Black flies black flies black flies!

They are driving me insane. Everyday I come out and there are more and more. I had white flies too , but used a neem mixtures and the white flies are gone. It did nothing for the black flies. They are like a cross between a nat and a regular fly. Very small with a round appearance and solid black. Not sure what kind of damage they are causing if any, but my leaves from the bottom of the plant to about midway look horrible. The middle to top of plants look great, atleast so far. The plants are just about rounding 4 weeks. Here are some picks that may or may not help.





Get a bug net the black flies don’t hurt your plant though :wink: I am so currious about your ph? because I am seeing lots of signs of a lockout I suspect your Ph is way too high

have a read :slight_smile:

The large flies indicate dead plant material or smaller prey.
I hated the bees, wasps and flies around my plant till you read some eat the larvae and pupae of leaf eaters and others literally lay eggs in bad bugs, eating them from the inside. Everyone loves ladybugs, but daddy long leg spiders were my warriors.

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lol yep those black flies are harmless to your plant most likely there for the dead critters

So I should test the soil ph level? Does the water ph have a significant effect? Also what would you call that kind of tester? Bat guano and blood meal seem to be readily available, would you recommend those? Also, am I looking at removing the entire plant from it’s pot to mix that stuff in, or is there an easier way? Thank you so much, first time grower here :blush:

Test the water going in and the run off coming out ph is hugely important in nutrient up take if ph is too low or too high your plants won’t use certain nutrients. Ph should be 6.5 plus or minus .3 6.2-6.8 if you were planning on a full organic grow using amended soil you are a little late most home made soil mixes require time to mix and cook much like composting.
Some things can be added directly to soil but at this point lets try and figure out what is creating your plants immediate issues

start by checking this thread ph strips are also available in many pet stores pool supply centres and walmarts.
If you have a nutrient lock out like I suspect it will only worsen we will have to get your ph under control before your plant can recover

Ok, thank you for the tips. I made a trip to the grow store, actually two different ones. The first guy seemed to be off the mark. Told me to cut all the bad tips and it would be ok. I told him I did that on one leaf and within days it wilted and completely died. Then he went on to say it may be the soil. His PH testers were pretty expensive, so I went to my normal place and talked to the guy there. He agreed that the PH needed to be tested and said almost immediately it was a soil issue. So I tested the water going in and it’s 7.5. So I need to figure out a way to get that down a bit. He told me to change out the soil immediately, so I bought a bag of Top Crop. He said it’s got everything needed mixed in and as long as my water PH is good I should be able to salvage the plants no problem. So, I’ve read a good bit on ‘‘flushing’’ plants for transfer from soil to hydro setups and figured it was about the same process. Basically told me to squeeze the pot a bit and take a knife around the edge of the pot. Carefully pull out and place root ball in 5 gallon bucket to try and get as much of the bad soil off, then place in new pots. I bought deeper and larger diameter mesh pots. The big fear here is shock to the roots. Does any of that sound like reliable info? How do I lower water PH? The bottom and mid area of my plants is toast for the most part, but the top half still looks good except for one leaf. Whatever this is it’s spreading fast. The clock is ticking on the transfer, but I would really love to get your opinion on the best and safest way to go with it. Thank you so much…

Since this is outdoors, would I want to transfer first thing in the morning before the sun comes up, or at night? Or even mid day?? Thanks again!

Do me a favor ask the guy who said change soil who taught them how to grow? Your soil is fine what has happened is your ph is too high which creates a nutrient lock out preventing your plant from getting certain key nutrients.
What I would suggest is go to a car parts store and ask for Battery acid refill pack or a pet store in the fish isle get some ph and ph down I am actually shocked at the store you got your meter from they didn’t suggest PH up and PH down if you wish to go full organic route you can use vinegar to lower ph.

this may help you want your run off ph to be 6.2-6.8 though 6.5 is the goal this is just a general idea on what to do.

Once you have your water at correct ph 6.5 maybe closer to 6.3 just because we are attempting to lower soil ph too you should flush all of your plants with this water correctly ph’d rinse right through the soil with 3-4 times the volume of container worth of water. Measure the run off through out when your ph at run off is around 6.5 stop let them dry for several days as if watering regular. For each water from this point on adjust your ph to 6.5 measure run off every time you water and adjust accordingly.
So if run off ph is high lower ph you water with won’t take long you’ll have adjusting and measuring to a science within a few weeks.

Totally missed this post, thank you so much for your help!