Tiny White Worms and Black worms that can jump an inch

Plant Genetics: 3x Ak-48, 2x Cheese Bomb,3x Big Buddha

Soil: Fox Farms Ocean Mist

Nutrients: General Organics Grow Box "Per instructions"

Light: 1000 Watt MH and 4 60 watt 56k Cfl'a


One plant was showing sign's of nutrient deficiency. I poked around the soil and found one black bug almost like a mini 4 legged caterpillar maybe about 1/16th inch long and can jump around an inch then digs itself into the soil. The other bug I believe to be Gnat Larvae crawls around and there are lots of them about 1/32 inch long. I let the top two inches dry out for 2 days then had to water. I have tried dish soap in the water, and it brought a ton of them to the surface, but they lived.
I have a customer that is very picky about pesticides, and anything non organic.
He usually buys at least half my crop at top dollar when it is finished and is my best customer. For the past 4 years has literally paid my rent with his once a year purchase.
I want to provide top quality Organic weed to my customer.
I know people laugh when they find out I only grow Organic weed, but If it were legal I would pass for Certified Organic guaranteed. I usually have no bug problems due to the fact I strictly grow the stuff I sell in the winter, but it caught up to me.

I am tempted to open the bottle of permethrin and use it, but then he might as well buy it from the corner Meth, Crack, coke, and weed dealer. Because my only edge to keep him as a customer is honesty. He is the only one I Sell direct to customer, and he stops by on the occasion to check out the plants and even sometimes gets his hands dirty helping me do LST training, transplanting ect. He is a 2 time cancer survivor, and he has some damn good reasons to live his life organic.

How can I get rid of them in an organic fashion?

Look at the very top of the knife for the little white ones.

Sorry for the lack of pics, I couldn't photograph them due to camera not able to focus well enough.

Definitely fungus gnats! You'll want to control them before they can fly. Usually caused by your medium being constantly soggy.

Are fungus gnats the ones that jump?

Only way to eliminate entire populations organically is by using beneficial nematodes that attack the larvae. I believe 2 brands are Nemasys and Scanmask. You can lay out yellow sticky traps to catch the mature ones. Also try to push your plants to dry out a bit more than usual for cpl weeks after applying nematodes

dangerlow said:

Are fungus gnats the ones that jump?

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Yes, the adults.

okanaganoutdoor said:

Only way to eliminate entire populations organically is by using beneficial nematodes that attack the larvae. I believe 2 brands are Nemasys and Scanmask. You can lay out yellow sticky traps to catch the mature ones. Also try to push your plants to dry out a bit more than usual for cpl weeks after applying nematodes

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http://www.amazon.com/Pyes-Scanmask-Million-Beneficial-Nematodes/dp/B000MRD5JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390286851&sr=8-1&keywords=Scanmask

That the one right there?

I couldn't see anything on your pic....sorry.

If it is gnats..gnatrol works very well.

Ever use lady Bugs in an indoor grow?

and i've never seen gnats jump.

fly yes, jump no.

and you will find tiny almost translucent larvae with a black head if it is gnats.

i'd put some sticky traps out too.

Yes thats the right stuff in the link... My friend breeds ladybugs and I've used them with great results against mites and thrips but they wouldn't control gnats because they are soil dwellers

Awesome, well I ordered the Gnatrol, nematodes, and fly traps hopefully I get this problem over with before they cause too much damage. How bad can this possibly get?

BAD! You have no idea! They multiply fast! A friend got them from oveerwatering and ended up with thousands of them flying around... He had about 10 sticky traps covered completely black with gnats and still loads of them in his dirt. They got into his peat pucks of week old clones and the larva burrowed into the new roots killing 90% of the rooting clones. They can really fucking suck

gnatrol is expensive if you don't really have gnats.

Did you find larvae?

if it is gnats the single most effective thing you can do is water less.

Let those pots dry out some.

I've heard diatomaceous earth when layered on top of the pots helps too. Never tried it tho.

Yeah I found a lot of larvae. I am dealing with two different species from what I am seeing. Gnatrol is a lot cheaper than finding another source of income. I have diatomaceous earth I will try that as a last resort though I personally hate the stuff. I appreciate the help and the customer does as well.

If I said the customers name I bet you all would know exactly who he is. He used to have his own t.v. show, but that's all I will say.
Funny thing is he hired me to do his tree care years ago, and caught me and a buddy smoking a joint and joined in. He bought my whole stash the next day, and he has been a customer ever since, he has a collection of autographed Chong Bong's I would give my left nut for.
He does a lot for the legalization effort, and is a damn good guy.

why don't you like the DE?

dangerlow said:

It causes cancer and a whole bunch of other problems, and the affects can be amplified if smoked. And it's just plain nasty to work with. .

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did not know that.

well, I think you'll like the gnatrol. It works very fast. you'll probably have to apply it several times though.

I never tried it in dirt but i'll bet it works better than in hydro

and it'll work great with the nematodes so... win win


remember...let those pots dry out some.

good luck brother

Sounds more like aphids to me...

root aphids don't jump either. I know. I've got em

How does one kill aphids?