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    To Bee or Gnat to Bee....

    Not been at it long, but I know there are 3 kinds of growers.
    Those who have dealt with fungus gnats, those who are dealing with fungus gnats, and those who will deal with them.
    If this was a horror movie, I would have been picked off early, lol.

    The good news is they are not happening in an actively growing grow. Was tending my infants last week and saw one bug. Only one, just buzzing around the light.
    Drat. Already? Where there is one, there are bound to be more.
    Yellow card, and before I had the twisty-tie twisted, several gnats kamakazi'd onto it, and I'd snagged a healthy leaf. Unwieldy thing when the fan catches it just right. (I came up with a hack for that)

    I had some Mammoth CannaControl on hand, and treated half of the 4" pots to make sure I wasn't going to kill the plants, too. The operation isn't a success if the patient dies. The other half were treated 4 days later. It didn't kill the plants, but it didn't kill the bugs either. It slowed them down some, but now they appear to be faster, stronger and there are more of them. One held up a small sign asking for "more, please."
    Kidding, but it didn't wipe them out. Also not a big fan of thyme, at least not anymore. Since CannaControl can also be used for WPM, and those directions say to only spray when the plant isn't going to get any light for several hours, kept the lights off for a cycle in case I spilled. Turned 'em back on 10 hrs later. Fk me. Bugs were putting up tarps and building fires.

    Gnatrol BTI has been ordered. I prefer to have another bug do my wet-work

    How long should I treat the 4" pots with BTI before they transplant into the next size up?

    My plan (hahahaha, plan...now there's a funny word...) was to pop a couple of the babies into 1-gal containers and get them ready to rage-veg in my now-idle 2x4x5, just to see what they do. I'm not going to do that now, because it's like tracking mud from one room to another. How long should I wait before I put the BTI treated plants into the larger tent?

    The plants will eventually end up in 5-gal containers. I am wondering if putting only the babies that I want to veg next into the larger 1 gal pots - but keeping them in the infected tent until the gnats are completely beaten back - or should I leave them all in the 4" pots until every bug in the tent is dead? I am in a low-stealth situation and am not under any time constraints, except I have to grow more if I don't want to buy it any more.

    Included some cool shots from outdoors last night...I thought "What a strange place for a honeybee to throw in the towel"...
    Enlarge pics 2 and 3 and you'll have nightmares for a week, may-bee a month.
    Last edited by AccidentalGardener; 08-07-2020, 03:08 PM. Reason: corrected for photo

    #2
    Pollen overload OD ? I have soil knats come out of newly potted plants but they die can't tell you why i don't spray at all they just go away after a time.
    Smoke Ganja create Peace Respect Nature don't trash the Planet

    Soil grower with coco/perlite mixed in
    indoor/outdoor grower
    1 36"x36"x66" tent- Viparspectra P2500
    1 3x3x6 tent- used in late spring for seedlings both veggies & weed. I have 2 viparspectar 450r for that tent.
    I use a t-5 & 54watt CFL for seedlings
    Sometimes i use plastic sometimes i use fabric grow containers
    Currently using fish/guano during veg growth & FF Grow Big 6-4-4 teens to bloom. Once i see pre-flower i switch to
    Age Old Organics Bloom 5-10-5

    Comment


    • AccidentalGardener
      AccidentalGardener commented
      Editing a comment
      there's a white spider lurking in the white cosmos. bee never knew what hit it!

    #3
    Ohhh bummer for the bee. I just purchased some gorilla glue & wedding cake fem. photo seeds and a few auto flower seeds to mix up the auto grows a tad more. Should get them less than 10days. Do you have seeds?
    Smoke Ganja create Peace Respect Nature don't trash the Planet

    Soil grower with coco/perlite mixed in
    indoor/outdoor grower
    1 36"x36"x66" tent- Viparspectra P2500
    1 3x3x6 tent- used in late spring for seedlings both veggies & weed. I have 2 viparspectar 450r for that tent.
    I use a t-5 & 54watt CFL for seedlings
    Sometimes i use plastic sometimes i use fabric grow containers
    Currently using fish/guano during veg growth & FF Grow Big 6-4-4 teens to bloom. Once i see pre-flower i switch to
    Age Old Organics Bloom 5-10-5

    Comment


    • AccidentalGardener
      AccidentalGardener commented
      Editing a comment
      I was pretty bummed for the bee, but everyone's gotta eat
      Can I dm you?

    #4
    Have you tried diatomaceous earth? I mix it with my potting soil before I plant and I've not had issues since. In the past I have sprinkled it over the top of my infested soil and that worked to control the problem. Sticky cards are a good way to determine how well it's working and if you have any other pests you may be unaware of.

    Comment


    • AccidentalGardener
      AccidentalGardener commented
      Editing a comment
      I like the idea of mixing it in the soil. I might try it all. The tutorial says food-grade and I only know about using it in a pool filter from my Ago. Would other DE work? We're not eating it.

    • crucialbunny
      crucialbunny commented
      Editing a comment
      I buy the stuff in the garden section. There are no additives so it's nothing but fossilized diatoms.

    #5
    I think I have fungus gnats...and they seem to pop up whenever I add "new" soil (transplanting a clone or topping off the pot). My living soil has been stored in the garage--not by choice--so I suspect it may have become infested somehow. I did do diluted hydrogen peroxide at the root zone until I realized that might not be the best thing with living soil. Next idea is nematodes if I can find them.
    Last edited by WeirdWiredWolf; 08-07-2020, 07:51 PM.
    ****tent (2x4) and large light (Relassy 300W LED) is in storage for now until I can solve some household electrical issues****

    CoM Stonington Blend soil, distilled water; Liquid Squid amendment if needed, molasses for flowering

    "I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up."

    Comment


    • crucialbunny
      crucialbunny commented
      Editing a comment
      I will get periodic flareups of them in my worm compost. I sprinkle a little diatomaceous earth over the top and that seems to control it quickly.

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