Root Aphids INSIDE My Germinating Seed.

Clumpyoyster

Clumpyoyster

Well-Known Member
I hate to say but if it were me I would scrap it start over, but thats me. Dealing with pests isnt fun and its bullshit you have to by purchasing bad or contaminated mediums. Good luck man sucks balls that happened.
 
An1m0ssity

An1m0ssity

Active Member
Clumpyoyster said:
I hate to say but if it were me I would scrap it start over, but thats me. Dealing with pests isnt fun and its bullshit you have to by purchasing bad or contaminated mediums. Good luck man sucks balls that happened.
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I'd like to tbh, but truth is with xmas right around the corner and having 5 kids with 1 on the way... I won't be able to afford anymore soil atm and there's no way in hell I'm gonna continue using this FF Happy Frog crap with these fungus gnat larvae in it. Just gonna attempt to at least finish this one grow, and then hopefully by then I can buy some new soil. I read that true cinnamon can help control the larvae as well as putting a 1/4-1/2 layer of sand on the top of the medium. Might try those but I'm going down swinging, that's for damn sure.
 
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m99smith

Well-Known Member
Terpenoid said:
Fox farms does come with predatory mites and they will feed on decomposing matter in the absence of prey. If your seed maybe died for some reason that would probably explain you finding them in there. But I don't think they ever look like worms in their life cycle so that could be something else. I use fox farms ocean forest and do notice these mites seem really comfortable chilling on my seedlings, but once a couple leaf sets come out they pretty much stay off
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It sounds like he is dealing with fungus gnat larva they arnt a huge threat to bigger plants but with seedlings or small plants they will completely devour the roots and they look like little white see through worms the larva
 
An1m0ssity

An1m0ssity

Active Member
m99smith said:
It sounds like he is dealing with fungus gnat larva they arnt a huge threat to bigger plants but with seedlings or small plants they will completely devour the roots and they look like little white see through worms the larva
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Oh yeah, they're definitely fungus gnat larvae. It's a good thing my female is old enough and big enough to handle this onslaught because I'm fighting back with everything I have. No way I'm losing my very first plant. Not to some slimy little soil dwelling ass hats. Cheers man.
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

Well-Known Member
An1m0ssity said:
Oh yeah, they're definitely fungus gnat larvae. It's a good thing my female is old enough and big enough to handle this onslaught because I'm fighting back with everything I have. No way I'm losing my very first plant. Not to some slimy little soil dwelling ass hats. Cheers man.
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I like to break up a mosquito dunk and mix it into the bag of soil as soon as I buy it. The first couple waterings I’ll break up a mosquito dunk into the water too. Also beneficial nematodes are a good idea.
 
Frank Nitty

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
An1m0ssity said:
I've taken the liberty of contacting FF directly about the issue, so fingers crossed. Upon searching my lady, I did notice the little buggers in the soil there as well, but no damage whatsoever and nothing on the stems. One thing I did notice, and I was completely blown away and seriously grossed out both at the same time.... I was inspecting the pot *cloth smart pot* and I noticed some little "white hairs" poking out of the pot towards the bottom. I lifted it up and sure as shit, there were fungus gnat larvae squirming in the bottom and going back into the pot through the fabric. Not only do I have these little mite buggers but I have worms too. I made a 1 part peroxide to 4 parts water mix and sprayed the f*ck out of the floor in the whole tent and made sure to even make a good thick puddle underneath where the pot usually sits and just sat the pot in it and let the fabric absorb the mixture. I even sprayed the outside of the pot all the way around as well as the plant and top layer of soil just in case. I waited about 2 minutes and looked under the pot again and the ones that were still on the outside of the pot were no longer moving so the peroxide does in fact kill them pretty much on contact. Not really sure what to do at this point though as even if they are soil mites, they should be fired because they're f*cking slacking on their job. I've made an apple cider vinegar/dish soap mixture in a small bottle with tiny holes in the lid in an attempt to catch any adults lurking about, should there be any. I've got a war on my hands, boys... but I'm not goin down without a fight. LMAO. Also, thanks for the tip on that soil, bud. I'll be taking a look at that next grow. I see now that much like my love for electronics, spending money where it's due is better in the long run. Sucks I didn't see that sooner but ey, gotta fail to learn. I'll keep everyone updated. Cheers!
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Goddamn that SUCKS!!!
 
An1m0ssity

An1m0ssity

Active Member
FresnoFarmer said:
Nope. Just beneficial bacteria. Also beneficial nematodes work. They got me through flowering root aphid and fungus gnat free. Well that and imidacloprid.
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Okay, definitely good to know. I need to start keeping a grow journal to take notes on all this. I'm gonna just suck it up and buy the nematodes. The only problem is, should the mites in the soil in fact be predatory soil mites, won't the nematodes kill them too? If that's what the mites are, they're not doing a very good job tbh.
Terpenoid said:
A good layer of sand works pretty well especially if caught early enough. Nematodes are awesome as well
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I've read here and there that adding a 1/4-1/2 layer of soil on the bottom of the pot and on top of the medium does wonders. I'll have to keep this in mind. Might at the very least do that on the top layer of the medium because I really don't wanna risk disturbing the root growth.
 
FresnoFarmer

FresnoFarmer

Well-Known Member
An1m0ssity said:
Okay, definitely good to know. I need to start keeping a grow journal to take notes on all this. I'm gonna just suck it up and buy the nematodes. The only problem is, should the mites in the soil in fact be predatory soil mites, won't the nematodes kill them too? If that's what the mites are, they're not doing a very good job tbh.
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Idk. The soil mites did a good job of cleaning up dead root aphids but that’s about it. The nematodes are the way to go imo.
 
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Terpenoid

Active Member
The mites are good prevention but can struggle to control an established population. Gnats have gotten to me before too. Half inch of sand on top traps the larvae in there to die and it also blocks any new gnats from getting in the soil
 
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m99smith

Well-Known Member
An1m0ssity said:
Oh yeah, they're definitely fungus gnat larvae. It's a good thing my female is old enough and big enough to handle this onslaught because I'm fighting back with everything I have. No way I'm losing my very first plant. Not to some slimy little soil dwelling ass hats. Cheers man.
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Yeah the larva only do damage to the plants but the adults can lay like 200 eggs a week and have like a 1-2 week life span the feed off fungus like their name states and love moist surfaces make sure befor you water the first inch of soil is dry or add an inch of something that they cant feed on or breed on so something that dosnt stay moist like an inch layer of pebbles or some shit like that and you should be good if you make sure the adults can't breed there the larva will grow up in like 2-4 days and you won't have anymore bugging your plants
 
An1m0ssity

An1m0ssity

Active Member
Terpenoid said:
The mites are good prevention but can struggle to control an established population. Gnats have gotten to me before too. Half inch of sand on top traps the larvae in there to die and it also blocks any new gnats from getting in the soil
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Yeah but like I mentioned before, when I lifted the cloth smart pot, I could see the larvae coming out through the fabric. Were they only doing that because the pot was stationary on the ground and me lifting it disturbed them so they went back inside of it or will they say okay, if I can't leave through the top, I'll just go out the bottom?
 
An1m0ssity

An1m0ssity

Active Member
m99smith said:
Yeah the larva only do damage to the plants but the adults can lay like 200 eggs a week and have like a 1-2 week life span the feed off fungus like their name states and love moist surfaces make sure befor you water the first inch of soil is dry or add an inch of something that they cant feed on or breed on so something that dosnt stay moist like an inch layer of pebbles or some shit like that and you should be good if you make sure the adults can't breed there the larva will grow up in like 2-4 days and you won't have anymore bugging your plants
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I think what I'll do to prevent any further breeding is I'll just bake some sand my kids have in their little sandbox out back to kill anything in it, then layer it a half inch on the top of the medium. I've read you really wanna do this with white sand, but hey... sand is sand as long as it's clean, right?
 
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Terpenoid

Active Member
I also used play sand, its cool. But looking back, when I had fungus gnats I was still using plastic pots. I suppose it'll be a bit more difficult to control in the fabric pots because they can wiggle through. I would try the sand for now since you have it on hand, but you should also look for some backup plans. Like mentioned earlier nematodes are great, I've used them too
 
An1m0ssity

An1m0ssity

Active Member
Terpenoid said:
I also used play sand, its cool. But looking back, when I had fungus gnats I was still using plastic pots. I suppose it'll be a bit more difficult to control in the fabric pots because they can wiggle through. I would try the sand for now since you have it on hand, but you should also look for some backup plans. Like mentioned earlier nematodes are great, I've used them too
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Sounds good. I've got the sand in the oven as we speak. I also *in a panic before really doing a ton of research* decided to place some 3 mil or so nematodes on order. Bad thing is, they won't get here till a week and a half at the latest. Hoping I can keep it in check until then.
 
Frank Nitty

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
Terpenoid said:
The mites are good prevention but can struggle to control an established population. Gnats have gotten to me before too. Half inch of sand on top traps the larvae in there to die and it also blocks any new gnats from getting in the soil
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I've heard that here before!!! From a lot of people... Must work!!!
 
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