little grey bugs in my soil

i have little grey bugs that float on the water when i water my plants then disapear into the soil they are very small and under the microscope they have a long body little head and little antena before the water drains you can see hundreds on top of the water try and touch them and they move quite quickly then disapear into the soil when the water drains away does anybody no what they are and what to do about them

do they fly? are they gnats?

i just found some too, they dont fly but they are in most of my pots, i dont know what to do about it or if they are hurting my plant

i think there the sow bugs/rollie-pollie/. they eat the bacteria in the soil and during the process they can eat some of your roots.

I have the same kind of thing their body is long and they disappear into the soil and seem to be able to fly a litle but not very much flying....what are these and how can I kill em??

these threads in this ssection dont seem to be to helpful lol, i got em too.............hmmmmmmmmmm what to do?

Ive tryed a few methods but obviously not the ones that worked.. still wating to hear someone say what really works..

damnmit, wanna destroy these bastards!

I have these tiny insects as well..they seem to come out more right after I water my plant but when soil is dry I really dont see em

yes same here...still no ideas on how harmful these things are or what they are?..........I keep smushing them whenever I see the bastards!

JackHerer said:

I have the same kind of thing their body is long and they disappear into the soil and seem to be able to fly a litle but not very much flying....what are these and how can I kill em??

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Sounds like fungus gnats. Let your soil completely dry out. Place a thick layer of soil at base of your plant. Check the underside of leaves, as this is where they lay their new eggs. Use a magnifying glass when doing so. Those little "specs" will hatch any day, thus the new cycle begins. Zap the bastards with a rubbing alcohol on a q-tip. Keep at it til they are all gone. You'll be sorry if you don't rid of them ASAP.
And if you are growing JackHerer.....don't take your eyes off it for a single second, . Seek and DESTROY.

these are fungus gnats.their eggs are into the soil.you can do some stuff like dont water too much(they often appear when you overwater),low humidity should stop them a bit for sure <50.get some sticky traps for flies.i cut them in pieces and glue them round the pot cos the flies are going for a walk sometimes round the pot.you cant imagine how many of these bastards i caught like that!to destroy the eggs you should add some sand(not sea sand) after your watering on the top of your soil.they will never make it.just make sure not to let the sand for a long time there so that the roots can take some oxygen.

Place a thick layer of soil at base of your plant

if you have organic soil its not gonna work i think cos these gnats love organic soil.better use some sand

I'm growing in coco and have them. I dont think they do lots of damage but it still think its a bit frustrating having bugs in your soil. I have found a thread that claims to have found the solution. https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/205893-bye-bye-fungus-gnats-how.html If you have the money go to a hydro store and get gnatrol. If not you can use this method. I have done one application so I can tell you it won't kill your plants. The name of the stuff is Mosquito Dunks and you can find them at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. It contains B.T.I a type of good bacteria. So if your using Hydrogen Peroxide or a similar product I reccomend you stop using it or you will kill the good bacteria. I reccomend grinding it up first and letting it soak overnight. I applied about 1 disk for every 25 gallons. Make sure you continue to use it for at least a week. It takes time because the gnats have to eat the stuff which then prevents them from eating I believe. So they essentially starve. I also don't reccomend you using sand on top of your soil not only because it is messy but also because like mentioned above it starves your roots of oxygen. Good Luck and I hope you get rid of those suckers.

I have the same little pricks. they don't seem to be eating my leaves or anything. Gonna try the mosquito dunks.

I had the same thing in my soil, was really worried they would damage the plant but as far as i could see the roots were fine, but i didn't like them being there!

I managed to kill them all without using chemicals and with no damage to the plant. Basically i got one of those USB coffee mug heaters you can buy online, i got mine for about £3. i attached power wires to only the heating elements and also scratched off any green power rails which went to any other part of the device (because this was a USB hub also) so that the heating elements were the only things being powered. I hooked it up to a DC transformer outputting around 8V to make the heating plate a little hotter, i'd say it was around 60°C. i then generously watered my plant and placed it on this heating unit, i then covered the top of the plant pot with a plastic cup to keep the warmth contained , although the heating pad was hot the heat being transfered to the actual soil wasn't much, i'd say the soil temperature was 30-40°C. I kept it like this for about a week or two and when i checked on it all of the bugs in the soil were dead and there were a few crawling inside the cup (as it was cooler) and simply threw them away with the cup!

I did a cheeky check on the roots and they were doing absolutely fine, no damage at all. My plant was a seedling at this point with no leaves, so airflow was not an issue, which is why i could get away with using the cup ontop. if your plant has leaves or is too big to do this then maybe a chemical insecticide might be more appropriate, cause i think what made my technique work was that these bugs hate warmth and will die in warm environments, and with a cup ontop of the pot it meant that not only could they not escape but it was a hot environment wherever they went.