first grow ever, have knats, need them gone

So im a month into vegging my skeestack x skunk.. ill add pics later for im at work. I cant afford to kill off another strain

Soil grow?

They like wet soil..as soggy. So be sure your soil drains and dries well. Sand as a soil topper. BTi is the water slows em down. Assuming soil grow. Sticky traps.. This is for gnats..not aphids,etc.

Yes soil grow, I have them in 5 gallon buckets right now. I started w 1/2 gallon container. Organic vigiro soil w blood and bone meal. Give them 1 quart of water each morning. I dont want to kill them. I have them under a 400w mh light and 8 t12 5000k tubes. They look good just I feel as if bugs are slowing their growth.

Yes as mentioned, the sand works good to keep them from getting into the soil, but as you water, the sand mixes in with the soil, and Yada Yada.. You might try a perlite or hydroton topper if the sand gives you a problem.

watch this video, after doing the soil drench, get a hot shot no pest strip. you will never see gnats again.[video=youtube;KE-d3YhjMuM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE-d3YhjMuM[/video]

needMoreMoney said:

Yes soil grow, I have them in 5 gallon buckets right now. I started w 1/2 gallon container. Organic vigiro soil w blood and bone meal. Give them 1 quart of water each morning. I dont want to kill them. I have them under a 400w mh light and 8 t12 5000k tubes. They look good just I feel as if bugs are slowing their growth.

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daily waterings might be a bit much man, overwatering could be part of your problem too, ...until you have an assload of fliers around the gnats don't do much damage.

if you incorporate yellow sticky tapes in your grow space this will keep them from becoming a problem as it interrupts the life cycle, what happens is it catch's more and more of the fliers which means there are fewer and fewer egg layers.

and putting a half inch top layer of hydroton as Rusty suggested or lava rock or gravel, something like that that won't work it's way into your medium as sand WOULD in time will eliminate them all together because you've just eliminated the environment that the larva require.

bozo

Bozo- thanks. Everyone else too just bozo put it together best for me. Now anyone have any useful soil tips they feel as they wish the knew from the beginning. Im happy to have all the help from you guys. Ps how do I post pics from my phn?

Definately more of a nuisance unless they get out of control. They can kill a small cutting or unhealthy plant. I recently went to the hydro store because my moms where getting infested with gnats and the woman recommended natural pyrethrin concentrate. She told me 2 teaspoons per gallon. Definately killed the gnats, but almost killed the plants too. I spent the next day flushing them with water. So just keep an eye on them after you treat them with anything.

Blowin' Smoke said:

Definately more of a nuisance unless they get out of control. They can kill a small cutting or unhealthy plant. I recently went to the hydro store because my moms where getting infested with gnats and the woman recommended natural pyrethrin concentrate. She told me 2 teaspoons per gallon. Definately killed the gnats, but almost killed the plants too. I spent the next day flushing them with water. So just keep an eye on them after you treat them with anything.

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yeah man, with gnats you're better off using a more passive approach, no need for harsh treatments that may injure or severely stress your plants, ...save those for root aphids and shit like that, lol.

btw, for those who use HotShot No Pest Strips, if used properly they are very effective BUT they are way overkill for gnats PLUS, if used incorrectly they are ineffective at best and dangerous to YOUR health at worst.

how they work is inside the plastic frame is a sponge soaked in dichlorvos (my spelling may be off, lol) which begins to exude a gas as soon as you open the package and in your grow the gas builds up until it reach's a level toxic to your pests, the problem is, for it to work properly you need to turn off your exhaust or you'll be sucking the gas out faster than it can build up and therefore they will be ineffective, ...on the other hand, if you are a small-time operator like me and you have your grow safely tucked away in your bedroom then you'll be venting all that poisonous gas into your bedroom. ...for anyone who is interested i can link you to a long and involved discussion on the safe and effective use of these helpful No Pest strips but it's on another forum so if you want that link you'll have to ask for it, ...i don't want to disrespect the house and i don't know the policy.

bozo

Coho said:

They like wet soil..as soggy. So be sure your soil drains and dries well. Sand as a soil topper. BTi is the water slows em down. Assuming soil grow. Sticky traps.. This is for gnats..not aphids,etc.

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Yep. Some mosquito dunks(BTi)crushed up and top dressed into the medium(if soil)or a chunk of dunk in the res(hydro)will keep them under control. Along with some yellow sticky traps placed directly on the medium(soil)will keep you covered. Just be patient with this method and give it a few weeks. You may still have a gnat here and there but no worries. Just a few about will cause your plants no harm. And you will not have applied pesticides, organic or not, and messed with your beneficials...

EDIT: almost forgot the old school way of trapping the larve. Laying a chunk of sliced potato on top of the medium, flesh side down, will draw the larve(they feed on it instead of the plants roots). Change them out every 2 or 3 days. And you will help greatly in keeping the populations under control. If they cant reach adulthood. They cant breed a new generation....

gnats are a pain in the ass to get rid of but they dont really hurt matured plants that much, they are more of a problem for rooted clones and seedlings as the larvea will eat the roots, a fully developed plant has plenty of roots where the larvea wont hurt them but smaller plants such as clones and seedlings the larvea can take a drastic toll on them.

they are extremely hard to get rid of, i have tried soil drenches and all kinds of other shit and always kept them to a minimum but never got rid of them. i did hear cactus sand works great so ibefore using any chems like azmax and hot shots try some cactus sand on the topo of your soil and some apple cider vinegar and dishsoap in a cup (they are attracted to teh finigar and the soap traps them so they cant fly out) this works much better than sticky traps in my experiences.

best of luck to you man .

Yea Matt sometimes it just turns into a war of attrition...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attrition_warfare

Mucho appreciated guys. Any info on how to upload pictures, I want the harsh treatment of what im doing wrong. Thsnks agsin. Hope someday I cam be of use to you guys. I dont mean to be a pest with all my stupid questions. Talk to you later snd enjoy your day

needMoreMoney said:

Mucho appreciated guys. Any info on how to upload pictures, I want the harsh treatment of what im doing wrong. Thsnks agsin. Hope someday I cam be of use to you guys. I dont mean to be a pest with all my stupid questions. Talk to you later snd enjoy your day

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When you post look for the picture frame next to the 2 globes. Furthest right box above your text area. Click on that and use the link.

Okay thats my fastest grower. Ill show more pics in the morning because I have barely signal right now . Frustrating!

Yeah they can be annoying.

I have some. I didn't compost my soil which I usually do before use. Heat kills.

I reuse soil so I add new greens and browns + nutrients like bone meal, green sand and Azomite then wet and cook all the unwanted to death.

Composting of the soil is a goodly thing all around.

You can put an open container of water. Maybe run off from your pots and they will drown in it.
Sticky tape and yellow sticky traps help.

Also lightly scraping the top soil and dumping it helps rid some.

Lots of little things help

Put some diatomaceous earth on top of the soil. It is basically just crushed glass (silica), and cuts up anything with an eco-skeleton such as the larvae they lay into the soil. Once they are cut up, they die before they can reproduce.

Now about the d.earth, can it harm the plant in anyway? Also its strictly organic grow. So for being a month old how are the bsbies doimg?