Dam white bugs are back again. +rep for help

IAm5toned said:

on the left, common green aphid; on the right, adult whitefly. lower pic is enlarged adult whitefly, female on the right. females are always larger, should be your number one target...

enlarged juvenile whitefly/larvae stage:

adult fungal gnat- sex undetermined, as with whiteflies, the females will be larger.

fungal gnat juvenile/larvae:

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Thanks man, but that's the problem. All I can find is enlarged photos of these things. I can't find any pics or description of what they look like to the naked eye and I can't seem to get one under my microscope. At least not anywhere but the rim of my planter which is black. For some reason all I see under the microscope when I look at one on the rim is black. Don't ask me why.

I'll go in there and take another look, maybe I'll get lucky.

try this: cover the tops of your planters with duct tape for 24 hrs... sticky side down. when you remove the tape, if theres flies stuck all over the bottom of it 99% chance there fungal gnats, as they 'live' in the soil

check the usages for mollasses i read somewhere that if you mix it into a spray bottle and spray the infected area im tryin to find where i read it and what bug for sure to use it on ill post it as soon as i find it

http://www.annettemcfarlane.com/Doityourself.htm not sure if its for the bugs you got but it might be wort a try

IAm5toned said:

try this: cover the tops of your planters with duct tape for 24 hrs... sticky side down. when you remove the tape, if theres flies stuck all over the bottom of it 99% chance there fungal gnats, as they 'live' in the soil

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I'm not sure if I understand. Put the tape sticky side down and use the planter to keep it just a little big above the soil?

Or put it face down on the planter or soil?

If I can catch one I can put it under a microscope and I'd be able to tell what it is.

growman09 said:

http://www.annettemcfarlane.com/Doityourself.htm not sure if its for the bugs you got but it might be wort a try

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Thanks, but if these are gnats or white flies I think I can get them with sand. If that's not what they are, then I'm back to square one, although that would probably mean they're spider mites. I thought spider mites look black to the naked eye though.

I just looked at the plant closest to the door (easiest to get to) and I didn't see any more white bugs crawling on the rim of the planter, but I did find a leaf with damage (sorry about the bad pic). This leaf was laying on the rim of the planter.

I think it looks like fungus gnat damage, possibly white fly damage too, not sure.

I looked it over with the microscope but only saw perlite & soil. At least I think it was perlite, could have been eggs, not sure.

Can anyone see it clearly enough to tell if it's gnat or fly damage?

gnats wont eat the leaves. not sure about whiteflies

well something's been chewing on this leaf, under the microscope you can really see it. Now I wish I had bought the microscope that hooks up to the computer & takes pics.

I'm not certain it's those little white bugs, but it would make sense since it was sitting on the rim of the planter and the damage is new, must have been done today.

I was told that fungus gnat larvae start at the roots but make their way up the plant and chew on leaves. Was I misinformed?

And if I was misinformed, which bugs chew on leaves (other than caterpillars)?

New discovery as I'm looking over the leaf with the microscope. A single strand of something going from the middle point of the leaf to the point just to the right of it. The strand can't be seen with the naked eye.

The only way I can figure the strand is spider mites, but they suck on leaves & they don't chew them, right?

Plus I haven't seen any white dots.

Now I'm really confused.

If there's anyone that can shed more light on this, please chime in.

If I can't get any more info on it, I'll have to try the sand first and if that doesn't clear it up, I'll have to try an organic spray and delay the flowering period. So please help if you can, I really can't afford to put off flowering.

another thing you can do but beware you cant be in your grow areais run super high dose os co2 will kill anything that breathes air oh wait i forgot your ladybugs never mind

growman09 said:

another thing you can do but beware you cant be in your grow areais run super high dose os co2 will kill anything that breathes air oh wait i forgot your ladybugs never mind

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Thanks anyway, but I don't have any CO2 yet anyway. That's one of the planned upgrades as soon as I start harvesting

good news, I finally caught one of the fuckers with a piece of tape. It's hard to tell if it's an aphid or a mite. Sorry I can't take a pic through the microscope, I already tried.

It has 2 long legs near the head and 3 more pair of legs behind the first set. I'm guessing it's a mite.

The lady bugs are keeping them off the plant, and from I've been told the lady bugs will keep them from trying to nest (they wont nest when predators are present) but I still want to get rid of them.

This mite isn't making the white dots, it's chewing on the leaves like a catepillar would. And it's only attacking the leaves that are physically touching the rim of the planter. So I guess I just have to spray the soil & planters. I still don't know where they'd be laying eggs though.

I'm pretty sure it was them who did the leaf damage because I saw a single strand of web on the leaf I took off last night. I had to use a microscope to see it, but it was there.

I have a little Mite X left and hopefully it wont kill the lady bugs. Once I transplant I'll spray the new containers & throw the old ones in a plastic bag right away.

I can't buy anymore Mite X till feb because the nursery where I got it is closed for the season & I don't know who else would carry it. Is Neem Oil safe for lady bugs? Or is there anything else I can use that would be safe for lady bugs?

Also, does anyone know what type of mite is visable to the human eye and appears to be white? Am I dealing with Spider Mites or some other type of Mite?

Just wanna say it's definitely not fungus gnats. Like Iam5stoned said, they won't eat the leaves. Gants and their larvae eat the roots of the plant. I don't have any experience with the other pests. But I also wanted to say that you're gonna have to clean up 3,000 ladybugs no matter what! When there's nothing left to eat, they'll all die. When I got ladybugs for the fungus gnats I had, I let about 50 go in my closet and let the rest go outside.

FireCoral said:

Just wanna say it's definitely not fungus gnats. Like Iam5stoned said, they won't eat the leaves. Gants and their larvae eat the roots of the plant. I don't have any experience with the other pests. But I also wanted to say that you're gonna have to clean up 3,000 ladybugs no matter what! When there's nothing left to eat, they'll all die. When I got ladybugs for the fungus gnats I had, I let about 50 go in my closet and let the rest go outside.

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Nah, I got that covered already. I just have to feed them once a month or so. I was told to take raisins, or anything in that food category that doesn't have citric acid, cut them in half and spray them with some water. So as long as I don't poison them they should live as long as they want, provided they don't keep frying themselves on my HIDs. lol

These definately aren't gnats, I'm pretty sure they're mites. Spider Mites maybe, but not sure. I just need something that will kill them and not the lady bugs.

Any help in that area would be much appreciated. And any info, like they can lay eggs off the plant in or on ????????. Or they can't live in dirt. Anything that would help me plan their extinction.

my guess is you got thrips bro...8 of um in this photo

I think I found the type of mite that I have, white mites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsonemidae

They secrete toxins to get through thicker walls of older leaves, which would explain why the leaf looks like it was chewed on. Other than that, the info I found so far don't say much.

So I'm still left with the question, what can I use to kill them and not the lady bugs. I need 2 different organic sprays so I can treat, then treat again 7 days later, then again 7 days later. So I guess 3 insecticides would be best.

Any suggestions?

vapedg13 said:

my guess is you got thrips bro

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Don't I wish. I got one under a microscope though, round body so definately isn't a thrip. And I think 8 legs means it's a mite.

mites ara a bitch bro...get floramite $12 shipped ...30 day residual protection.... systemic pesticide

http://cgi.ebay.com/FLORAMITE-SC-1-2oz-SHIPS-FAST-SAMEDAY-FIRST-CLASS-MAIL_W0QQitemZ180444553179QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a03555fdb

Just 1/2 fl.oz can make 12 gallons of miticidal spray

1 gallon = 32 drops

1 quart = 8 drops

1 pint = 4 drops

1 cup = 2 drops
Floramite® SC is concentrated soluble selective miticide establishing a quick knockdown through contact within 3 days of application with long lasting residual control for up to 28 days.Floramite® SC provides effective control on all life stages of Spider mites (tetranychus species) including the eggs. So say goodbye to Spider mites and their eggs because Floramite® SC has an effective ovicidal action killing Spider mite eggs before they hatch. At last a miticide that also KILLS the eggs too. Floramite® SC also controls a variety of other mite species including: Pacific mites, Strawberry mites, European mites, Citrus red mites, Clover mites, Southern red mites, Spruce spider mites, Bamboo spider mites and Lewis mites.

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vapedg13 said:

mites ara a bitch bro...get floramite $12 shipped ...30 day residual protection.... systemic pesticide

http://cgi.ebay.com/FLORAMITE-SC-1-2oz-SHIPS-FAST-SAMEDAY-FIRST-CLASS-MAIL_W0QQitemZ180444553179QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2a03555fdb

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Cool, thanks for the info. +rep

Do you know who makes it so I can call them and make sure it works on white mites?

Also, you wouldn't know if it's safe for lady bugs, do you?

And it really works on the eggs too?