Know something about this bug? (+pic)

Hey guys and ladies! I want to thank you firstly for taking the time of day and viewing this thread. So, let's cut straight to the chase. My plants are about 3 weeks away from harvest and about 1 or 2 weeks ago I noticed some little fly-like bugs. They didn't seem to care much for the buds or the leafs. I didn't know where they kept coming from, but today I noticed that they are basically living or doing something in the soil. They CAN fly. Whatever they are doing, they seem to have a rather large interest in the soil and I was wondering if anybody knows whether I should be worried about them destroying the roots or harming the plant in any way.
And if any of you happen to know of anything safe to use in this stage of the plant's life to kill those little bastards, please share, the universe shall reward you.
The only thing I've come up with so far to help in my predicament, is to put some bowls containing a solution of soap and water between the plants. so that whatever bug may stop to rest on the water surface, would fade into oblivion.
I was also thinking of putting sand on top of the soil and see if that is going to help in any way.
Having written all that, please take a look at the pic. I tried for a while to get a decent picture so... I hope it's good enough for some sort of diagnosis.

try hanging fly paper in your room, or possibly make a fly trap with a jar a screen and some sugar water.... good luck though!

-moose

Thank you, Moose, for the advice. Actually, I was going to do the fly paper thing anyway.
Could anybody tell me what (if anything) could be safely used against the larvae potentially in the soil?
What about flushing the soil, does anybody think that could be a good idea or are most larvae water resistant?
And last but not least, could these little fuckers have a devastating impact on my girls? Any new info you give will most definitely be added to your POSITIVE KARMA account. Thanks in advance!

Fungus Gnats
Fungus gnats like to feed on roots of the plants and organic matter. Adults and larvae live in moist, shady areas. The adults lay there eggs on top of the soil, near the base of the stem and takes about 4 days to hatch. The larvae will start by eating the root hairs of the plant then working their way up the plant, Fungus gnats like to eat organic matter so they will be stealing away nutrients from your plants, so its best to get rid of them completely.

If plants are outdoors, check the soil of plants before taking them back indoors for adult gnats or their larvae.

Prevent indoor entry of gnats by making sure there is no open windows open without screens on. Aug is a bad time for them as they are worst that time of the year.

Put sticky traps on the soil surface to trap the gnats

Put potato slices on the surface of the soil. The larvae like it and will be drawn to it.. After about 4 to 5 days, remove the potato slices with the larvae. To get rid of them you can do a lot of things like either use a NO pest strip, neem oil or putting sand on the surface of the soil will suffocate the eggs and get rid of them as well. Tobacco juice kills them, and works well for re-occurrences!

They can be in or on the soil and can fly. In order to get rid of them you can use neem oil, sand on the surface again kills them, and no pest strips catch the ones that fly. A chemical product called Zone works very well and is very powerful and works well in hydro!
Other Products which can be used in hydro and soil are:
Chemicals
Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc's Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum.

extracted from : http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11688

Patlpp, thanks for taking the time to share that with me. I owe you big time.

Does anybody know if a homemade, mild soap spray insecticide is fine to spray on the soil? I remind you once more that I am about 3 weeks away from harvest!
Also, I would like to find out if adding sand on top of the soil in order to suffocate the larvae could potentially have negative repercussions for the plant roots as well. I was thinking that maybe sand would totally impair the oxygenation of the roots. What should I expect? Thanks

OK, so far, what have been proven the most efficient things have been the pots of water and soap solution I put near the plants. the little critters just seem to fly in there. sadly, this does not completely take care of my problem. Because of that, I have also used other methods and will probably try several more. Thus far I have put into application the following:
1. I put potato slices on top of the soil so that they would attract the larvae. I shall remove them in about 4 days.
2. I put sticky fly tape around the room so that whatever little bug may decide to fly around my babies would get stuck.
3. I have placed pots filed with water and a little soap around the room, as I have previously stated it has been the greatest success thus far.
4. I sprayed the room, not the plants (for fear of damaging them), with soap-water solution.
5. I tried being a little creative by putting a bit of honey in small plates and placing those particular plates near the plants, hoping that the little wankers would get stuck in the honey. I was in awe of my success when I saw the first creature fly into the honey. And then, just confirming how funny life is, the little thing just started moving around in the honey (enjoying it probably) and then just flew away as if nothing ever happened. ) Well, I guess I at least get kudos for creativity, right? Jealous people would have you think that it was not creativity, but ignorance that planted the seedling of this idea in my head.

Tomorrow I will sprinkle some dry tobacco on the soil and hopefully see some nice results.

ru trying to stay organic/ecological ? There are killer poisons out there that will rid them but who knows bout the dangers, carcinogens and such....

definitley just water with a teaspoon of soap for every 2 liters, wont affect the plants and is gonna kill the gnat, repeat every 5 or so days as neccesary. Or I hear the Neem oil works pretty well and that's organic...good luck anyways

moose

themoose said:

definitley just water with a teaspoon of soap for every 2 liters, wont affect the plants and is gonna kill the gnat, repeat every 5 or so days as neccesary. Or I hear the Neem oil works pretty well and that's organic...good luck anyways

moose

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Moose, thanks once again for the priceless advice. What I would really like to know though and can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere is if I could spray the solution you mentioned on the soil, not on the leafs of the plants, as the gnats seem not to have any interest at all in anything except the soil and probably the roots.

patlpp said:

ru trying to stay organic/ecological ? There are killer poisons out there that will rid them but who knows bout the dangers, carcinogens and such....

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Yes, I am trying to keep my babies as clean as possible. I don't think I, or anyone for that matter, would enjoy smoking pesticides, right?

youngblood said:

Yes, I am trying to keep my babies as clean as possible. I don't think I, or anyone for that matter, would enjoy smoking pesticides, right?

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That's why grow-your-own is superior. You know what your getting. Neem oil works good . Spay on your soil and cover top with sand. That should do it. They arn't that hard to rid of. Now spider mites is another story.

Its called Azamax dude. Its from Gen Hydro, is OMRI listed, licensed in all 50 states and can be used up to the DAY of harvest. I have used it so far to combat Fungus Gnats, Caterpillars, and some funky beetle thing that IDK what it was...but they're all dead now so who cares!

Azamax is just the active ingredient in Neem Oil...super concentrated. Stuff kills EVERYTHING...100% organic to boot. Check it out: http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/azamax.html <--- No more Gnats

I just wanted to post this pic of a potato on the soil. After just 1 day it's starting to get black around the edges and looks like it's degrading rapidly which kind of makes me think that it is attracting something because this doesn't look like the normal rate at which a potato normally degrades.

youngblood said:

Thank you, Moose, for the advice. Actually, I was going to do the fly paper thing anyway.
Could anybody tell me what (if anything) could be safely used against the larvae potentially in the soil?
What about flushing the soil, does anybody think that could be a good idea or are most larvae water resistant?
And last but not least, could these little fuckers have a devastating impact on my girls? Any new info you give will most definitely be added to your POSITIVE KARMA account. Thanks in advance!

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Fly paper will help keep the adult population down a bit, but in the long run it's not going to help. The damage is mostly done from the larvae as you already seem to have guessed. They chew on your girls roots...get enough of them doing it (doesnt take that long either) and YES they can be damaging to your plants.

Like I said before, look into Azamax or something similar. There are certain kinds of bacteria that actually attack gnats as well, such as bacillus thuringiensis. I think it's in products like Gnatrol etc.

You could also look into beneficial nematodes, which indeed slowed the bastards down in my grow this last run.

Sand on the top of your medium will help suffocate emerging adults. I have heard that they are also attracted to apple cider vinegar.

However, DO NOT go flushing your pots trying to get rid of gnats. They love moisture..it actually attracts them. They feed on organic/decaying matter, and the excess moisture just helps that process along, thus giving them a happier home.

Good luck man, Gnats can be a pain. Still, like mentioned before...nowhere near as bad as spider mites...thats a whole different beast all together.

Statik, firstly, thanks for all the precious advice. The problem with Azamax is that it isn't sold in my country and having it shipped from somewhere else would take at least a week (stone age, right?). So I ordered neem oil from somewhere near here and it should be mine in max. 2 days time. I'll make a nice, concentrated solution from that and spray my babies with it. After that, I,ll cover the surface of the soil with sand, see what happens and hope for the best.

youngblood said:

Statik, firstly, thanks for all the precious advice. The problem with Azamax is that it isn't sold in my country and having it shipped from somewhere else would take at least a week (stone age, right?). So I ordered neem oil from somewhere near here and it should be mine in max. 2 days time. I'll make a nice, concentrated solution from that and spray my babies with it. After that, I,ll cover the surface of the soil with sand, see what happens and hope for the best.

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Ah, didn't realize you were not in the US. The neem will slow them down for sure. However, do not spray your plants with it...you are concerned with the larvae. So use it as a soil drench. Use fly traps for adults.

Also, if you can make sure you get COLD PRESSED Neem. It will be a lot more effective.

If the Neem does not seem to be working out (it slowed them down for me, but thats about it)..look into nematodes like I mentioned before. They really brought my infestation down. I'd only see a few gnats a week after applying them. Takes a couple days to start noticing anything..but they work. You would just apply them right to the soil..they'll take care of adults and larvae both.

Fuck yea i know that guy... Hes the one in my closet...

JN811 said:

Fuck yea i know that guy... Hes the one in my closet...

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AKA:

try neem oil, it seems to slow them down but they are still doing damage to my lower branches. luckily I have tons of foilage so Im not too worried about it at this point. But yea, I have the same gnats.