whats the deal with gnats

[stully]

I am in the first few days of veg and I am using an organic potting medium. I have noticed alot of gnats or little flying ant looking things. is this going to harm my plants.

 

[ArtVandolay]

I have some little flying thingies in my box, too. Most importantly nothing is eating my plants, though. I'm going to buy a few of those no pest strips this week.

 

[MindzEye]

Yes they will harm plants, they lay eggs in the soil and the larve feed on your plants roots... Letting the soil dry completly between waterings help, so does a fan blowing on your plants... The instant cure is to put a 2 in layer of sand on top of the soil, they will be gone overnight.

Gnats can be a sign of overwatering...

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

They are most likely not going to do anything but be annoying. The larva of the bugs I'm thinking of do not eat roots. If I get little flying bugs, I sprinkle some mosquito dunk stuff on my soil. The stuff I use looks like saw dust and contains Bt. I reuse my soil so putting a layer of stuff on top like sand or DE didn't appeal to me. The gnat larva are in the soil they hatch and emerge. They like the moist soil so I try not to overwater and I put the cabinet circulating fan at the soil level to dry the top layer of soil.

 

[MindzEye]

FUNGUS GNATS lay eggs larve feeds on roots, you can choose to listen or not...

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

Sorry, not.

 

[mrkingford]

I had those at veg. also, just breifly though and i killed each one i saw, they were gone in 3-4 days, but i agree when the fan was ON, blowing at the plants there were NO knats, but when it was off, there they were.

I don't know about laying eggs, but i would think different parts of the country/world would yeild different type of knats and possibly one eats more roots than another, either way i think it's still best to get rid of them since they can be NO benefit to the MJ but possibly a problem.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi,

Are you watering a bit too much? I'm with Mindzeye that the best prevention is letting the top of your soil surface thoroughly dry out between waterings... I let the top couple of inches get pretty dry in my 10 gal pots. An important thing to keep in mind is overwatering means watering too often. It doesn't mean giving them plenty of water when they NEED it and a little runoff is a good thing.

And you want good air movement in your garden at the soil surface. If your fan is positioned high in the garden and the air stagnates at the soil surface it is much more inviting to pests. You want air to move freely across the soil surface and this also helps avoid other things like stem root.

If you have a lot of problems with gnats you can use a product called Gnatrol... it's safe for veggies and cannabis... and humans... just give it a good swig and they won't bother you any more!

CONTROL: Gnatrol (TM) is a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis , which attacks only fungus gnats. The bacteria are mixed in water and applied to the medium three times a week. The bacterium kill the larvae so the gnats are eliminated over several weeks.

Peace!

 

[stully]

i think you r right i had a seed that didnt sprout and when i dumped iy out, it looked like a little maggot was eating the seed

 

[MindzEye]

Sorry, not.

here you go how much proof do you want? All it takes is a little reading to learn about the critters living in your soil, you obviosly havnt done any reading on the subject but yet your saying Im wrong about a subject you obviously know nothing about

Fungus gnats are those little hopping bugs you see when you water your indoor plants. They are 1/32 to 1/50 inches with black or gray bodies and clear wings. Plants grown under cover are most susceptible. The larvae feed on dead roots and leaves, but sometimes consume tender new roots.
taken from hxxp://www.ehow.com/how_9360_control-fungus-gnats.html

Adult fungus gnats are mostly an annoyance, but the larva can do damage to young plants and seedlings by feeding on the new, tender roots. It is also thought that they feed on the developing callus of cuttings, delaying the development of new roots.

Their feeding stresses the plants and provides an entryway for disease pathogens. The first symptom of damage is usually wilting, followed by general decline of the plant.
taken from hxxp://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/FungusGnats.htm

The term, fungus gnat, applies to a number of species in the insect order Diptera, family Sciaridae (dark winged fungus gnat species Bradysia coprophila, impatiens and paupera). Fungus gnat adults are a nuisance to greenhouse operators, interiorscapers as well as consumers. The larval stages can damage healthy roots, stunting or killing young plants even where there is no fungal food source (Lindquist 1994). Prolonged infestations may cause stunted, off-colored plants or foliage (Cole 1985). Damage may actually be more severe to young plants when the potting media or soil has been sterilized. Fungus gnat larvae may also aid in the introduction and spread of plant diseases such as Pythium, Verticillium, Cylindrocladium, Scelerotinia and Theila-viopsis.

taken from hxxp://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/uc/uc-028.html

How much more proof do you want?

 

[mrkingford]

Mindzeye;

when your right, your right, thank you for the knowledge.

 

[stully]

so i guess the first thing i need to do is get the plants out of plastic. Does everybody agree? and get some air circulating. then tomorrow i'll put something in the soil to kill them

 

[MindzEye]

so i guess the first thing i need to do is get the plants out of plastic. Does everybody agree? and get some air circulating. then tomorrow i'll put something in the soil to kill them

All you have to do is put a layer of dry sand over the top of your soil, no removing from containers, no chemicals...

I dont like to use play sand because you cant water through it, I go to home depot in the masonary/concrete section you will find medium grade sand, thats what I use, water goes right through it... a 50# bag is $10

 

[MindzEye]

Mindzeye;

when your right, your right, thank you for the knowledge.

Thx man, Im not like some people on this board that gives advise to people on subjects I know nothing about... If I dont know then I dont comment...