Fleas on baby plant

Today while checking my plants I noticed what I think to be fleas in my soil, I have only noticed one as of now, can y’all tell me how to get grid of them. Before they get to be a hasel.(Without chemicals or anything that could harm them.)

Most times they are Fungus Gnats. I believe there is a " what to do". To fix this,just not sure where

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Alright thanks I will try to find it

There is a detailed explanation here somewhere. But in summary, sprinkle ditomaceous earth (fossil flour) on the topsoil and avoid over watering, excessive fungus gnats is often one of the first symptoms of overwatering.

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Here ya go my guide is so big I would have to post it in 5 parts.

If you like what you see I will send you the whole complete guide in ZIP form
Just send me your e-mail…it’s up to you.
I placed it in clear plastic and hang it in my grow room
The guide has pic’s to show you and helps to pin point the problem

Will

Pest Troubles

Well this isn’t going to be a long one, just going to talk about what each bug does, what are its symptoms and how to prevent and kill them.

White flys:

They look just like tiny months, and lay eggs on leaves and or top of the soil. They are a pest in big numbers and are not very hard to get rid of; they can cause damage by sucking sap from the plants and also causes viruses to the plants. While they suck, the plants release honeydew which can contribute to mold on your plants. White flies are not flies they are related to the aphid’s family, and this there damage relates to aphid infestation. Your plants will have a spotty look to the leaves, and will droop and loose vigor. Leaves may have a sticky feeling as well. If you are not sure if you have them, you can shake your plants leaves a bit, the white flies will then fly around for a bit before settling back on the plants leaves. White flies like to lay there eggs on the underside of the leaves, just like spider mites. Eggs take around 7 to 10 days to hatch, once hatched the pupate will stay in an area that is good in food and then it feeds on leaves. If your plants are affected during late flowering or close to harvest, please try to use the safest means of control to be safe to your health.

Here are some ways NOT to get them: Do not overwater your potted plants. Allow the soil to dry between waterings and provide good drainage. Another one is to put sticky traps up when you think you may have them, that way when they get stuck you can identify them.
if you already have white flys, you can use insecticidal soap, this will help stop them from flying so it wont infect other plants.
It also stops them from laying new eggs. If you use the soap reapply weekly.

Chemicals

Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc’s Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum.

Symphilids

Small pests that are tan to white colored and look like centipedes. They are very deadly to the plants, because they burrow down into the roots and damage them by feeding of them. Your plants leaves will begin to die off. They are found mostly in soil composites that have not been cleaned, like soil that has additives in them such as animal manure.
(I know it will smell funny but sterilizing the soil in the oven for 30 min can kill any pests in the soil, heat to 350 for 30 min.) They are easy to tell if you have them, because they come to the top soil when your plant is being watered, if you find you do have them, use Fungus Gnat Killer (“B.T." a non chemical,biological control) in the powdered form. One application should kill it, just to be safe repeat every 7 days to kill off the larvae. Tobacco juice kills them as well! And nematodes.

Picture 2 shows the Symphilids look like…

Fungus Gnats

Fungus gnats like to feed on roots of the plants and organic matter. Adults and larvae live in moist, shady areas. The adults lay there eggs on top of the soil, near the base of the stem and takes about 4 days to hatch. The larvae will start by eating the root hairs of the plant then working their way up the plant, Fungus gnats like to eat organic matter so they will be stealing away nutrients from your plants, so its best to get rid of them completely. [color=red. Plants growing in rock wool are more prone to getting a more severe infestation than plants growing in soil. If your plants are affected during late flowering or close to harvest, please try to use the safest means of control to be safe to your health.[/color]

[color=red]Prevent and Control

Prevent indoor entry of gnats by making sure there is no open windows open without screens on. Aug is a bad time for them as they are worst that time of the year.

Put sticky traps on the soil surface to trap the gnats

Put potato slices on the surface of the soil. The larvae like it and will be drawn to it… After about 4 to 5 days, remove the potato slices with the larvae. To get rid of them you can do a lot of things like either use a NO pest strip, neem oil or putting sand on the surface of the soil will suffocate the eggs and get rid of them as well. Tobacco juice kills them, and works well for re-occurrences!

They can be in or on the soil and can fly. In order to get rid of them you can use neem oil, sand or perlite on the surface again kills them, and no pest strips catch the ones that fly. A chemical product called Zone works very well and is very powerful and works well in Hydroponics/Aeroponics!
Other Products which can be used in Hydroponics/Aeroponics and soil are:

Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide

GNATROL( used in Hydroponics/Aeroponics in the water as well as soil),
Safer Sticky Stakes,
TR-11000 Pyrethrum.
PERMETHRIN dust
Mosquito Dunks

Organic Control

Natrasoap
Pest Oil
Neem Oil
Hot Pepper Wax
Doc’s Neem Pest Soap
Sticky traps
Safer’s Insecticidal Soap
Neem Oil
Neem 2

Picture 4 shows the fungus gnat.
Picture 5 shows there larvae

Spider mites:

Spider mites are by far the worst pest to have, because they are the hardest to kill and can literally kill any plant. They are by far more active in warmer climates than cold ones, they also suck sup from the leaves leaving tiny white spots on the leaves from where they suck on. The damage they do is just like thrips, but with spider mites they pierce the surface of the leaves and can show tiny holes or white speckling damage, unlike with thirps they eat the surface of the chlorophyll. You can tell when you have infestation of spider mites , because you will have distorted growth, shortened internodes and petioles.
When you have bad infestation you will see webbing with larva in them. You get spider mites from either store bought soil mostly when your soil is not sterilized. Most brands do not state weather or not they are, chances are if you buy cheap soil, you have a less likely chance of the soil being sterile.Also, bringing outdoor plants indoors, or getting plants from someone else who was infected with spidermites.
Spider mites live on the plant itself and are under the leaves most of the time and are usually are so tiny you can’t see them with the naked eye. In order to get rid of spider mites one of the best ways to start to get rid of them is to use NO-Pest strips.NO-Pest strips work well and should always be used with other methods. Neem oil helps get rid of them as well. Also by raising the humidity in your grow room a lot will kill the spider mites off, by them absorbing to much humidity and will burst. You can use soap solution like Safer Insecticidal Soap to get rid of most aphid problems. Use some tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this for mites. (see below how to make tabacco juice)
Pyrethrum should only be used in extreme circumstances directly on plants, It starts to breaks down around a week and is easily washed away with clear water or. If your plants are in flowering and you have spider mites, using safer chemicals is your best bet. The tobacco and pepper soap solution works well and should be used daily, spraying on the underside and top leaves and later the whole plant. Since spider mites are very residual to common products, you have to find or try any number of ones untill you get rid of them. make absolutly sure you retreat as stated, other wise you will get resistant spidermites and then you have a bigger battle on your hands.Also do not allow pets that go outside alot to be around indoor plants,mites have been known to be carried in from pets to plants. PLEASE NOTE, below are ways to get rid of spider mites, but no 2 mite infestations are identical, you almost always have to use different products to get rid of them, also make a habit to check for at least a whole month after thinking you got rid of them, that way your chances of the spider mites that became resistant breeding and then having a bigger problem. Make sure you spray your plant down very good and enough and on time.
Here are some more products that may help get rid of spider mites:

Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc’s Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum. Anything that says dicofol on the back. ( should be used in vegging or early flowering)

Avid
GNATROL( used in Hydroponics/Aeroponics in the water as well as soil)
Safer Sticky Stakes
TR-11000 Pyrethrum
Anything that says dicofol on the back. ( should be used in vegging or early flowering)
PERMETHRIN dust

Organics

Organocide
Hot Pepper Wax,
Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide
Doc’s Neem Pest Soap
Organocide
Bugzyme Natural Pest Killer
Schultz-Instant Insect Spray
Lady Beetles (Beneficial Insect)
Predatory mite (Beneficial Insect)
Pirate Bugs (Beneficial Insect)
Neem Oil
Neem 2

Tabacco Juice recipe

Take 3 strong ciggeretes soak them over night in water
Boil it for 2 to 3 miniutes, let it cool off and spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week. You can add safer soap if you like to the mixture.
(make absolutly sure you use gloves/face protection while handling and spraying)
Neem oil works very well too!!
ZBQ has an excellent thread on how to use neem oil without geting your plants to oily!! http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthr...hreadid=482648 :tup: Your Last resort is to use Avid.

Pictures 5 shows spider mites and there larva. Picture 6 shows spider mite damage. Picture 7 shows SPidermites larvae and spidermites closeup.

Thrips

Thrips are really tiny, but can be seen by the naked eye. Some may have wings and some may not. Thrips reproduce rapidly, especially in tight places. That is what makes them hard to get rid of when using pesticides. The suck the sap right out of your plant with there piercing mouths, which makes the leaves look like they turned white. You can tell when you have thrips by taking a look at your leaves, the leaves will look as if there chlorophyll have been ripped right off the plant. Plants that are damaged can’t be healed thus making it harder for the plant to absorb light. SO if left untreated the thrips will kill the plants. Damage also can be seen by the greenish black specks of there poop they leave on leaves. Also the plants will show silver patchs from scar tissue. Depending on the severity at first, thrip damage might look like spider mite damage untill it increases in damage and then thrips case is for sure when you see the greenness replace with big parts of white.Thrips also can causes viruses to the plants and any larvae infected will breed more infected pests!. While they suck, the plants release honeydew which can contribute to mold on your plants. Adults have wings but do not fly well, but rather jump more. There are different kinds of Thrips, some more resistant to chemicals. Thrips can also carry plant pathogens in there mouths and carry it to other plants increasing the chance for your plants to get infected. . If your plants are affected during late flowering or close to harvest, please try to use the safest means of control to be safe to your health.

Control

One good way to repel thrips for those growing outside is to use garlic, this is a good way to keep them away before you get them. The color yellow attracts the thrips and should be advised not to have this color around your grow… If you already have them using neem oil, and or lady bugs can get rid of them. If the infestation is bad then you need to use biological solution like, pyrethrin-like insecticides.

Other Products include:

Chemicals
Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest), GNATROL ( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc’s Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum.

Picture 1 is Thrip damage
Picture 2 is Thrip Larvae

Caterpillars (cutworms, cabbageworms, ect.)

There are several different kinds of catapillars that may affect cannabis plants, mainly the ones that affect the plants, do almost the same damage, some do more severe depending on the numbers you have eating on your plants. Most caterpillars will do damage by chewing holes in the leaves, the holes will be kind of big, if so you know it’s not going to be a smaller kind of pest.
If you find caterpillars have been eating at your plants and you need to get rid of them; there are several non-toxic and least toxic methods to choose from. You can also shake your plant a bit to make the caterpillars fall off your plants. . If your plants are affected during late flowering or close to harvest, please try to use the safest means of control to be safe to your health.

Prevent and Control

Hand picking: Easy way to control them is to pick them up and knock them into a bucket of soapy water. If you are scared about handling caterpillars, you can use some gloves or have someone else pick them up for you.

PERMETHRIN dust
BTK in dust form can be used to kill caterpillars. BTK can also be used to foliar spray your plants. One tablespoon of neem oil added to your BT mix helps stick the mix to the plants better when you are foliar spraying… BTK is available in liquid form. Apply BTK on all of the leaves both top and underside If you decided using the dust kind,spray your plants down with water before you apply the dust Apply every week to 2 weeks and or after it rains. The caterpillars must eat the BT as they are feeding on foliage in order for the caterpillars to be rid of.

Organic

Insecticidal soaps, neem, oil, and spinosad are the safest insecticides that can be used to control… Soaps and neem are non-toxic and are great to use when you have a lot of pests and want to be friendly to nature and its animals. Spinosad works very very good in controlling the caterpillar population and is non toxic to wild-life, pets, and humans. It hardly has any impact at all on the plants.

Picture 1 shows caterpillar damage

Slugs and snails (Outdoor Growers)

Both slugs and snails travel by secreting a mucus or slime on which they glide. When you see the slime trail on your plants and have damage, then it was most likely caused by slugs or snails.When your garden is very moist slugs and snails can live for a long time as this is the key to them living a long time. If you keep your garden not as moist and dark slugs and snails cannot live as long. They stay away from the sunlight along with hiding around moist dark areas in the garden.They also hide in Mulches, short stubby plants, boards, and in the soil. They come out mostly at night and on cloudy days. They feed by chewing holes into your leaves and can clip the edges of leaves and flowers.Slugs and Snails are mostly pests of seedlings and herbaceous plants that are close to the ground. In order to confirm the damage was caused by slugs or snails, look for a silvery trail of mucous.

Controls

Snails can cause massive damage to gardens if given a chance. It is very unlikely you will be able to completely rid your garden of them, but try to keep the numbers down as much as possible to keep healthy and undamaged plants. Here are some ways to control slugs and snails.

Reduce slug and snail damage dramatically by watering in the morning instead of the evening.
If you do see any slugs or snails avoid putting mulches and dark hiding cover.Oak leaf mulch will deter slugs and snails.
Handpick slugs and snails at night. Use a bucket to put them into soapy water.
Lay boards down in the garden to trap slugs and snails.
Diatomaceous earth sprinkled around you’re your plants base of the stems will help keep out slugs and snails, but it can also stop other beneficial insects.

Soak the soil with wormwood tea.

Put copper wire around your garden or at the base of your.Slugs get a big shock when they touch copper Just make sure you don’t trap them inside your garden when you put copper around your garden.

Beer is good to use, because slugs love beer!. Take a container of beer and bury it in your garden with it just barly above the ground so they can drink it and drown.

And one of our favorite additives… SALT!

Predators that like to eat snails include:snakes, toads, frogs,fireflies, predatory snails, birds, beetles. The large, black iridescent beetles you see in your yard are predators. Firefly larvae eat on slugs and snails and can literally wipe out the development of them by eating 40 to 60 snails from just 1 larve of a firefly!!

Please be kind to nature and pets and stay away from poison slug bates. If you have seen what it can do to pets you wouldn’t want to ever use it again!!!

Poisonous baits are hazardous to all living beings and animals. Slugs and snails can become resistant to baits. So its better to use other methods and stay away from chemical baits, all the while protecting nature.

Leaf miners

These Little creatures are a pain to get rid of, the miners eat and dig squiggly lines into your leaves all the while planting there larvae in them making it hard to get rid of them. They plant there eggs in the leaves in mid When they hatch they feed off of your leaves untill they get big enough to pupate. Pupation occurs within the leaf or in the soil beneath the plant. After they emerge the entire cycle will start over and you will have a bigger infestation. You can tell you have leaf miners by looking at your leaves; it will look like someone carved scribble lines all over the plants leaves. Leaf miners also can leave your plant open to pathogens and fungus and low yields from the damage to the leaves. The females dig into the leaves and lay there eggs, the sap that is secreted when the leaf minors do damage attract ants and flies. . If your plants are affected during late flowering or close to harvest, please try to use the safest means of control to be safe to your health.

Controls

Controls: Natural control for these insects is difficult. You can remove affected leaves and discard them. Chemical control is hard and is ment towards the emerging adults. Since the larvae is well protected within the leaf. Neem oil will work well.

Pictures 3-4 shows leaf miners attack

Scale (Outdoor Problem)

Scale can be found on stems, underside of branches, trunks, young trees or shrubs. They usally emerge from there eggs around March to Aug and make there homes on the plant. They pierce the cells and feed on the sap of the plant. After they have a place on your plant they devlop a very hard shell which protects them from other preadatory insects and chemical compounds to get rid of them. After they develop this hard back the secreation they drip attracts ants. Now since the ants travel over the scales thus dragging it all over your plant spreading the scale from one place to another on the plants. When the secreation falls on leaves it can make a type of mold called Sooty Mold which makes the leaves look dirty and black.

Pictures show Scale infestation:

Sooty MOLD

The problem with this type of fungi is that it attracts several types of sucking insects,like Aphids, Mealy Bugs, Thrips, and Whiteflies…This mold is so dark that it affects the plant by inhibiting the light from reaching its leaves which stops photosynthesis, which in turn makes the plant die.

Control

The waxy layer that is on scales protects them from insects and other pesticides. In order to get rid of them Use a horticultural oil to kill the adult populations throughout the year. If you can combine the oil with the insecticide, such as, Orthene, Sevin, or malathion it can almost wipe out the scale population along with the sooty mold it causes!Neem soil works very well too!

You can do a few things… more if your not nearing the end of harvest…

  1. take a pack of chewing tobacco, mix it with a gallon of water, let it brew for a day… spray the plants down as needed… if your a cigarette smoker no worries spray em down till harvest… watch for mold…

  2. take some safers natural soap, mix it with some water so its a soapy slippery mixture, soak em down… the idea is to suffocate the bugs in the soapy bubbles…

Ants

Ants are all over the place indoors and outdoors. Ants can be a pest in your garden, because there homes are underground in the colonies which require them to burrow through and thus causing root hairs and roots to be damaged from there digging.
Though generally they do not cause damage to the leaves from biting they may be eating dead leaf tissue, there may also be a hidden side to ants. Ants can carry aphids to your plants and thus causing the infestation, they can also be attracted to your plants if you already have a pest infestation. Aphids, mealy bugs, white flies can secret a sticky substance known as “honey dew” which is a sugar concentrate from the plant’s sap after aphids have excreted it on the plant. Ants love this and which is why they are attracted to plants that have an infestation. This honey dew that is secreted from pests can attract sooty mold where ever the honey dew is secreted on the plant.( See Sooty Mold for Details) If your plants do not have an infestation of pests, but you see ants you need to get rid of them, because of them being able to carry pests to your plants.
Ants are generally attracted to plants that already have aphids; white flies mealy bugs and scales. You can see ants on the plant and around the soil and in the soil. Your plants may show a different number of problems, but the main damage is not caused by the ants, it’s the pests that the ants may bring in or what they are attracted to on your plants.

Prevent and Control

To make sure you can keep ants away from your plants, you need to make sure your plants are free of insects and other pests that ants are attracted to. There are many ways you can deterrent ants from wandering into your grow area.
Boric acid is an inorganic powder that must be kept away from children and pets. Sprinkling it around your soil will help kill them when you water your plants, while the boric acid gets into the soil. Boric acid will not be toxic to your plants; it is also used for a cure when your plants have a boron deficiency. Do not apply boric acid on the plant itself; this is for soil plants, and areas around your plants that are outdoors.
Sticky traps or tangle foot can help for the upper parts of the plants that have ant infestation. Cucumber parings can also be used as a repellant. Lemon Juice mixed with 50/50 water can be sprayed on the plant as a repellant. Using common herbs like sage, mint leaves, and spearmint. Mixing some of these with water can be used to spray onto the plant. Using peanut butter ball with a bit of sugar on it can be a sticky trap where they can’t get out of. You can put it near the soil or small bits on the leaves, or where high infestation areas on your plants. Watering your plants with apple cider vinegar can make them come up and can also kill the larva in the soil. Flushing well before using methods can help out a lot due to flooding the nest makes them come up out of the nest and killing there larva from drowning. When they come up using a deterrent can chase them away, if not use any one of these items to kill them or deterrent them. Chemical Control should always be the last resort for cannabis plants. Other ways to combat ants with chemical ways:

Chemical Control

pyrethren
Malathion Plus
Insect spray concentration
Ant Baits
Ant be gone baits

Organic Control

(Deterrents)
Sage
Instant Grits (causes dehydration)
Cayenne pepper
Citric extracts
Cinnamon
Cream of tartar
Salt
Peppermint
Sage
Spearmint
Cucumber parings
Peppermint tea
Schultz-Instant Insect Spray

(Deterrent and Kill)
Water with apple cider vinegar
Flooding the nest with lots of water
Boric Acid
Orange peels, chopped, or grinded and lay on the soil top.
Orange Guard
Boric Acid mixed with sugar and water added a bit of peanut butter and laid in the soil.
Safer Sticky Stakes

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I really enjoy just standing/sitting by the plants and watching them. I think it’s easier to fight pests when you enjoy spending time with the plants! A couple of weeks ago, I killed 2 little green inch-worms that were putting some holes in the lower leaves! Where there’s two? I expect to find more, but no new holes in those over the last two weeks.

White flies. Ugh. I remember as a kid, growing tomatoes – and having white flies infest! I HATE white flies!

In the last month, I’ve killed probably twenty or so white flies. Currently no infestation – I shake each fabric pot regularly and white flies don’t take to the sky. But they are around. When I see one, my success rate at killing it is about 30%. I chased one around for like 5 minute a couple of days ago and eventually got it! :smiley:

Should I start treating with Safer? I love the idea of a completely natural harvest, with no treatment. And I’m not exactly losing the battle as is. But is there a reason to wait really?

Ended up buying the protection kit on ILGM. Works good so far. You know it’s organic when all you can smell is garlic.