Thousands of Bugs! Fungus Gnats? Pictures! Please Help!

o I posted earlier that I noticed that I had these little black flying BUGS! Anyways I lifted the pots open only to find what look like dirt along the sides above the water level, I stick my figure and scrap some off and I get these tiny green and black 6 legged looking tick like! I cleaned them all of but also noticed that some along with babies were hanging in the root system! I believe that they are going through the roots up into the hydroton and flying out....I also believe the source is when i took a clone that my dad made me put in the backyard soil and replanted it to the RDWC system...I pulled out the backyard plant from the system as it was already dying and also noticed some rotting towards the base of the stem...Could this be contributing to the problems my girls are going through? Also what kind of bugs are these? Are they harmful to the plants?

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may this time you'll listen and put a nice layer of sand on the top like the other nice person had suggested.

it really works!

as for the bugs?
well...they must be eating something...i ain't betting it's the rez nutes.

holy shit i didnt know they could live on roots alone, those are some gnarly looking fungus gnats, get Doktor doom plant spray, kills em on contact, ive never used it on bare roots though, so try one plant first, its only like 15 $

Get some Gnatrol!!

GoGnats works well for fungus gnats. also try finding those mosquito dunks somewhere they work for the larvae

How much gognats are you using per liter that it kills them, because I've used 3tablespoons in a 1.5 liter sprayer, and nothing more than an irritation to the gnats, or do you flush with them?

the ones flying around are the ones you dont really have to worry about. it looks like ur doing dwc so just add gognats to the bucket and make sure to get those hydroton rocks too theyre probably nesting in there

it says on the bottle how much to use with hydroponics

wait those dont look like fungus gnats they look like some sort of aphids or something

widowman64 said:

wait those dont look like fungus gnats they look like some sort of aphids or something

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I was wondering if they were gants...?

they are 100% Root Aphids...im using a combo of bayer advanced citrus and mosquito dunks...the damage done to the girls has been very serious they are at day 20 from clones and should already be close to done with veg, but the aphids stunted the growth so extremely im not sure if they will ever recover...good luck to anyone who has to deal with these mofo's!

those are definately not gnats, too big and crawly

they are not fungus gnats although easily mistaken as....they are 100% root aphids to battle these fuckers you gotta use Merit 75 or Avid..both cause birth defects and cancer and can only be used during veg...I'm root aphid free now! But they have done conserdirable amounts of damage to my girls...also flsu out the whole system after a few days of treatment! If anyone else is battling these buggers PM me for advice! Rep Please!

ChubbySoap said:

may this time you'll listen and put a nice layer of sand on the top like the other nice person had suggested. it really works!

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Okay, what's with putting a layer of sand on the top??? I didn't see any mention of sand on this thread, but I would like to know how and what a layer of sand does for insects. Thanks

those are 100% not fungus gnats (i've had *those and they're not it).
according to what i've read and seen, (*knocking wood*) those are root aphids. i've heard that your babies can get really bad PM in the aftermath even once they're all gone so you'll want to keep an eye out for that.

Uh, I just added a layer of sand on my all my potted plants. Adult gnats are designed to fly and crawl, not dig in heavy sand. They lay eggs in the crevices of soil (because most peat based soil is fairly large and chunky, think from a tiny bugs perspective) and the eggs hatch into worm like larvae that burrow down and eat the roots, they pupate and return to the surface through the porous soil and voila, they return to the world to fly about and find more soil to lay eggs in, unless they cant crawl out of the soil because there is a layer of heavy, dense, fine sand (whose grains are smaller than the fly) and this newly hatched adult is unable to reach the surface and feed, mate, lay eggs, or continue its lifecycle in any fashion. You literally bury them alive, and after you water through the sand it gets even denser and harder(the water displaces the air, then evaporates leaving very little room for air) almost like a very brittle cement, try it. Your not choking your plant from air, because roots dont BREATH air (no lungs), they absorb dissolved oxygen in water, which is the main conduit of gas exchange for roots. I did just do this a few days ago, but now I dont see any gnats hanging around the base of the plants, they just fly around the room aimlessly looking for a place to mate and lay eggs only they cant because they like moist chunky soil not dry fine sand, and I hope they starve to death! I hope this cleared up any confusion on why sand should be used.

P.s. I noticed you said what it does for insects, as far as I know sand only works for gnats because they are not good diggers, those root aphid things look a little bit bigger and stronger, so I cannot say for sure about them, I hope I never find out first hand lol.

i did ^this in my epic battle with the FG as well. (we mixed D. Earth into it as well because we read it lacerates the larvae bodies too.) added bonus: it cuts off the adults' access to the fungals in your soil and they're too busy starving to lay eggs.

xochilives said:

I hope they starve to death!

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.... that's right.... *sharing mwa hahaha moment with xo*

mellokitty said:

i did ^this in my epic battle with the FG as well. (we mixed D. Earth into it as well because we read it lacerates the larvae bodies too.) added bonus: it cuts off the adults' access to the fungals in your soil and they're too busy starving to lay eggs. .... that's right.... *sharing mwa hahaha moment with xo*

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I was going to do the sand thing and then you mentioned D. Earth (Diatomaceous Earth). I use this in my smoothies sometimes, it keeps the intestines free of parasites, so it shouldn't hurt my plants. Thanks

MsBBB said:

I was going to do the sand thing and then you mentioned D. Earth (Diatomaceous Earth). I use this in my smoothies sometimes, it keeps the intestines free of parasites, so it shouldn't hurt my plants. Thanks

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yep de is even used in toothpaste. states on food grade de label dont go over 3% if you plan to eat..lol
also you can make a foliar / room spray with de. i believe it was 3.5 dry oz to 2 gal of mizu(water)
spray on leafy foliage but not directly on flowers. also spray on surfaces where known crawly bugs frequent