a few times & it's seemed to help in that there seems to be no adverse effect from the gnats on the plants BUT I know I have to hit this problem hard ASAP!

While most seem gone I did see 1 buzzing around today. If the hydroton layer hasn't kept them away from the top layer of soil this could be a pretty bad problem sooner than later. I was going to flip to 12/12 tomorrow but need to handle this first. What can I do to wipe these fuckers off the earth & keep them from ever coming back?

siforek said:

I got a few sticky traps in there & after a couple days caught 5-10 of them. They look like gnats for sure. I've also sprayed neam oil a few times & it's seemed to help in that there seems to be no adverse effect from the gnats on the plants BUT I know I have to hit this problem hard ASAP!

While most seem gone I did see 1 buzzing around today. If the hydroton layer hasn't kept them away from the top layer of soil this could be a pretty bad problem sooner than later. I was going to flip to 12/12 tomorrow but need to handle this first. What can I do to wipe these fuckers off the earth & keep them from ever coming back?

Click to expand...

You could amend some insect frass into soil or top soil. That will make the plants go into self defense mode and produce oils and sheet to run off the gnats.

Water neem oil into soil a little bit.

Bug zapper outside tent.

Vapor strips around area.

Home defense spray exterior area create a DMZ.

Off the top of my head.

My understanding is that if I prevent them from laying eggs in the soil they'll eventually go away. Do Vapor strips work any better than just the sticky traps?

siforek said:

What can I do to wipe these fuckers off the earth & keep them from ever coming back?

Click to expand...

If you figure out how to get rid of them for good let me know! So far i'm at 1 week with no gnats use Azamax in my nutrients when they show up so my medium gets it. Use to put it in my rez when i was messing with DWC. Then I pour the runoff (or res water when i changed it) down my bathroom drain. They get wiped out every time but somehow seem to get back in my bathroom drain then in my plants hate those things. Have even poured straight bleach down my bathroom drain and they still came back! No clue what the deal is with that drain but those bastards love it

It seems to me long term the best method would be to put a layer on top of the soil that prevents eggs being laid. I'm looking at some Diatomaceous Earth, maybe Mosquito Dunks or just some perlite. I do fairly well to keep my top layer of soil dry & don't overwater but no matter that the top layer will inevitably be moist the 1st day after I water.

siforek said:

My understanding is that if I prevent them from laying eggs in the soil they'll eventually go away. Do Vapor strips work any better than just the sticky traps?

Click to expand...

Strips is just an overlap treatment, because 2 is 1 and 1 is none...

I haven't studied fungus gnats to hard but if like other nuiceince fly types, gotta find their protein source (sugars) (fruits) etc. and obliterate it. Neem will wipe out the breeding grounds and eggs. @Morth too.

So it's cool to spray a bunch of neam oil on the top layer of soil? I'm thinking of doing that & then throwing down a layer of perlite over top.

siforek said:

So it's cool to spray a bunch of neam oil on the top layer of soil? I'm thinking of doing that & then throwing down a layer of perlite over top.

Click to expand...

Yeah you can. I add it to nutes sometimes. Just use light to medium dosages. I have not needed full strength yet and had a real life mealy bug problem last summer

Cool. I added a couple more sticky traps, 1 for each plant, sprayed a bunch of neem oil over the top of the medium, mostly on the hydroton but should be enough to keep them from trying to get to the soil.

Thanks again!