New Grower SPZ's Mephisto Triple Automatic Redux

[Nosias]

Here you go, Nosias!

Day 23

NCH 1
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View attachment 792712

Great pics of your ladies who like to dance while your strumming them a few tunes....

 

[Nosias]

On a serious note I think those damn fungus gnats are starting to damage my plants. I haven't seen more than a few actual gnats but I've been looking into it and that spot that I thought was nute burn might be damage from the larvae. Here's what I'm seeing

NCH 2

Worst spot
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Another spot
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NCH 4, the begining of the same thing?
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I have some neem oil and I'm considering spraying the surface of the pots with a neem solution. I'm already putting out traps like no one's business. Any thoughts or advice are welcome!

I would run this in the infirmary and get your questioned answered....

 

[jelly0]

I had some gnats on my last grow but this time around I top dressed my pots with some clay pebbles and had zero issues with them now. Not too sure how autopots work, the top dressing only works if there's no other opening for the soil in the pot. I used mosquito bits (found em in liquid form) to help control them on my last grow too

... It's funny for my last grow I grew a cheese strain and it had way more gnats than her sister it could be a strain thing they must love dat cheese

 

[SPZ]

Great pics of some ladies who like to dance to your strumming them a few tunes

Man those girls are partying so hard down in the basement I can't get any sleep at night. Lights, music, it's a disco in the grow room all night long and then they just want to sleep all afternoon!

 

[SPZ]

I had some gnats on my last grow but this time around I top dressed my pots with some clay pebbles and had zero issues with them now. Not too sure how autopots work, the top dressing only works if there's no other opening for the soil in the pot. I used mosquito bits (found em in liquid form) to help control them on my last grow too

... It's funny for my last grow I grew a cheese strain and it had way more gnats than her sister it could be a strain thing they must love dat cheese

I guess I can't fault their taste even if they are little fuckers

I'm with you, I'm going to try a top feeding with mosquito dunks (active ingredient BTi) mixed in. I bought some clay pebbles for the bottom of the pots but I never used them, so I'll try them on top as a mulch layer. To answer your question, the bottom of the autopots are sealed with a little lid on the bottom tray, but the gnats are so small they may be able to get in there, time will tell. I went back through the threads and it looks like Hans had a problem with gnats in the coco/autopots once and his first choice was BTi (which wasn't available locally), and the second was SM-90, which he used with success. So I bought these as they are inexpensive and widely available around these parts

 

[Nosias]

I guess I can't fault their taste even if they are little fuckers

I'm with you, I'm going to try a top feeding with mosquito dunks (active ingredient BTi) mixed in. I bought some clay pebbles for the bottom of the pots but I never used them, so I'll try them on top as a mulch layer. To answer your question, the bottom of the autopots are sealed with a little lid on the bottom tray, but the gnats are so small they may be able to get in there, time will tell. I went back through the threads and it looks like Hans had a problem with gnats in the coco/autopots once and his first choice was BTi (which wasn't available locally), and the second was SM-90, which he used with success. So I bought these as they are inexpensive and widely available around these parts

View attachment 792902

"Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate." Thus the Daleks went to war against all gnats.

 

[SPZ]

"Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate." Thus the Daleks went to war against all gnats.

 

[SPZ]

Well the deed is done. You are not supposed to put organics into the autopot reservoir and presumably that includes BTi bacteria, so I scoured the internets and found two main methods for administering the mosquito dunks:

• Fast release method: crush up dunk and soak in water, mix one dunk per 5 gallons water
  
• Slow release method: sprinkle 1/4 crumbled dunk on each pot and top water through crumbles

I'm trying a hybrid approach. Since I have four pots I figured one dunk was the right amount for all four. I crushed up 1/4 dunk and soaked it in 4L lukewarm water for 2 hours, and pH'd the water to 5.8. While it was soaking I took the other 3/4 of the dunk and mixed crumbles into the top 1" of coco in all four pots. I then top watered 1L per pot with the dunk solution. This was the perfect amount for water to start overflowing out into the trays. I figure I've given them a good root soak to introduce the Bacillus thuringiensis and kill the larvae now, while leaving some solid bits in to release over time. I turned off the autopots since I introduced an extra 1L per pot and want that BT to soak in. I will turn them back on tomorrow before I go to work.

I did not mix any nutes in with the 4L of dunk water I introduced. Just in case the spots I'm seeing are root burn, this will dilute the nutes for a day or two so I'm hedging my bets. If I don't see the bugs go away and the spots stop spreading I will be checking into the infirmary.

 

[Nosias]

Well the deed is done. You are not supposed to put organics into the autopot reservoir and presumably that includes BTi bacteria, so I scoured the internets and found two main methods for administering the mosquito dunks:

• Fast release method: crush up dunk and soak in water, mix one dunk per 5 gallons water
  
• Slow release method: sprinkle 1/4 crumbled dunk on each pot and top water through crumbles

I'm trying a hybrid approach. Since I have four pots I figured one dunk was the right amount for all four. I crushed up 1/4 dunk and soaked it in 4L lukewarm water for 2 hours, and pH'd the water to 5.8. While it was soaking I took the other 3/4 of the dunk and mixed crumbles into the top 1" of coco in all four pots. I then top watered 1L per pot with the dunk solution. This was the perfect amount for water to start overflowing out into the trays. I figure I've given them a good root soak to introduce the Bacillus thuringiensis and kill the larvae now, while leaving some solid bits in to release over time. I turned off the autopots since I introduced an extra 1L per pot and want that BT to soak in. I will turn them back on tomorrow before I go to work.

I did not mix any nutes in with the 4L of dunk water I introduced. Just in case the spots I'm seeing are root burn, this will dilute the nutes for a day or two so I'm hedging my bets. If I don't see the bugs go away and the spots stop spreading I will be checking into the infirmary.

So Sorry for your problems of nature. You will prevail.

 

[jelly0]

Very well thought out game plan here I sense a master grower in the making!