GG does it Organic

[Rev. Green Genes]

@archie gemmill and @Frankthetank you were right. And I was wrong. Now we'll see if the organic remedies are sufficient. I have high hopes that it will be enough. In addition to the above tricks, I also have parasitic nematodes. I was going to use them for peach borers, but they may be needed in the grow room.

 

[Frankthetank]

@archie gemmill and @Frankthetank you were right. And I was wrong. Now we'll see if the organic remedies are sufficient. I have high hopes that it will be enough. In addition to the above tricks, I also have parasitic nematodes. I was going to use them for peach borers, but they may be needed in the grow room.

Damn man! SOrry to hear that. I sprinkle cinnamon on top of my soil as well as the bits. Hope you get them eradicated brother!

 

[trailanimal]

Awesome! I use mosquito bits now....truth be told, I've gotten gnats from every bag of soil I've bought from the grow store for at least the last year. I've learned to deal with the pretty well....never gotten any bugs other than that.

have you tried over wintering your bags out in the cold?

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

argh shit im not often right,and then when i do i dont want to be right.
but then again not all bugs are pests.some are benificial and some are just harmless.i just dont know the difference.
and maybe the true philosophy of growing organic is to work with not against bugs ?
good luck.

 

[trailanimal]

I get some leaf hoppers coming out of the compost mulch, even though it went thru -60F, easy to spot and kill by hand

 

[Frankthetank]

have you tried over wintering your bags out in the cold?

I haven't, but that sounds like a good idea. I bet I could get the grow shop to cut me a deal on a years worth of dirt..

 

[trailanimal]

argh shit im not often right,and then when i do i dont want to be right.
but then again not all bugs are pests.some are benificial and some are just harmless.i just dont know the difference.
and maybe the true philosophy of growing organic is to work with not against bugs ?
good luck.

indoors is tough, out doors the predator species do a pretty good job, over time. So cold up here bugs out time is retarded, by then the greenhouse plants are good sized and can take a little feeding on, and then the insect predators show up, white crown sparrows even cruise into the greenhouse. so far bugs haven't been a big problem for me, got 10 lbs of DE ready to go if needed.

 

[Rev. Green Genes]

-60? I feel like a pussy at moment.

maybe the true philosophy of growing organic is to work with not against bugs ?

exactly. So far all my methods are non destructive and organic approved.

The best things are sticky traps and sand/diatomaceous earth layers on top. They get trapped out, and trapped in. The Pest part of the gnats is the larval stage that eats the root hairs and the plant doesn't get water uptake. They also feed on fungus, and other organic matter in the soil. The life cycle is a month, and they can be in all three egg, larva, and adult at the same time.

Each mother lays about 300 eggs just under the soil a day after climbing out. The gnats mostly stay at the top couple inches, but when you mix up the soil they can be all throughout.

The egg hatches in about a week, and the larva feed for a week or two before popping out with wings to mate. but they are terrible flyers, so they don't go far. They are attracted to yellow, so I put sticky traps right over the pots, and most adults that make it through the sand get stuck there. The ones in the ground die and decompose.

 

[Frankthetank]

-60? I feel like a pussy at moment.

Every time I start feeling sorry for myself about the cold winters, etc....I take a gander through Trail's journal. :smoking:

 

[Tommy McCain]

-60? I feel like a pussy at moment.



exactly. So far all my methods are non destructive and organic approved.

The best things are sticky traps and sand/diatomaceous earth layers on top. They get trapped out, and trapped in. The Pest part of the gnats is the larval stage that eats the root hairs and the plant doesn't get water uptake. They also feed on fungus, and other organic matter in the soil. The life cycle is a month, and they can be in all three egg, larva, and adult at the same time.

Each mother lays about 300 eggs just under the soil a day after climbing out. The gnats mostly stay at the top couple inches, but when you mix up the soil they can be all throughout.

The egg hatches in about a week, and the larva feed for a week or two before popping out with wings to mate. but they are terrible flyers, so they don't go far. They are attracted to yellow, so I put sticky traps right over the pots, and most adults that make it through the sand get stuck there. The ones in the ground die and decompose.

Keep a layer of rice hull mulch on top for the fungus gnats. This also keeps the soil surface moist. Also, I don't know why but a layer of my fresh EWC on the top of the pot does them in. (I make some Grade A EWC.)

I have not had them in almost a year since the mulch addition though.

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