ipju Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Is this fungus gnat damage? I´ve had a lot of them in my little tent. Managed to get rid of most by bottom watering, hoovering them up and hanging yellow sticky traps. The plant is doing well otherwise so I´m not that worried. But would be nice to know what´s going on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highgrower Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 You would see lots of little insects flying about if it was gnats Im afraid that looks like thrips or spider mites to me - check the underside of the leaves for anything moving - thrips are tiny so you may need a mag glass 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipju Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Tthanks for the reply @highgrower There were indeed a lot of little insects flying about. But I´ll check the underside. Btw this is your Super Malawi Haze x Celia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BilgePump Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 That looks more like thrips than mite damage to me , thrips are long and thin (but mentioned, tiny) mites are much more ovoid and equally miniature. I quite often find thrips running up and down stems rather than actually on leaves. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highgrower Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Im leaning towards thrips as mite damage that bad usually has some webs starting to appear 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipju Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Look what I found: @highgrower @BilgePump 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highgrower Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Ya thrippy bastard im afraid - not much you can do about it at this point in flower - some may suggest predators but after trying them with mites tbh a waste of money and just soldier on until the end of 12/12 and clean up the space with a bleach wipe down of all pots etc and bin any compost and other consumables. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BilgePump Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Thrip predators are a bit more effective than the two main spider mite predators i found... ive given a lot of money to dragonfli 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highgrower Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Just now, BilgePump said: ive given a lot of money to dragonfli Me too with little/no difference i think 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipju Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 This is a living soil grow. Are predators going to save my soil or do I have to start over? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BilgePump Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 9 minutes ago, highgrower said: Me too with little/no difference i think This is why there's always a bottle of schimmel about the place 10 minutes ago, ipju said: Are predators going to save my soil or do I have to start over? Predators are probably yer best option in a living bed , amblyseius swirskii and amblyseius Andersoni I've used to some effect. Ive also read here and elsewhere that rove beetles are worth a punt. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highgrower Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 16 minutes ago, ipju said: This is a living soil grow. This has always been my worry getting some kind of infestation and having to just manage it rather than being able to clear out everything in between grows - i have had mites many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lildaveham Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 14 minutes ago, BilgePump said: This is why there's always a bottle of schimmel about the place Predators are probably yer best option in a living bed , amblyseius swirskii and amblyseius Andersoni I've used to some effect. Ive also read here and elsewhere that rove beetles are worth a punt. I would plump for swirskii and rove beetles in a living soil bed. I was hesitant with the rove beetles at first due to the cost but after I did take the plunge I haven’t seen any thrip damage whatsoever. Also after a 12/12 cycle and reset of my bed I have spotted the rove beetles are still in there so hopefully they are still doing the job. It’s worked for me but all situations and environments are slightly different. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned The Head Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) Also worth mentioning moisture levels in living soil. Thrips thrive in dry conditions. When I had my bed at 200+ mbar I had an almighty infestation. Since bringing it up to 100-120mbar (in the same soil) I haven’t seen one single thrip in months…touch wood. Edited January 3 by Ned The Head 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Bastard Thrips! Little fuckers, and hard to get rid of, especially in flower, I've thrown everything at them over the last year but they always somehow manage to come back. Mites/Orius flies help, but only at high RH so not suitable for flower, sprays work (check out experiments with Dettol thread) but again not suitable for flower. Neem soil denches work (for a while), but you have to do a lot of them and Neem is an absolute chore to use. The only thing I haven't tried is roves, like Dave I have been put off by the price, but you can farm them yourself (there's a thread for that on here as well) so really you only need to buy them once and I have been told from several people now it's basically the only way to get rid of them. Other than.... What Ned said, they will more or less disappear if you keep the right soil moisture, but as it gets too moist for thrips it starts becoming more ideal for gnats, so keep that in mind. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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