WTF are these things????

Mr.GreenJeans

Well-Known Member
My plants (indoor closet grow) are starting the 4th week of 12/12 and are starting to have a nice coating of trich's. BUT, this morning when I went to water them I saw (for the first time) TINY little white bugs of some sort on the surface of the soil crawling around. I didn't see any on the plant itself, but they are so tiny I doubt they would be visible. The only way I saw them was with 1.75 reading glasses they are so small!!!!

Does anyone know what these little bastards could be, and if they are harmful how do I get rid of them without hurting my girls????????????????????
 

trizack

Active Member
i have these in my grow pots as well on my first grow. from what i was told they are silverfish (i think thats the name) and pose no real threat. you can get some hydrogen peroxide, and mix it in with some fresh water, i also put a layer of it in my drainage pans. in the drainange pan you sill see it the best, but it will foam up and you will watch them little things squirm untill they are dead. i have been told multiple times that the peroxide wont harm the plant, and it hasn't seemed to hurt mine so far (i have been dropping a litle peroxide in there every few weeks just as a preventative measure)

the silverfish always seems to come back, though, after a little while, so i think after this grow, i'm going to get rid of all my flower pots, get brand new ones, and get rid of all my extra soil in the bag in the closet, in case that is all infected, and then just start with brand new clean stuff next time


but again i'm 75 days in flower on my last plant left now, and i have had them in the pot since early on in veg, so i don't see them being too much of a problem

but i'm sure there is someone on here with more knowledge than me
 

BlasphemyFloyd

Active Member
I dont think they are silverfish. Silverfish are ALOT bigger than what was mentioned. I think they may be Thrips. They are VERY Harmful for your plants! Good news is they are easier to get rid of than Spidermites.

Hydrogen Peroxide CAN harm your plants, if you plants uptake peroxide it can over dry/kill your leaves. Becareful when applying peroxide. And never use over the counter store bought 3% or 5%. Its useless and does more harm than good. Never use peroxide in a soil grow, unless you want to kill your plant, peroxide is only used in hydro to control bacteria. I am serious.
 

InThEwOoDs

Well-Known Member
I dont think they are silverfish. Silverfish are ALOT bigger than what was mentioned. I think they may be Thrips. They are VERY Harmful for your plants! Good news is they are easier to get rid of than Spidermites.

Hydrogen Peroxide CAN harm your plants, if you plants uptake peroxide it can over dry/kill your leaves. Becareful when applying peroxide. And never use over the counter store bought 3% or 5%. Its useless and does more harm than good. Never use peroxide in a soil grow, unless you want to kill your plant, peroxide is only used in hydro to control bacteria. I am serious.
Do silverfish jump like tics/fleas? I have a shit ton of easily visible grey bugs crawling through my soil but have never gone onto my plant before. When I water, loads of them crawl out of the soil and jump around. I got about a week left till harvet so I stopped spraying them with organic insect killing soap I got from the grocery store.
 

petrock

Active Member
i use neem oil and it works real well in keeping pest and fungal problems
in check. It is also pleasant to use as well.
 

Mr.GreenJeans

Well-Known Member
I showed the dude at my local Hydro shop, and he said they are white fly larvae. He recommended using some "go gnats" from hydro organics to kill them. I applied some earlier today (about 1/2 the recommended strength) and when I went to look a few hours ago I didn't see any trace of them! I'll keep a close watch and see if this has taken care of it or not, but so far it looks good.
 
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