Fungus Gnats
Hi, thanks for dropping in on the post, I hope you have found your way here because of research, and we don't find you in a panic, rocking back and forward mumbling to yourself " They're every where, They're everywherrrreee".
This, is a fully grown adult Fungus Gnat:
Don't worry, they're not that big, they can grow up to about an 1/8th of an inch, and these guys are pretty much harmless. The problems you get with fungus gnats don't come from the adults, they've matured, not really up for causing trouble any more like back in their crazy adolescence, they just want to settle down and have kids..... about 300 of them!!! In a week! Dirty bitches!
They have a very long life cycle for a bug, and most of it is going to be lived in the soil. Fungus gnats love, wet warm soil, as this is where fungus also likes to grow. So just like many pest problems that spend some of their growth stage in the medium, if you just let your soil dry out properly between watering, they wont want to live there. If you find fungus gnats, address your watering schedule, as you may be watering to much, and is most likely the cause of the infestation.
Again like most bugs, they have a life cycle:
These guy earn their name from their diet, the larvae like to eat fungus, and dead plant matter, which all sounds good, same as springtails right? Nope, these guys will eat your healthy roots too. They dont care, they give nothing back, just move in without consent, never take their fucking shoes off so the carpet gets fucked! Never does the washing up, and drinks your cold beer out the fridge before you get home from work! Behaviour like this must not be tolerated, and they must be killed with no mercy!
Eggs start off in the moist warm medium, and within 4 days hatch into their first larvae. Here, they will live in your soil for 2 weeks, eating fungus, dead plant matter and your roots, but not live plant you can see. This means you wont notice any bites on your plant, but more need to be looking out for yellowing leaves, wilting plants, and slow growth. You may even see some brown blotches on the leaves, and some twisting, but these are all symptoms of other things too, so be vigilant. You can look in the medium to see if you can find any babies, but they're very small, and hard to spot with the naked eye.
Because of this, you're unlikely to see them, until they have grown up, and done some damage, so when you do see an adult Fungus Gnat, you know you've most likely already got a lot of them living in there, or will have 300 eggs hatch within a few days. You have to solve this problem quickly, with no remorse, but what is the best way?
How to kill
First off we will start with the obvious. Fungus gnats love to live in warm damp medium, so dry that shit out good! They live in the top 3cm of the medium, so if it drys out, they'll dehydrate and die. Your plants cant take it don't worry, and even enjoy a drought now and again, so don't panic. When the leaves start to wilt, water them, and if need be let it dry out again before the next watering. Its always good practise to let the top 2 inches of your medium dry out between watering to prevent bugs from living there. Many bugs live in the top 2 inches of wet medium, not just fungus gnats, so make sure you're watering is done right, let the medium dry out a bit between feedings.
This will definitely get the number down, but to completely get rid of them, you're going to have to go a bit further. Let start the natural ways and get more aggressive as we go:
Yellow sticky traps
These are harmless to your plants.... unless you lift your plant out the tent, and get the top of it stuck on one! Happened to me a few times, sometimes I even stick my head to far into the tent and get my hair caught on the bastard things, not cool removing it trying to escape from them lol. You can hang these above the plants to catch the flying Gnats, and place them horizontally across the top of the medium to catch Larvae that has just grown wings and try to take off on they egg laying mission. After a while they will be gone, as they haven't been able to lay eggs.
Beneficial nematodes
Bug are my favourite way to kill bugs I reckon, it doesn't come any more natural and organic than that! You can buy some most places online, just google it. These are little parasitic worms that kill hundreds of types of pests, and are harmless to your plants. The name of these bugs are "Steirnernema feltiae", and they will eat the eggs and small larvae of most bugs, and it is so easy to add. Just sprinkle some on top of your medium, water, and the killing will begin within 24 hours and they can live for up to a year, so will definitely keep things in check for the rest of the grow.
Pesticides
For the best pesticides, you want to look at some DIY homemade recipes. These will have less harmful chemicals in them, and be safer for you, your plants, and the environment. We have a guide on how you can easily make your own. Spraying some Neem oil recipe onto the top of the medium will get rid of them, check this article for the DIY Pesticides:
https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...DIY-Pesticides
Using the above methods together, will most likely get rid of your Fungus Gnat problem. You just have to make sure it doesn't happen again. Prevention is better than cure, so always wash your hands or shower before attending your grow room. Always leave the top 2 inches of medium to dry out between watering. Make sure any intake isn't pulling directly from outdoors, and if it does, make sure you have a filter over the end. Hang yellow sticky traps just in case..... make sure you don't get your hair caught in it.
The most important thing with finding any bug, is not to panic, and dont do anything drastic. This shit has been happening in nature for thousands of years, and weed has thrived just fine. A good healthy plant will have a good immune system of its own, and will keep pests away, we just have to give them a bit of help now and again. Stay safe, Stay vigilant, stay bug free
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