Small Black "Worms" on roots DWC +rep for successful solution

So I lift up the lid to my reservoir last night and noticed some small black worms/larvae on my roots. I have my camera back, so if necessary, I can take pictures of them in about 3 hours, when they wake up. They are on Day 19 of flower after 21 days of Vegetation (from clones, not seed). I have battled, and successfully beaten spider mites (no-pest strip). The room stays between 72-78 degrees at all times, humidity caps out around 70%, usually around 60%.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Yeah take a picture.

6 more minutes! haha

Again, any help is greatly appreciated.

virulient said:

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LOL no bullshit! They aren't causing my plants to show any symptoms yet. And I can only see maybe 20 of them, 5 plants total. I can remove them manually but I assume they have laid their eggs (or cacoons) already.

I wonder if I just fill my reservoir up to the bottom of the netted pots and turned off my air stone for a few hours if I could just drown them. They don't go anywhere near the water.

Copy/pasted from another website : "Most likely mites I have seen them one some of my plants to tiny black / dark brow slow moving spots. I suspect them to be harmless either predating on springtails or eating decaying organic matter."

This guy was a "Senior Member" on that website too..

......./facepalm

Definitely pull those worms out man. Check your nearby drains for colonies, and try some h202 in your rez if you aren't using organics. Those worms are fucking scary..

i've honestly never seen anything like this before.

Looks like a fly larvae, I can't ID it from that picture but it sure looks like fly of some sort

Thanks again for all your help! I am pretty sure it IS in fact a drain fly larvae. Going to try a little h2o2 tonight when they wake up. The good news is they aren't too dangerous. The bad news, for them, is I hate them and they're going to die!! +rep for those who helped, thanks again!

I don't know what those are but I guarantee they're not mites, mites belong to a related class of insects called Arachnida like spiders, scorpions and ticks, most can easily be identified by there hard exterior shell or exoskeleton, those worms on the other hand definitely belong to a class called annelids or invertebrates, these also can usually be easily identified because they have no exo or endoskeleton but rather a slimy membrane like that of a slug or worm. Like I said I don't know exactly what they are but if they aren't dealt with soon I imagine things will get worse and fast.

Looks like some type of larvae but from what I am unsure. Got any other pests around in the garden?

AGHH THIS IS F!@#ING WITH ME SO HARD!

Where are they coming from? There is a source.. you must find it.. and eliminate it..

You don't want to have to call pest people.

They say the drain flies lay eggs in your pipes, usually in your drain pipes, but this home was vacant before I moved in, so that makes sense. I've since had a water filtration system installed, so I think I have prevented them from coming back....now I just need to get rid of the ones on my roots. I have tried H2O2 to no avail. My rez water now contains micro/flower/H2O2/aquashield. They are still down there hanging out on my roots though =/

Alright, in the Bugs Section now, thanks for moving it for me VO. Still need a SAFE solution to this problem.


To recap I'm fairly sure they are Drain Fly Larvae. I have found nothing online that deals with killing the actual larvae, they all just say kill the flies when they turn to flies. Flies aren't my problem though They fly away Need to kill these larvae chilling on my roots! I've tried h2o2 and they didn't seem to care.

I don't think its flys. That looks like a damn slug or worm. Do they appear to be eating the roots? Or just organisms on the roots? Again I must reiderate NOT A FLY! That is clear in the pics. Be vigilant and manually take em out. Even of they laid eggs take em out and pull the grown ups out as u notice them good luck

PeyoteReligion said:

I don't think its flys. That looks like a damn slug or worm. Do they appear to be eating the roots? Or just organisms on the roots? Again I must reiderate NOT A FLY! That is clear in the pics. Be vigilant and manually take em out. Even of they laid eggs take em out and pull the grown ups out as u notice them good luck

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It's the fly's larvae. They go from egg, to this worm-like creature for 10 or so days, then morph into a fly. I think I've prevented more from coming, if I could somehow cause a drain fly larvae genocide, they won't come back. Complete manual removal isn't going to be effective. Full grown they are only 1/8", and my root system is quite intricate in some places. Simply finding every larvae in there before they lay more eggs would be next to impossible. I need some form of SAFE pesticide or incesticide to wipe them out.

If anyone has an organic pesticide or insecticide that even MIGHT work that would be a huge help. Just getting me on the right track can help me find a proper solution. I am stuck as of now, though. They're too small for manual removal, and since they're on the roots, I'm weary of trying any kind of harsh insecticide. Again, if you have ANYTHING, even if it might or might not help.....anything helps at this point. Thanks for your time.