New Grower NugNoob's - First Grow Adventure! AK-47's

[jingo]

Thanks @jingo for your reply. I'm in the US, I'll see if I can get that from a garden center or HD.

Have you tried putting an inch or so layer of play sand on top of the soil, some say this stops new gnats, but I don't think it would stop the little larvae grubs from feasting on the roots?

Also have you heard of cooking your soil mix at around 200f in an oven for an hour or two prior to planting to sterilize soil from bugs? This is a new thought to me but I'm thinking the only way gnats grew up in here was from the soil I bought, so that would almost guarantee no gnats next grow.

Ill certainly try what you suggested and maybe add a bit of sand on top. Just thinking ahead for the next grow in how to improve. This sucks.

I guess I got a little bit of a Stoner memory problem going on. I always cover my Coco with two inches of clay Pebbles washed severely because they're very alkaline. That keeps out the Nats the bugs that have a larva stage in the soil, last time I had them was because I hadn't put the pebbles in yet the plants weren't tall enough.

I do keep sand around and I have used sand instead of Pebbles when I didn't have them but I really like the Pebbles because it adds more air to the nutrient mix as it Cascades over the over the clay Pebbles.

You can also hang a few yellow sticky traps around your tent to catch those that are flying around it'll help you monitor the numbers. Once you don't catch any for a week then you'll know you're done.

Lots of people will bake their soil in the oven. I used to take mine outside and put it in a black plastic bag on a sunny day and just cook the crap out of it. That was until I found a hydro shop that didn't store their soil outside and I quit buying the bugs at the other hydro shop.

 

[NugNoob]

I guess I got a little bit of a Stoner memory problem going on. I always cover my Coco with two inches of clay Pebbles washed severely because they're very alkaline. That keeps out the Nats the bugs that have a larva stage in the soil, last time I had them was because I hadn't put the pebbles in yet the plants weren't tall enough.

I do keep sand around and I have used sand instead of Pebbles when I didn't have them but I really like the Pebbles because it adds more air to the nutrient mix as it Cascades over the over the clay Pebbles.

You can also hang a few yellow sticky traps around your tent to catch those that are flying around it'll help you monitor the numbers. Once you don't catch any for a week then you'll know you're done.

Lots of people will bake their soil in the oven. I used to take mine outside and put it in a black plastic bag on a sunny day and just cook the crap out of it. That was until I found a hydro shop that didn't store their soil outside and I quit buying the bugs at the other hydro shop.

Haha, awesome man! Thanks for the helpful advice. I'll definitely give it a go with the sand and next grow ill pick up the pebbles and try baking the soil.

Thanks again for your timely advice!

 

[TheMongol]

@NugNoob
Do you have this sticky, yellow sheets in your tent? I use them in every grow from the beginn till end, so i immidiately notice, if there is any flying object in my garden...they

´re also aviable at amazon...

 

[NugNoob]

@NugNoob
Do you have this sticky, yellow sheets in your tent? I use them in every grow from the beginn till end, so i immidiately notice, if there is any flying object in my garden...theyView attachment 718515 ´re also aviable at amazon...

Good thinking! Will pick some up.

 

[Slowmo]

Do you have this sticky, yellow sheets in your tent? I use them in every grow from the beginn till end, so i immidiately notice, if there is any flying object in my garden...they

i do the same ... i always seem to have a small amount of white flies ... notably more in the beginning of grows .. when new pots are drying .. never much of a problem later in grow

 

[Slowmo]

Do you have this sticky, yellow sheets in your tent? I use them in every grow from the beginn till end, so i immidiately notice, if there is any flying object in my garden...they

i can recommend just laying them across pots once plants get above pot height .. that will catch many newborns before they get a chance to mate and produce new nasties

 

[NugNoob]

Is this the stuff @jingo ?

Can't seem to find Montgomery but found Monerey brand stuff.

i can recommend just laying them across pots once plants get above pot height .. that will catch many newborns before they get a chance to mate and produce new nasties

Thanks for the help! Will try this as well.

 

[jingo]

Yeah that's it must be Stoner memory again. It's gone down in price since first time I bought it I paid about $30 a pint when I picked up mine. Had it around for three or four years before I actually had to use it.

 

[NugNoob]

Day 15 (3-19-17) A sad day...

As mentioned prior, found a single gnat. Killed it and freaked out. Then found 2 more. I want to make it clear that 24 hours ago and any day before that, there def were no bugs, gnats or anything. They must have within the past 12 hours hatched and flew or w.e. Along with that 24 hours ago, there was no visible fungus or anything like that. Those 'lil guys pictured earlier, popping out turned out to be little mushrooms on the bottom of Saturn's grow bag. I decided to simply dispose of her as I started digging around a little I noticed more, see pics below. I guess the last few waters each day trying to control pH may have sent them over the edge and fungus grew in a 78-82 high humidity environment. So only Mercury and Jupiter are left.

@jingo Called 3 different stores but didn't have the Monterey stuff but did find Cpt. Jacks Dead Bug spray which has Spinosad in it but only 0.0001% as opposed to the the Monterey one which has 0.5% This Cpt. Jack also doesn't say if it kills Fungus Gnats in the description, but I did find another spray called "Organocide" 3 in 1 which does say it will kill Fungus Gnats and is safe on vegetables, it does not have Spinosad but primarily Seasme Oil, Lecithin, Fish Oil and Potassium Sorbate. So I mixed the two together. 8tsp's of the Cpt. Jacks + 6tsp's of the Organocide into 1 gallon jug, pH'd to 6.07 I figured what do I have to lose at this point. If this goes anymore south, I'll just give them the Saturn treatment and hopefully my Dutch Passion seeds from Seedsman will arrive soon and I'll start over with improvements.

Here is the result of my concoction...

Poured the whole jug evenly (1/2 gallon each) onto Jupiter and Mercury. Kept them lifted them up so they could drain easier and dispose of runoff easily. Hopefully this helps with the pH as well. Better yet, hopefully this kills the gnat larvae, helps or fixes the pH and get these poor stunted ladies on the go again. As you can see, I also put about 1" thick top coat of fine "please play anywhere else gnats" sand to hopefully prevent any more hatching. Haven't seen any other gnats flying around. Bought some of those stick traps off Amazon, should be here Tuesday just in case.

Saturn postmortem...



That's it for now, it is a sad day indeed. Though I am a noob, I have done a decent amount of research and thought I had prepared and provided everything just right. Needless to say my pride is wounded just a little. Expect the worst, hope for the best. Most importantly, live, learn, improve and move on. Thank you all for your help thus far!

 

[TheMongol]

No, you killed saturn? maybe the gnats went in when tent was open or have been in the soil already like eggs..had such problem times before...need time to translate everything you wrote here.....