small black flys

I don't know if they are fruit flys or what, but they are tiny black flys. I grow indoor in soil, they don't. Seem to be damaging the plants at all, but are really annoying. I put up the yellow sticky traps but they are not attracted to it. I have 3 tents and plants in all stages of growth, and they all have some flys. What should I use?

sounds like fungus gnats. i had a battle with gnats a while ago, i have them under control now. put a layer of sand or perlite on top of the soil in your pots, that is supposed to smother the larvae. then put the sticky traps all over the place, they work best if you put them on top of the soil in your pot.

what kind of soil are you useing?? i agree with CMT use plety of sticky traps i had the same problem that seem to work..also when i switched from shitty soil to foxfarm soil i never seen a bug again

I never noticed them with fox farm soils, right now I'm using roots organic.

yeah it happens a lot in soils that are stored outdoors. you get weeds and bugs.

these flys do they do anything to the plant in later stages?

As said you have fungus gnats. Also as said you can put a layer of sand on top of your soil to get rid of them as they live in the top layer of soil. However I will say that I have had gnats the whole time that I have been growing and they will annoy you way more than they will hurt your plants, they are eating nutes in the soil and not the plant. The one thing they will do is get stuck in the sticky buds causing you to either pick them out during trimming or smoke little bugs.

Arthor said:

However I will say that I have had gnats the whole time that I have been growing and they will annoy you way more than they will hurt your plants, they are eating nutes in the soil and not the plant.

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I'm pretty sure that their larvae eat new root growth. I've never seen them do significant damage though.

I got rid of mine by: Letting the soil dry out pretty well between waterings, adding mosquito dunks to my water, and having tons of sticky traps around.

usually caused by soil not being allowed to dry out between waterings, point a fan at the soils surface and dry it out knats will be gone.

as mentioned sand will work weel also.

Fill a spray bottle with water and a drop of dish soap and a drop of bleach sprey on the dirt around your plant then the next day wash away with water in two to three dayys they will be gone

The larva eat your roots and stunt the growth of your plants. I had two sets of plants growing one in a DWC and one in a drip and without my knowledge the DWC was infested with Gnats. They (plants)were yellow and stunted. Their stems never stalked up and they seemed yellow and lanky. I added some dunks BTI larvacide and they are now just perking up and getting greener.

The Gnats have a about a 28 day life cycle so if you can eliminate them for that long you know you have won your battle. I still have them but the larvacide and sticky traps are working because my plants are really starting to perk up. Now if I could only not over fert my shit my gals may survive 3 more weeks till harvest.

It's a problem using Miracle grow for sure but better than the fusiam (rootrot) they used to carry! Perlite huh?

Actually they killed one plant in my grow area just went to pull it to check for what was going on and no roots and the skin of the stem was rotted off glad I have a cut. I resist it but have the feeling like every plant could be the last white hope!

I have noticed also groups of tiny, flickering white mites floating on the surface of the feed on one plant but on another, same size but are dead and have wings and are black..help?

420forme said:

I never noticed them with fox farm soils, right now I'm using roots organic.

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I bought 10 small bags because i was thrilled i could lift them and fill my pots myself.... but i am so disgusted with the gnats that i am throwing the last 3 outside this spring. i will never use that soil again! also my plants don't seem to like it as near as much as foxfarm.. i have already switched back. thanks for the verification that i did the right thing!

I've dealt with those bastards on and off a few times, the only thing that really works is bti. the mosquito dunks contain bti and they help, but the best thing to do is get concentrated bti from your hydro store and mix with your waterings, that stuff works awesome, better than anything else.

will the BTI larvacide kill the beneficial bacteria and fungi in my soil or compete with them in anyway?

I just water with hydrogen peroxide and water solution (kills the larva on contact, and the plants suggest they love it).

Water good with it, put up sticky traps to nail the adults..

Next water, do the same thing (soil will dry a bit quicker because peroxide loosens up and aerates the soil quite dramatically).. keep the sticky traps a flowin..

Between a few waterings with peroxide, and the sticky traps you will nail them.. you will mostly see them in complete decline after the first watering.. but you need to be vigilant because all it takes is two adults to get int eh sil afterwards and have a party and you have larva again.. so it takes a few waterings and stickys to nail them all..


RESEARCH before you EVER do anything I say.. I am just food for thought.. it has worked outstanding for me.. but everyone elses mileage may vary.