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Predatory Nematodes

TRA1NWRECK

TRA1NWRECK

Member
So I just noticed a very small amount of tiny little bugs in my coco soil. Nothing is flying around, because I have sticky traps everywhere. I am 44 days into flower. No signs of damage to the plants at all. Maybe a couple burnt leaves here and there, but I cant say its from these, because there is very few of them. And they are very very hard to find. But, I want to get rid of these suckers, and my buddy suggested using predatory nematodes.

Here is a link to one of the sites I read thru http://www.naturescontrol.com/predatornematodes.html

Has anyone ever used this? I just wanted to get some feedback from someone who has actually tried this method. Thanks for any advice.
 
R

RedRain

nematodes work really well to kill any eggs in the soil by attacking the nervous system of the bugs, in egg state

they dont kill any already that are living
 
TRA1NWRECK

TRA1NWRECK

Member
RedRain said:
nematodes work really well to kill any eggs in the soil by attacking the nervous system of the bugs, in egg state

they dont kill any already that are living
Click to expand...

and they wont harm a flowered out plant? can I still feed them nutes after I apply the nematodes?

I can go pick some up at the hydro store tomorrow!
 
M

mugenbao

I use the ScanMask brand of predatory nematodes, and they work wonderfully, without harming plants even in flower. I had gotten some fungus gnats last summer from some cheap-ass soil, and nothing else I did would get rid of them for longer than a week. Neem, mosquito dunks, Safer, none were fully effective for me. At best, I could keep them suppressed somewhat, and it was driving me CRAZY! Then I started an indoor worm bin (homemade EWC for the win), and the bug population just freaking exploded!

Out of sheer desperation I ordered some nematodes. You get enough to go quite a ways, so I put some in the worm bin, in every houseplant container, and my med plant's containers. Within about a week it was obvious that things were improving dramatically, and within two weeks the problem was pretty much solved. I still see a random bug or two occasionally, but they don't seem to be able to gain a foothold now :)

There's been no apparent damage to any houseplant, my cannabis, or my worms. It's safe and effective. Do it :)

[Edited to add] I don't know how feeding nutes will affect the nematode population. I use pre-amended organic soil that's pretty much a "just add water" soil, so I don't add nutes. YMMV.

.
 
TRA1NWRECK

TRA1NWRECK

Member
So I went down to my local shop and talked to the guy there that knows his shit. He said just soak the sponge of nematodes in my nutes for 10 mins, and feed. He said they will get rid of my root aphid problem for sure. I will update you all in a day or 2.
 
R

RedRain

for sure...they are amazing

safe for flower, but they only kill the eggs by attacking the nervous system of the bug
 
TRA1NWRECK

TRA1NWRECK

Member
So I watered all my plants with a good dose of the nematodes. I checked 4 plants soil pretty thoroughly. 2 plants from each room, and found no crawling bugs.

But remember, when I found these little critters, it was very hard to find just one or 2 in the soil.

So hopefully these little nematodes took care of my problem.

I have been keeping my soil more moist then I usually do, im not letting it dry out. So Ill give another update in a couple days, but all looks good for now. Thanks for anyone who gave any advice.
 
M

mugenbao

Tilt said:
I use nematodes. They worked really good. I even put some in a sprayer and applied them just like a foliar pesticide. it was cool watching a fungus gnat croak that way. Even got rid of scale on one of my house plants. There is a https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=75677&highlight=brewers+yeastthread on culturing your own too by scaybees
Click to expand...
Whoah, thanks for that link. I never thought to look and see if there were such a thing.

I'll read it carefully, and may actually want to try it. I don't know if nematodes will eventually die off due to lack of critters to feed on, but I've been thinking of trying to keep a perpetual source of them on-hand so they'd be available for each new grow cycle, and don't know if simply recycling some of the used plant soil would serve the purpose adequately. Your link could be just the ticket :)

.
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
I dont have a microscope. But my girl brought home a bug infested house plant from the dollar store. I mixed in some of my old soil that was inoculated 6 months before and top dressed it and swished a little in a sprayer and drenched the plant. NO bugs all dead. I believe if you have a living soil they will stay alive in it.
 
F

floral

Member
Steinernema feltiae is my new best friend.

Recently went overboard with keeping my Recycled Organic Living Soil [ROLS] <TM> moist, or top dressed too much alfalfa, and ended up with an annoying little cloud of gnats.

Watered in maybe 2ml of steinernema feltiae beneficial nematodes and expected to wait up to a month to get rid of all the pests. Two days later, I see zero gnats.

The rest of the nematodes are in the refrigerator. I will save some to reapply every few days for a couple weeks, culture some for future use, add some to the worm bin, add some to my soil bins, and whatever's left is going to the houseplants.

This one species worked so well I am not convinced I need to try other kinds but maybe there are reasons to. So far so good though.
 
G

Granger2

Active member
Veteran
Nematodes do NOT only attack eggs. They attack all stages with vigor and ruthlessness. I recommend ordering them online because they are fresher. Good luck. -granger
 
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