Fungus gnats or WINGED ROOT APHIDS???

[TheOutlawTree]

I hear you canna- I ended up moving here from east coast last spring to be legal and its been a struggle dealing with these fuckers

Ive got a spendy rental because the landlord is cool with my medical garden. After I signed the lease and moved in I found evidence of previous growing. The landlord told me the previous tenants just up and left out of no-where and didn't pay the rent. Now it all makes sense as to why they left.

Even Spectracide Triazicide drenches 3 times in 9 days... I still saw a couple alive under the pots.

Im counting on my current crop to produce at least something. Week 4 and they are in a slow decline with yellowing. This is Sour D, a 11 week strain which worries me. Plants are still drinking a lot of water and buds are filling in so im am hopeful but its really stressfull.

 

[cannascholar]

You'll do fine I would recomend some chitin/ chitosan to help boost resistance. My grow looks way worse at week 6. It really gets bad when the upper leaves start yellowing. And some riptide pbo to hold em back. Certain strains seem to be RA resistant, DHN's purp k and grape ape have almost no yellow leaves and are filling out nicely.

Spectracide doesn't do much, good at damaging the plant. Heard some good things about bifenthrin. Tried hypoasis after wasting over a thousand on nematodes and they dont seem to do much either.

Made a sterile clone lab in my house. A month later and the RA are slowly returning. Care must be taken as they can easily spread through clothes from grow to grow.

Looking forward to light dep season, its the only time I can get the upper hand.

 

[StankyBeamer]

FWIW, the trashing everything and starting over with a better knowledge of dealing with the bastards has helped me get a lot better sleep at night. Yeah I lost cuts, but everyone does eventually, and there are thousands of other cuts I wanna run eventually, and I've got a good collection of seeds to pop. I feel like getting too attached to your library can fuck you when your trying to eradicate RA. Heat treat your grow with all plants and soil/medium removed. I'm starting all my seeds and new cuts with a healthy dose of systemics, and then some predators, and acephate foggers between runs. Can't pull a half bow a light again, shits just embarrassing, and not payin the bills.

 

[Davey420]

lots of great info in here thanks guys

 

[Knuckleheads.sd]

?

 

[Miraculous Meds]

?

I see a pointed butt and rounded wings. Makes me think its FG. Looks like there is a trichome stuck to the bottom of it.

 

[Terps]

Anyone know if a FG infestation mid to late flower would affect the taste of the finished herb?

The flyers are back but no sign of damage except plants are drinking less.

 

[StankyBeamer]

Nah my plants had bad fg and aphids came in during week four of flower, I got tasty buds just not the yield I would expect

 

[Unclecrash]

Anyone know if a FG infestation mid to late flower would affect the taste of the finished herb?

The flyers are back but no sign of damage except plants are drinking less.

There drinking less probably because if you have fungus Gnat's they are cutting your roots down, basically trying to tople your plants. I noticed one of mine leaning, and then I saw them!! I noticed my one plant was drinking hardly at all till I started putting hydrogaurd back in the mix and all are drinking way more. my bubble bucket was drinking a gallon a day till I ran out of Hydrogaurd then the pathogens and crap started taking over as soon as I had the extra money I bought some more and all are drinking much more. IM waiting on the next set of flyer's to hatch out. Hoping I got most by running the dunks then the start of the hydrogaurd and am going to get some dawn ultra to see how it works a friend uses dish soap to kill the spidermites and I saw the post on the guy killing huge skunk bugs. Im not sure how long I was treating with the dunks but Im sure it's not long enough to tell if they did the job on there own. As I dont have the money to spend on list 1 to 12 or 20 to kill these bastards.

 

[TheOutlawTree]

Has anyone tried any garlic based insecticides on RA's?

 

[Unclecrash]

No but I just went and picked up some dawn ultra to try on the mites and stuff.

 

[medicalmj]

TheOutlawTree, and everyone else, find me ONE tidy grower that has tried Stratiolaelaps Scimitus on tiny soil mites WITHOUT success. I CHALLENGE all of you to spend $30 on a liter of predatory insects, and get back to me in a month. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) WILL solve your tiny soil mite or "root aphid" problem if applied correctly.

This is the last post I'm going to make in this thread, because "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Again, I refer you to my first post.

Why would anyone want to kill soil mites, which is what it sounds like most people really have? Few and far between are the pics and descriptions of an actual root aphid.

Edit: Totally agree on introducing h.miles to the media, great advice. But my point remains, too many are confusing soil mites with aphids, which are fundamentally different animals.

 

[EclipseFour20]

TheOutlawTree, and everyone else, find me ONE tidy grower that has tried Stratiolaelaps Scimitus on tiny soil mites WITHOUT success. I CHALLENGE all of you to spend $30 on a liter of predatory insects, and get back to me in a month. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) WILL solve your tiny soil mite or "root aphid" problem if applied correctly.

This is the last post I'm going to make in this thread, because "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Again, I refer you to my first post.

Do you have any science that collaborates your opinion?

 

[medicalmj]

I CHALLENGE all of you to spend $30 on a liter of predatory insects, and get back to me in a month. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) WILL solve your tiny soil mite or "root aphid" problem if applied correctly.

Description: Stratiolaelaps (Hypoaspis) is a native species of soil-dwelling mite, which feeds on small insects and mites (e.g. springtails, root mealybug crawlers, and spider mites).

Target Pests: Fungus gnats (Bradysia spp.), Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis).

So they're not insects and they won't control root aphids.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Why would anyone want to kill soil mites, which is what it sounds like most people really have? Few and far between are the pics and descriptions of an actual root aphid.

It would be an interesting test to get these h miles mites to compare to the tiny mites we have. Maybe confirm and put to rest that is what we have, so we know not to worry specifically about our small friends. Or maybe find that what we have is not the same predatory mites so we know to try and treat them.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

TheOutlawTree, and everyone else, find me ONE tidy grower that has tried Stratiolaelaps Scimitus on tiny soil mites WITHOUT success. I CHALLENGE all of you to spend $30 on a liter of predatory insects, and get back to me in a month. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) WILL solve your tiny soil mite or "root aphid" problem if applied correctly.

This is the last post I'm going to make in this thread, because "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Again, I refer you to my first post.

Yeah u can lead a horse to water. But no one is ragging on u and fuk em if they are anyway. If u believe ur treatment to be good, there is nothing wrong with describing ways that u have proved it to help others see why. That's up to u though.

I always think that if I try and drop some knowledge on somebody here, that if I can just write the important shit in a sentence or 2 that's all they need to be successful. But if that person doesn't really understand it, then u r really not helping them. Ur just another random person writing a few words. So some more details and answering of questions are important to help re affirm ur ideas imo.

 

[medicalmj]

TheOutlawTree, and everyone else, find me ONE tidy grower that has tried Stratiolaelaps Scimitus on tiny soil mites WITHOUT success. I CHALLENGE all of you to spend $30 on a liter of predatory insects, and get back to me in a month. Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) WILL solve your tiny soil mite or "root aphid" problem if applied correctly.

This is the last post I'm going to make in this thread, because "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Again, I refer you to my first post.

I totally agree with adding h. miles to your grow media. I'd also recommend adding predatory nematodes. Further, I add bacteria, fungus, incl. trichoderma and enzymes.

I believe in the benefits of trying to create "naturally" beneficial environment for my prized girlies. I am not trying create a real natural environment cause that'd include adding in the pests. Just wanna make it so the pests can't make it.

However, my experience has been that this approach of adding good bugs and microbes works best in dirt, soilless mixes and coco. But doesn't work well in recirculating hydro like rockwool or DWC. If you get the nasties (bugs or microbes) in those you're kinda fucked, based on some of my shittier experiences.

 

[Terps]

Wouldn't the predatory nematodes eat the H.miles?

 

[medicalmj]

Wouldn't the predatory nematodes eat the H.miles?

Good question. From Penn State "Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae, have been studied extensively as biological control agents for soil-dwelling stages of insect pests." H. miles is not an insect but some source suggest that they will occasionally kill mites.

Stores around here only sell nematodes so that's the only one I use. Further, predatory nematodes have the added bonus of killing any pest nematodes. But I wouldn't be overly concerned about them wiping each other out if one had an infestation as they'd most surely be killing more bad stuff then each other. That is, they prefer the pests over each other.

 

[medicalmj]

I still question the root aphid existence as a common pest as these posts suggest. Not only are FGs a concern, but the symptoms being attributed to RAs are the hallmarks of plant parasitic nematodes as well.

I'll say that again, plant parasitic nematodes (and FG larvae infestations) exhibit the same symptons that are being attributed to RAs. And most of the supposed RAs I have seen posted are really soil mites.

Soil mites are not the issue. They're like earth worms, they clean up the soil so plants can thrive. But too many suggests an imbalance, which an be caused by FGs or plant parasitic nematodes that eat roots and can spread disease.

Plant parasitic nematodes causes plants to fade and reduces yields. Look up what they can do to lush green golf courses. Kinda similar to what an iron def look like.