Flies developing in my tent

[Atriax]

I have basement grow setup, it's very tucked away in a crawl space in a tent so it would be difficult for outside pests to be introduced. however, I was checking them today and I noticed that one or two leaves had a yellow spot and a tiny hole. I also spotted a very tiny fly on one of the leaves. It's smaller than a fruit fly so I guess it's some form of gnat. So far it seems like its just one singular fly that's got into the tent. how do I get rid of it before it causes more problems?

[90Gizmo]

I go after individual insects with a dustbuster. (You have to do something to make sure the collected bugs die and don't crawl out.) I use a fly/sticky strip to go after larger numbers. Good luck.

[Bluey]

Watch moisture levels in your medium and look for the appearance of fungus or green algae on top of your medium..sure to attract gnats.

[Atriax]

Ok. I'm about to pick up some of this

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bonide-Captain-Jack-s-Neem-Oil-32-oz-Ready-to-Use-Spray-Multi-Purpose-Fungicide-Insecticide-and-Miticid-0226/203528194#overlay

I figure spritzing this on the plants and medium should do?

[Rwise]

Dont use this on flowers!

[kingfish]

Makes your weed taste like shit. Like Rwise said:" Don't use during flowering.

[Gingerbeard]

Hold on there Atriax! There is a lot more we should know before making any recommendations. Kind of important stuff.
If you are tucked away somewhere, what is your circulation like? Temperatures? Humidity? Supply and return air for the tent? If you stay in your space and change nothing of your environment, you will only grow more gnats. No matter how much you spritz.
If you are going to spritz in a small crawl space, don't breathe or open your eyes. I don't care how environmental or bio-whatever it is. Poison is poison. If you spray during flowering, you are poisoning your buds.
Soil attracts bugs. Soil often comes with bugs so you don't have to wait long to get them. Since I've grown in coco I have had no medium issues. Might have had spider mites?
Without pictures, your best bet is to go to the GWE website and do some self-diagnosis. We can lead you in better educated directions with more information.

[Atriax]

Circulation should be decent? I have a tent with a fan filter vent. This crawlspace is also where the air and AC system is there along with my room which leads to the rest of the place, I'm unsure of the air supply and return
Temp is 70-76 degrees 50% humidity.
I use coco coir. Also no, I'm not in the flowering stage rn, i have a few more weeks of vegetation to go before I start thinking about flowering.

Not too sure of what can be done outside of the spary and maybe a fruit fly trap. so far the GWE forums and self diagnosis pages say to use the spray

[Atriax]

Hold on there Atriax! There is a lot more we should know before making any recommendations. Kind of important stuff.
If you are tucked away somewhere, what is your circulation like? Temperatures? Humidity? Supply and return air for the tent? If you stay in your space and change nothing of your environment, you will only grow more gnats. No matter how much you spritz.
If you are going to spritz in a small crawl space, don't breathe or open your eyes. I don't care how environmental or bio-whatever it is. Poison is poison. If you spray during flowering, you are poisoning your buds.
Soil attracts bugs. Soil often comes with bugs so you don't have to wait long to get them. Since I've grown in coco I have had no medium issues. Might have had spider mites?
Without pictures, your best bet is to go to the GWE website and do some self-diagnosis. We can lead you in better educated directions with more information.

Here are some pictures.

[Gingerbeard]

Still. Let's talk. I've dabbed, but I think I'm still coherent.
Pictures would be a big help. Your spots and hole could be a number of things. Not necessarily bugs. Also, get a loupe or a camera that can zoom in real good to look for bugs. Underside of leaves seems pretty common to find many bugs.
You said you saw a single insect. I have more insects in my beard and don't give them a thought. If you have one insect, get yellow sticky hanger things people like. They suck fliers pretty good.
What sort of pot are you using? Is the bottom wet?
You said your circulation is a tent vent. Circulation is moving air around and over the plants and soil. Ventilation is getting rid of and replacing air in your tent/grow area. All of that requires fans. Moving the air keeps fliers from landing and a couple other good things.

[Atriax]

Still. Let's talk. I've dabbed, but I think I'm still coherent.
Pictures would be a big help. Your spots and hole could be a number of things. Not necessarily bugs. Also, get a loupe or a camera that can zoom in real good to look for bugs. Underside of leaves seems pretty common to find many bugs.
You said you saw a single insect. I have more insects in my beard and don't give them a thought. If you have one insect, get yellow sticky hanger things people like. They suck fliers pretty good.
What sort of pot are you using? Is the bottom wet?
You said your circulation is a tent vent. Circulation is moving air around and over the plants and soil. Ventilation is getting rid of and replacing air in your tent/grow area. All of that requires fans. Moving the air keeps fliers from landing and a couple other good things.

I'll try and get better picture later.
The type of pots i'm using are 5 gallon fabric pots. the bottoms are slightly damp

[Gingerbeard]

If you go buy spray, buy a yellow stickie. If the stickie doesn't work, use the spray.
Make sure your pots are not on a flat surface. I use chop-sticks to keep mine up.
Sounds like I'm telling you what to do. It's only my personal GWE love.

[Gingerbeard]

Just saw the pictures.
In the first picture I see a brown spot in the lower left. In the second picture I see what looks like a dent. My experience is to keep an eye out for more.
They look like real healthy plants, otherwise. What's the strain?

[Atriax]

Just saw the pictures.
In the first picture I see a brown spot in the lower left. In the second picture I see what looks like a dent. My experience is to keep an eye out for more.
They look like real healthy plants, otherwise. What's the strain?

one is super skunk and the other is Critical x Northern lights. The spots seemed a lot more visible and a bit more of them this morning. maybe this is just an effect of the nutrient flush, and letting the soil dry for a couple of days.

[Gingerbeard]

Did I miss how old your plants are? Why did you flush? Auto, fem, or regular?
Dry soil will give you sagging leaves. Dry too long and they will die. Again, just from the pictures, you have happy plants. I keep a check on the weight of my pots and water when I feel they are completely dry. I get sagging leaves that perk up when water happens.

[Atriax]

Did I miss how old your plants are? Why did you flush? Auto, fem, or regular?
Dry soil will give you sagging leaves. Dry too long and they will die. Again, just from the pictures, you have happy plants. I keep a check on the weight of my pots and water when I feel they are completely dry. I get sagging leaves that perk up when water happens.

The plants are a little under a month old, still vegetating. the Crit lights is autoflower and the skunk is feminized . I flushed because I was overwatering and went too heavy on the nutrient ratio with the last batch and started getting nutrient burn. So to remedy that I aired out the soil and flushed with ph'ed water with no nutes. The topsoil is noticably getting dry so in a day or two i'll be resuming watering with nutes.

My setup is basically GWEs beginner guide, a 150w lamp, 5-6 ph water + dynagrow nutrients. 70-76 F 50% humidity, an internal rotating fan (forgot to mention the fan), and I attached a clip speaker inside the tent to pipe in music.

[Bluey]

......

and I attached a clip speaker inside the tent to pipe in music.

Be careful with this. Even a small amount of Country & Western can have devastating consequences.