A good rule of thumb to follow is that where there are fungus gnats = overwatering.
Very difficult (if not impossible) for gnats to exist in a properly watered grow. Plants that size should only need to be watered every 2-3 days.
9/10 issues with growing plants is water related. Lay off the watering for a few days and take it easy. Plants will fix themselves up, in time. You're only in veg, so these issue can easily be corrected. Hold off on triggering 12/12 until you get watering down pat.
Overwatered plants take a while to truly recover. Don't rush things, give them time to get used to properly being watered, then transplant them.
My advice: Improve watering practices and cover the tops of your pots with sand so the gnats can't lay more eggs in your soil. Wait 2 weeks at a bare minimum (up to 4 weeks, preferably) to ensure all the gnats are eliminated, your watering practices are better, and that the plants are healthy. Then you can think about triggering 12/12.
Did you look at my pics? do those look like thrips? I literally sprayed spinosad directly on these guys, I drenched my plants twice. Could it be something else?
Spinosad is a form of bacteria, very similar to the good guys in our soil. That being said, Spinosad doesn't work immediately. The Spinosad sprayings are simply allowing the bacterial spinosad population to form on the plants themselves, once the Spinosad/BTI is the dominant predator, then you will see results but not until then.
This is why Spinosad is typically used as a preventative measure and not an actual poison. You want bugs to die in short order? Habanero spray. Whatever bugs don't die immediately will die within 24-48 hours. The catch is that the pepper spray needs to be applied 2-3 times a week, as pests can always just ignore your plants for a few days until the capsasin evaporates from the plant's leaves.
Typically, if you're visibly seeing an infestation it is already too late and the name of the game is damage control at that point. Pepper spray will eliminate most (if not all) pests. Ever eaten a habanero pepper or a salsa made from habaneros? Shit is literal fire. If it does that to a human's mouth, imagine what happens to a gnat/caterpillar/moth/mite/etc when they eat it. They legit die of shock, or they starve to death because they don't want to eat the habanero pepper infused leaves.
Literally kill them with fire.
Ok good. I'm afraid to use them cuz I've heard they can get thru the holes in the plastic deck into the res of the earth box.
They totally can, but if the worms are trying that desperately to get out of the pots and seek refunge in the res of your earth box then you likely have greater issues than simply worms leaving the pots.
Think of it this way, if your worms are trying to "run away" from your soil then things are already likely out of whack. A worm is a very simple creature, like us in fact. It just wants a place to live, a place to fuck, and food to eat.
If your worms are leaving your pots then that means they either; can't live there, can't fuck there, or can't eat there. Common reasons for your worms trying to leave your pots/no-till beds would be the same issues that cause your plants to suffer.
- Under/overwatering
- highly acidic conditions (often cause by overwatering)
- insufficient food/bedding
- pests/predators
Pretty much, if your worms are actively crawling out of and away from your pots, your plants are doing much worse.
Worms can crawl away (into dry surfaces and exposed to direct sunlight, both of which they HATE) to find better living conditions. Your roots on the other hand? They're stuck. If worms are actively avoiding the pots you put them in, you should be more concerned about your plants than the worms at that point.
All the best.
