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The Buggy Thread

ZombieRider

ZombieRider

Coco Helper
Coco Helper
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Whats up y'all. I figured i'd start a thread where we can post pictures of pests, talk about controlling/eliminating them and everything related to bugs/fungus/molds/viruses and their relation to growing.

gnat_smoking_leaf.jpeg
 
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Ill go first: i found this little bugger crawling around in my peyote wifi bud! I dont see any damage to the plant, but i DO NOT like finding anything crawling around in there. Any idea what this might be?

I am gonna be spraying everything around the plants with dr zyme with the fans off, try and sterilize the area as best as possible. Spring is hitting hard here in Virginia and its really hard to keep the house insect free. So heres to hoping this little creature doesnt wipe me out! If its a threat to the garden ima try and find a beneficial insect that can eat them :D.
 

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ZombieRider said:
Ill go first: i found this little bugger crawling around in my peyote wifi bud! I dont see any damage to the plant, but i DO NOT like finding anything crawling around in there. Any idea what this might be?

I am gonna be spraying everything around the plants with dr zyme with the fans off, try and sterilize the area as best as possible. Spring is hitting hard here in Virginia and its really hard to keep the house insect free. So heres to hoping this little creature doesnt wipe me out! If its a threat to the garden ima try and find a beneficial insect that can eat them :D.
Click to expand...
I think thats just some kind of beetle, now what kind, no clue bro.

I havent had any bugs aside from gnats and a couple spider mites on isolated clones. I use pyganic, dr zymes, and sulfur spray, not at the same time, i flip flop every time i treat them. Most likely will only use the zymes if i come into mildew again.

I also mix in Harvest hero enhanced perlite which has diatomaceous earth in it so that helps keep bugs in my soil down too.
 
I've been pretty fortunate in this tent as I haven't had any infestations or infections. I'd say that your first line of defense is to practice cleanliness protcols. Prevention is your best weapon.

Keep your area and the media base clear of dead leaves or live leaves touching media to keep bugs and mildew from getting a foothold.

Don't introduce outside plants into your indoor gardens unless you've treated and quarantined them for an appropriate amount of time to be sure your plants are clean.

Try not to expose your grow area if you've just come from outside where mites and other pests can hitchhike on your clothing and get into your garden that way. I use a canvas coverall that I slip into whenever I attend to the girls so nothing I'm carrying can transfer into the garden.

Sterilize your shears with isopropyl alcohol. Whiskey doesn't count...

Use sticky traps to control gnat swarms but try and prevent them from even getting a foothold by keeping the top soil relatively dry so that eggs can't hatch. I've always had gnat issues when the soil I used holds water for a longer period of time so I try and use loose, well draining soils and adhere to a good dryback period.

Basically treat your tent like your mother in law with the white gloves is coming over.

If you do get infected with either pests or mildew make sure whatever pesticide/fungicide you use gets applied to the ENTIRE plant. Top to bottom, side to side paying SPECIAL attention to the underside of leaves. Whenever I treat a plant I wet it down to the point that solution is dripping off the tips of the leaves. Not a stream but drips.

As a general pesticide, I like to use Azamax if it gets out of hand. It's a derivative of Neem Oil and can be used up to 10 days before harvest. It treats a broad spectrum of pests. I usually have a spray bottle of insecticidal soap that I make with liquid detergent and water for something I catch early but moreso for mildews and fungi. Otherwise I try not to use any sort of chemical pesticide.
 
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GoodShit97 said:
I think thats just some kind of beetle, now what kind, no clue bro.

I havent had any bugs aside from gnats and a couple spider mites on isolated clones. I use pyganic, dr zymes, and sulfur spray, not at the same time, i flip flop every time i treat them. Most likely will only use the zymes if i come into mildew again.

I also mix in Harvest hero enhanced perlite which has diatomaceous earth in it so that helps keep bugs in my soil down too.
Click to expand...
Wht kind of sulfur spray? I got some micronizwd sulfur granules but not sure the application method.
 
Bandit420 said:
Admiral Akbar's It's a Trap! Gnat & Whitefly Trap is the premier gnat trapping system in the entire galaxy

View attachment 4299

Fortunately for the rebels the admiral let the secret out before he was blasted into smithereens and now anybody can make them using yellow solo cups coated with Tanglefoot


Click to expand...
Nice i will be getting some of that sticky stuff and make some gnat traps. Good timing cuz i am out of sticky traps and these look cool
 
I've never had to use the stuff thankfully, the most serious critter I've had to deal with was a few fungus gnats here and there that a good smack and proper dry phase resolved. I do see this stuff every time I'm at Canadian Tire though and I would prob try it out myself when needed.

31-6035can_d_1.jpg
 
Bandit420 said:
Admiral Akbar's It's a Trap! Gnat & Whitefly Trap is the premier gnat trapping system in the entire galaxy

View attachment 4299

Fortunately for the rebels the admiral let the secret out before he was blasted into smithereens and now anybody can make them using yellow solo cups coated with Tanglefoot


Click to expand...
What if I skipped the tanglefoot and just hung the AA sticker with the wax paper peeled off exposing the sticky side!??!!🥸
 
Bandit420 said:
Admiral Akbar's It's a Trap! Gnat & Whitefly Trap is the premier gnat trapping system in the entire galaxy

View attachment 4299

Fortunately for the rebels the admiral let the secret out before he was blasted into smithereens and now anybody can make them using yellow solo cups coated with Tanglefoot


Click to expand...
Wish I seen this about 2 weeks ago I got hammered with white flies worst I’ve ever seen
 
Rootsruler said:
I've been pretty fortunate in this tent as I haven't had any infestations or infections. I'd say that your first line of defense is to practice cleanliness protcols. Prevention is your best weapon.

Keep your area and the media base clear of dead leaves or live leaves touching media to keep bugs and mildew from getting a foothold.

Don't introduce outside plants into your indoor gardens unless you've treated and quarantined them for an appropriate amount of time to be sure your plants are clean.

Try not to expose your grow area if you've just come from outside where mites and other pests can hitchhike on your clothing and get into your garden that way. I use a canvas coverall that I slip into whenever I attend to the girls so nothing I'm carrying can transfer into the garden.

Sterilize your shears with isopropyl alcohol. Whiskey doesn't count...

Use sticky traps to control gnat swarms but try and prevent them from even getting a foothold by keeping the top soil relatively dry so that eggs can't hatch. I've always had gnat issues when the soil I used holds water for a longer period of time so I try and use loose, well draining soils and adhere to a good dryback period.

Basically treat your tent like your mother in law with the white gloves is coming over.

If you do get infected with either pests or mildew make sure whatever pesticide/fungicide you use gets applied to the ENTIRE plant. Top to bottom, side to side paying SPECIAL attention to the underside of leaves. Whenever I treat a plant I wet it down to the point that solution is dripping off the tips of the leaves. Not a stream but drips.

As a general pesticide, I like to use Azamax if it gets out of hand. It's a derivative of Neem Oil and can be used up to 10 days before harvest. It treats a broad spectrum of pests. I usually have a spray bottle of insecticidal soap that I make with liquid detergent and water for something I catch early but moreso for mildews and fungi. Otherwise I try not to use any sort of chemical pesticide.
Click to expand...
I grow in coco so i really try to not let the top layer of soil dry out. I guess this is just something that plagues coco growers. I did manage to get rid of some gnats a few weeks ago with a flush of dr zymes. 2 applications and dont see em anymore ( so far but i bet theyll be back lol).

Gotcha on the spray tech. I got some dr zymes, flying skull nuke em and venerate. I also got some Bonide brand sulfur which i will use to sterilize the room between grows or if i need to ward away evil sprits.
 
ZombieRider said:
Nice i will be getting some of that sticky stuff and make some gnat traps. Good timing cuz i am out of sticky traps and these look cool
Click to expand...

Moshmen said:
Wish I seen this about 2 weeks ago I got hammered with white flies worst I’ve ever seen
Click to expand...

My frustrations with gnats or white flies was exhaustive and was getting to be expensive buying the sticky trap cards. I had to have fun with it to keep spirits high but what I found was it was more cost effective to DIY the traps and kinda fun to make the traps.
And even better was I could slice them down the side, cut the bottom out, and would have a trunk wrap trap which really seemed to reduce the numbers and minimize the infestation.
Another pro to solo cups is the 360* trap surface area unlike cards with one side sticky and the other side not. DIY makes it so all parts of the trap are a trap.

DIY will give you 2-3x more trap surface than buying premade cards. You can also use yellow paper and even post it notes but I like the solo cups because they hold up well and the 12oz or 16oz size cups make a good size trap that can catch thousands of bugs.

However when you DIY you'll want to wear disposable gloves, nitrile or food service type. I like food service because they're loose fitting and cheaper.

You'll also want to use a disposable paint brush but it can be reused by wrapping it with a plastic sandwich baggie after using.
And lastly you'll want a large ziplock bag to store the can of Tanglefoot inside so it doesn't get sticky stuff on other things. Basically handle it all like using a baggie to pick up dog poop.

The main goal is keep it off you because it's a bitch to wash off while you brush it on and get the routine down.

Now with a 3D printer I can make reusable traps simply by printing out a card size plastic plate in yellow for gnats and whiteflies or blue for thrips and coating it. Then when it's full simply scrape the glue off with a plastic razor blade and apply another coat of tanglefoot

Luckily I haven't had to deploy any traps for a while but doesn't mean I'm not ready to put a dozen or so traps out if I see something flying around. Seemed like every batch of coco I bought came with white fly and springtail eggs and have had my fair share of soils infested with gnats but have lucked out the past 2-3 years getting clean soils. Things Iearned there was never buy any medium stored outdoors and don't trust unwashed bricks or bales of coco to be clean of both salts and bug eggs
 
Last edited:
Moshmen said:
That’s what I use too - but in bulk and cheap - I like the solo idea and keeping them off the plant and some DE and they don’t stand a chance
Click to expand...
I've been pretty lucky. I have a sad trap hanging in the tent with more of my hair than gnats. I guess the dry backs are doing their job.
 
Bandit420 said:
My frustrations with gnats or white flies was exhaustive and was getting to be expensive buying the sticky trap cards. I had to have fun with it to keep spirits high but what I found was it was more cost effective to DIY the traps and kinda fun to make the traps.
And even better was I could slice them down the side, cut the bottom out, and would have a trunk wrap trap which really seemed to reduce the numbers and minimize the infestation.
Another pro to solo cups is the 360* trap surface area unlike cards with one side sticky and the other side not. DIY makes it so all parts of the trap are a trap.

DIY will give you 2-3x more trap surface than buying premade cards. You can also use yellow paper and even post it notes but I like the solo cups because they hold up well and the 12oz or 16oz size cups make a good size trap that can catch thousands of bugs.

However when you DIY you'll want to wear disposable gloves, nitrile or food service type. I like food service because they're loose fitting and cheaper.

You'll also want to use a disposable paint brush but it can be reused by wrapping it with a plastic sandwich baggie after using.
And lastly you'll want a large ziplock bag to store the can of Tanglefoot inside so it doesn't get sticky stuff on other things. Basically handle it all like using a baggie to pick up dog poop.

The main goal is keep it off you because it's a bitch to wash off while you brush it on and get the routine down.

Now with a 3D printer I can make reusable traps simply by printing out a card size plastic plate in yellow for gnats and whiteflies or blue for thrips and coating it. Then when it's full simply scrape the glue off with a plastic razor blade and apply another coat of tanglefoot

Luckily I haven't had to deploy any traps for a while but doesn't mean I'm not ready to put a dozen or so traps out if I see something flying around. Seemed like every batch of coco I bought came with white fly and springtail eggs and have had my fair share of soils infested with gnats but have lucked out the past 2-3 years getting clean soils. Things Iearned there was never buy any medium stored outdoors and don't trust unwashed bricks or bales of coco to be clean of both salts and bug eggs
Click to expand...
I always seem to find a gnat or two my last runs, but they never get too bad since I blast em with wind and, now, Dr Zymes etc. Do you spray anything for IPM?
Just ordered some of that tanglefoot and will post my DIY creation here. Thanks for the advice man, those sticky traps do get expensive. Also will be cool to customize a trap on anything really. I dont have a 3d printer so Im thinking a few of those ultra cheap plastic yellow cutting boards will make a good reuseable trap surface.
 
ZombieRider said:
Nice, some sulfur in there too which is cool. Will add it to the list of ipm things to cycle around my gardens.
Click to expand...

I like the pyganic a lot too. Works amazing on aphids. Ive used it in my veggie garden a lot.
 
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