Indoor Lugubrious perpetual indoor grow notill 8x4 bed LED journal

[pop22]

Megacrop is an all in one nutrient. It combines the elements and minerals normally used but those that need to be chealted are done so with amino acids not EDTA. It also includes some organics like kelp. I think it may be one of the best nutrient packages available. And the price is right!

 

[Dudeski]

I would let the double grow out. You will be disturbing both sets of roots if you pull one.

 

[Lugubrious]

So no major updates everybody looks like seedlings, have a few that didnt make it and a suprise one pop up on me guess I miss marked or planted in a different spot then I planned haha.

Anyways this thing takes alot of water I just put about 8 gallons in, I'm glad it still is experiencing a dry cycle and not staying overly/weirdly moist so that's great. Still havent put in the blumats because I'm lazy and have been working every day.

One problem popping up, I am seeing some little bitty flying bugs, mostly they are in the soil not flying but it looks like then can fly they are maybe about a millimeter mil and a half long, grayish black. Dont know what they are, they 100% had to come in some of the soil if my reptile keeping has taught me anything it's that you should always bake(litterlly) your medium/substrate to kill any unwanted pests, however I didnt know if that would damage anything I need in the soil.

Can anyone suggest what these things could be and how to deal with them? I want to do so as naturally as possible, lady bugs are an option but not wanting to really deal with them, other options are spring tails I can get from a reptile store, they make a good clean up crew, not sure how or if they would handle the little mites or whatever they are.

Anyways. Good evening AFN fam. Roll up a fat doiink for me.

 

[Tommy McCain]

So no major updates everybody looks like seedlings, have a few that didnt make it and a suprise one pop up on me guess I miss marked or planted in a different spot then I planned haha.

Anyways this thing takes alot of water I just put about 8 gallons in, I'm glad it still is experiencing a dry cycle and not staying overly/weirdly moist so that's great. Still havent put in the blumats because I'm lazy and have been working every day.

One problem popping up, I am seeing some little bitty flying bugs, mostly they are in the soil not flying but it looks like then can fly they are maybe about a millimeter mil and a half long, grayish black. Dont know what they are, they 100% had to come in some of the soil if my reptile keeping has taught me anything it's that you should always bake(litterlly) your medium/substrate to kill any unwanted pests, however I didnt know if that would damage anything I need in the soil.

Can anyone suggest what these things could be and how to deal with them? I want to do so as naturally as possible, lady bugs are an option but not wanting to really deal with them, other options are spring tails I can get from a reptile store, they make a good clean up crew, not sure how or if they would handle the little mites or whatever they are.

Anyways. Good evening AFN fam. Roll up a fat doiink for me.

Sounds like fungus gnats. Blumats will help with them by keeping you soil evenly wet. Your soil surface is most likely too wet allowing them to breed at will. Did you add a mulch? A layer of mulch helps keep them from laying their larva. I really recommend rice hulls because they are easy and can be found at brew shops cheap. They keep the bugs away from the soil. Mulch is one of the most important part of no til. It keeps your soil moist and healthy and it also gives your worms and other creatures in the soil food web fed.
Get gellow sticky traps near the soil. If they get out of control I make a neem meal tea and water it into the soil. You can see their larvae crawl to the surface and die. Very rewarding. But disgusting.

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[MickJ]

Sounds like fungus gnats. Blumats will help with them by keeping you soil evenly wet. Your soil surface is most likely too wet allowing them to breed at will. Did you add a mulch? A layer of mulch helps keep them from laying their larva. I really recommend rice hulls because they are easy and can be found at brew shops cheap. They keep the bugs away from the soil. Mulch is one of the most important part of no til. It keeps your soil moist and healthy and it also gives your worms and other creatures in the soil food web fed.
Get gellow sticky traps near the soil. If they get out of control I make a neem meal tea and water it into the soil. You can see their larvae crawl to the surface and die. Very rewarding. But disgusting.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Also cider vinegar with dish soap/washing up liquid and water in a cup. The soap breaks the surface tension and the gnats drown. Works for me.

Sent from my comfy chair
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[Lugubrious]

Hey thanks, I dont have any mulch yet, was going to wait until they were a bit more established. I want them gone soon asap though before things really take off.
Right now I have to really water the bed every other day and well more then the top 2 inches are dry. Have a hard time thinking it's too moist but regardless of anything they exist and need to be eradicated!

Thanks @Tommy McCain and @Rollin_along !!

 

[Lugubrious]

@Tommy McCain your saying the rice hulls as a lice leaf litter layer works well if not better then mulch? Going to look around for some, that was one element of my soil build I havent been able to find. Or malted powdered barley.

I'm going to pick up some beneficial nematodes and fly traps to help keep it under control, and pick up some rice hulls or mulch tomorrow.

 

[Dudeski]

@Tommy McCain your saying the rice hulls as a lice leaf litter layer works well if not better then mulch? Going to look around for some, that was one element of my soil build I havent been able to find. Or malted powdered barley.

I'm going to pick up some beneficial nematodes and fly traps to help keep it under control, and pick up some rice hulls or mulch tomorrow.

You can buy malted barley and grind into powder.

 

[Vicent Van Grow]

Is it confirmed fungus knat? If so just bottom feed for now and buy those yellow sticky pads and some small stakes to place them just above the medium. Had this problem consistently last year in a certain grow space and this worked every time. You could also add liquid oxygen to your feed this will kill them but also any other micro organisms so then its a case of your medium, in coco I have had no issue using these methods and can confirm they work like a charm. Hope this helps some and you get it sorted mate.

 

[Lugubrious]

Is it confirmed fungus knat? If so just bottom feed for now and buy those yellow sticky pads and some small stakes to place them just above the medium. Had this problem consistently last year in a certain grow space and this worked every time. You could also add liquid oxygen to your feed this will kill them but also any other micro organisms so then its a case of your medium, in coco I have had no issue using these methods and can confirm they work like a charm. Hope this helps some and you get it sorted mate.

I'm not able to bottom feed this set up as it's a single 8ftx4ft grow bed unless theres methods I'm unaware of.

Definitely am picking up little sticky fly traps.

But yeah with a live soil theres lots of organisms including worms down there I wouldnt want to mess with so I dont think liquid oxygen will work.

I think my only option besides chemicals are going to be the nematodes for the larve. Which isnt a bad thing. Will only help my soil mix and further my true living soil