LaquerHead's LOS: Gold Rush, Strawberry Glue & More!

Pennywise said:
I'm sure they can be killed.
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That had been my thought process! That was before I invested hours of foliar spraying LOL. Its mind boggling what they have had to go through...only to come out on top! I've actually considered forbid or avid at times I was infuriated, then I realized what I was actually saying :rofl: not an option!
 
...I've noticed you mulch your pots...just thinking out-loud here...have you treated beneath the straw?...could it be a breeding ground for these pests?...gotta be frustrating for sure, but gotta be a way to exterminate those fookerz...cheerz...h00k... :hookah:...
 
dr.h00k said:
...I've noticed you mulch your pots...just thinking out-loud here...have you treated beneath the straw?...could it be a breeding ground for these pests?...gotta be frustrating for sure, but gotta be a way to exterminate those fookerz...cheerz...h00k... :hookah:...
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Thats a very good point :high-five:...I've considered that many many times...and still dont out-rule it! Its actually the only thing I can think of that makes any kind of sense. Straw, and malted barley have been used since day one almost...rice hulls were just recently added into the picture. But that was my first educated guess, I even took a 20x to my malted barley :rofl: family thought I was losing it!

@Dusty Kiefers I actually haven't tried h202..at least on them! But they're definitely not as red as the pics....just opaque, clear looking mostly. Ugly little obese things...with hairs, and not just the few hairs coming out the ass end but all over. Honestly, just like a cheese/mould mite!

@Pennywise I used that on an outdoor plant back when I was like 16-17 LOL! That's also an option though...whats the ingredients on something like that?

Edit: And yes I have also treated the soil/beneath the soil for any kind of pests, so if mulch may have been an issue...it should have been eliminated! Maybe its the MBP that gets topdressed every couple to few weeks!?
 
Hook just might be onto something...I might try treating the mulch layer/topsoil a little heavier....its always been a thought in the back of my mind and I've never really went all out with it. Only with foliar applications! I guess I thought the neem & insect frass was enough to keep them at bay...its definitely worth a shot!

Edit: Honestly even the MBP itself should help with pests...loaded with chitosan! Pretty much the same concept as insect frass (insects being there own demise?)...pretty neat cycle really!
 
They look like predatory soil mites to me LH....but that doesn't explain why they are up on the leaves....which makes me think I don't know what I am talking about. You definitely need @Pterostychus to drop in and help identify it.

Could be you have a huge breeding ground for fungus gnat down in the straw....and it supports such a high population of predatory mites and they just wonder. Could be Stank's high again.

But seriously I had those same looking bugs in a few pots back when i had a really bad fungus gnat issue. Thats my guess.....good guy mites for the soil.
 
Van Stank said:
They look like predatory soil mites to me LH....but that doesn't explain why they are up on the leaves....which makes me think I don't know what I am talking about. You definitely need @Pterostychus to drop in and help identify it.

Could be you have a huge breeding ground for fungus gnat down in the straw....and it supports such a high population of predatory mites and they just wonder. Could be Stank's high again.

But seriously I had those same looking bugs in a few pots back when i had a really bad fungus gnat issue. Thats my guess.....good guy mites for the soil.
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I love all the awesome ideas people come up with :circle-of-love: definitely possible...fungus gnats are roaming around on 1 of my pots pretty heavily, ironically the one that has the majority of these little guys :high-five:!

I was staring at them this morning and thought they moved relatively quick for their size..not fast by any means but they were definitely making progress. Could an overpopulation of good guys possibly have a negative effect? I hate saying negative really, cause I've always made it to finish line...but blue dream barely made it! Thanks for dropping by Stank :thanks:
 
My bug lady told me this. Good mites are fast, like predators, the ones that like to munch on your plants are slow...like cattle or prey.

So if the little bastards are ripping around your pot, they are probably good mites.

Which then could be managed by killing their food. As mentioned.
 
Not sure where you got your straw from... but many farmers will leave straw sitting in the fields before they pick it up.... so lots of time for the creepy crawlies to make a home unfortunately.

interesting how they seem to have embedded themselves in the fabric pots as well.... oh Mother Nature and her mysteries!
Plants look good though!!

:passitleft:
 
UrbanAchiever said:
My bug lady told me this. Good mites are fast, like predators, the ones that like to munch on your plants are slow...like cattle or prey.

So if the little bastards are ripping around your pot, they are probably good mites.

Which then could be managed by killing their food. As mentioned.
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Gah, I hate fungus gnats :eye-roll:

Pjs420 said:
Not sure where you got your straw from... but many farmers will leave straw sitting in the fields before they pick it up.... so lots of time for the creepy crawlies to make a home unfortunately.

interesting how they seem to have embedded themselves in the fabric pots as well.... oh Mother Nature and her mysteries!
Plants look good though!!

:passitleft:
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Build-a-soil! And It does hold many mysteries, thats for sure lol. Thanks PJ! :passitleft:
 
They actually showed up in force when I ffirst had a fungus gnat issue, which was probably last May-June...And if I recall correctly, some of you mentioned a direct correlation between them and the gnats at that time. Kinda remember that now :hmmmm:

How has the gnat nix worked for you @Van Stank
 
Well the issue with the Gnat gnix isn't really the gnat gnix issue. When I fill my pots with soil...I fill them...I don't leave a lot of room. Usually all I will do is top dress a couple things 2 or 3 times through out a grow. So I don't have much room to add additional stuff. That being said I was lucky if I could put more than quarter of an inch, maybe a half if I am lucky.

So it helps but they are still able to sneek in and out. When I turn up the fan, use the yellow stickies, I have good luck and I don't see many any more.

I think if I could put at least half an inch to an inch of Gnat Gnix, it would be better.
 
I concur on the gnat nix. I had good success outside with an inch or so on top of the soil. They found the bottom holes too tho so I ended up covering those, with ‘hose ;)

That sand option sounds good. How does it effect watering Urb?
LaquerHead said:
hate fungus gnats :eye-roll:
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Yep.

The things that’s helped also is mosquito dunks in the water supply. Really helps. We have a garden tank so it’s easy to always have a dunk in there - not so easy if you don’t have a reservoir of some kind. But it seems very effective. :Namaste:

I know you do the fans and sticky traps already. It seems to take getting all bases covered at once to really knock em out. They’re still here - but hardly a bother now.
 
Got a few ideas to toss around..thanks a bunch! Rice hulls work pretty good, longevity isnt really there though. They had pretty much dissapeared until I started keeping my empty pots moist to keep worms alive! Lose lose situation almost. Need a bigger fan too, that would also help. Gnat gnix will be going on the list!

Makes me kind of nervous to try blumats as the topsoil will always be moist...been pondering that scenario for awhile now! Anyone know the dilution for h202??
 
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