Flying Insects?

Hi all, not sure how big of a problem this is because I only saw 2 or 3 of what looked like gnats but they were so small I, really couldn't see them. They were just about the same size as a gnat and flew just like one but my grow room is a closet in my house so I'm not sure how this got started or if it is something to worry about or just a passing incident?

Not a profesional but ive seen them in my grow closet before, never harmed my plants, i squashed the ones i could and i sprayed my plants lightly with all organic bug shit. I wouldnt worry much if i were you

Are they on the plant and on the top soil?

billy joe said:

Are they on the plant and on the top soil?

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I saw them flying around the lights near my biggest plant but didn't actually see any on any of the plants, just near the lights. They look like the 'Fruit Flys' that you sometimes see hovering around bananas or something like that.

Put a Hot Shot No Pest strip in there it will kill them off in no time. worked for me . check the top soil and see if there crawling on it too

billy joe said:

Put a Hot Shot No Pest strip in there it will kill them off in no time. worked for me . check the top soil and see if there crawling on it too

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I can say from experience this works. they are not detrimental to the plant at all, just annoying as shit.. get the sticky strip

SquishMitten said:

I can say from experience this works. they are not detrimental to the plant at all, just annoying as shit.. get the sticky strip

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Cool, thanks guys, what the hell are they?

Little gnats? I thought they were flies but they're not.. didn't have a fly in the house and I let those things hang around for a good month or so before I finally bought the strip..

They literally came with the soil I bought.. which was weird. Like every time I would open the bag of soil a plume of about 30 of those things would come out... fucking grimy.

I assume they have eggs in the soil.

Yes they do come from the soil, if there in your soil along with your plant you can kill them with a 1/4-1/2" of play sand on top soil. .when the gnats hatch the sand cuts there bodies and kills them

They feed on the organic soil and then start eating roots

They are fungus gnats. I get them when something in the kitchen (fruit usually) is left out after cooking and gets some mold on it. They migrate to the closet where spores they collect on their bodies are then planted in your media. This mold then grows on the top of the media (they are basically mold farmers) and they lay their eggs in the dirt. Their larvae eat the roots until they are mature enough to eat the mold.

Get yourself some fungicide just to be safe. Spray the top of the media. And yeah, those Hot Shot Pest Strips will do the trick in just a few days. I've gone from infested to zero in 4 days before with one of those.

Snow Crash said:

They are fungus gnats. I get them when something in the kitchen (fruit usually) is left out after cooking and gets some mold on it. They migrate to the closet where spores they collect on their bodies are then planted in your media. This mold then grows on the top of the media (they are basically mold farmers) and they lay their eggs in the dirt. Their larvae eat the roots until they are mature enough to eat the mold.

Get yourself some fungicide just to be safe. Spray the top of the media. And yeah, those Hot Shot Pest Strips will do the trick in just a few days. I've gone from infested to zero in 4 days before with one of those.

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Kool, I will do that. Can you recommend a brand for the fungicide? I have no idea what to get?

I use Safers brand. They are all basically just sulfur and water though.

billy joe said:

Yes they do come from the soil, if there in your soil along with your plant you can kill them with a 1/4-1/2" of play sand on top soil. .when the gnats hatch the sand cuts there bodies and kills them

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your right they are nasty mother fuckers, but they won't hurt the plants? Will the sand do any harm to the plants?

i think the spray works better han the sand. easier, less messy. just lightly spray the soil every day for a few days and get the bottom of the pot good, i think thats were aloot hang out, around the drain holes. if you use sand just make it a thin layer. i thought it made my plant look more tropical with sand haha like a palm weed tree.
i just noticed in fox farm oceanforest there have been tiny bugs in there, but there almost impossible to see there so small, and i find out there preditor bugs. so if i were to ever have a gnat pron or w/e those other bugs will take care of it. its still kinda weird tho knoing theres actually bugs in there