Bugs in water.

VX420

Active Member
Ok I will call theseFungus Gnats but I don’t think they are. I have very few fliers (less than 5 aweek, and my yellow strips are always empty), no larva in the soil at all, No larva on slices of potatoes put on the soil. The fliers look a lot like the fruit flies you get in the kitchen when your fruit starts to get old. All my plants look fine but here is what Iam dealing with. I’m my soil plants, after I water if there is water in the catch try ( less then a shot glass worth) sometimes I can get 100 larva overnight. They are not washing out of the soil; I watered into a container to check. These larva are Microscopic. You can’t see them at all with the naked eye and there hard to see with a 40Xglass. They are gray. I wash the trays out and put soap in them to kill the next ones. Soil is not a problem. Hydro is a problem. The other night I looked in my res and found 100’s of them in a 1000PPM fret solution with 50ml 3% H202 per gallon, they were all alive and happy J the plant looks fine. They are not on the roots that I can find and they are only on the surface of the water. So my question if they are Gnats (am I sure they are but not sure what kind) what can I put in my rez to keep them from coming back that will not hurt the plant? A drop of soap? Any ideas would help. I can’t post a pic without a USB microscope and I don’t have one.
I have looked allover the Net and cannot find them. I have read a lot of books that have picturesof Fungus Gnats and Root Aphides and they are not them.:wall:

Any ideas will help:)
 

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
50ml 3% H202 per gallon
This is a problem, but I dont think its your entire problem....

Get Hydroponic-intended H2O2, it runs about 29%, not 3%. You'll use 3mL/Gallon, instead of 50mL/Gallon. Its also intended for hydro, not for cuts and scrapes. :)

And your in the right forum, if you posted anywhere else we'd just move it here anyway. :) :) :) Sometimes slow replies are because of a more complex problem. Pictures can help of your growing area, too.....
 

VX420

Active Member
Thanks for the replies, I will get some food grade H202 tostart, I wish I knew what these bugs were, again I am not sure they are hurtingthe plant, or doing anything more than using the water for the Laval stage. Ithink I will set some water out around the house to see if they are elsewhere,and throw some in a glass container and let them run their life cycle forbetter identification. I have read about every known harmful bug to gardening andcannot find these anywhere. If you lookat the water you cannot see them, if you take a cup and use a 40X glass, theyare small and gray and only on the surface of the water.
I have spent hourslooking at pictured of bugs and cannot find them

 
QUOTE=VX420;7332862]Thanks for the replies, I will get some food grade H202 tostart, I wish I knew what these bugs were, again I am not sure they are hurtingthe plant, or doing anything more than using the water for the Laval stage. Ithink I will set some water out around the house to see if they are elsewhere,and throw some in a glass container and let them run their life cycle forbetter identification. I have read about every known harmful bug to gardening andcannot find these anywhere. If you lookat the water you cannot see them, if you take a cup and use a 40X glass, theyare small and gray and only on the surface of the water.
I have spent hourslooking at pictured
of bugs and cannot find them


[/QUOTE]

They are springtails bud....google it
 

VX420

Active Member
QUOTE=VX420;7332862]Thanks for the replies, I will get some food grade H202 tostart, I wish I knew what these bugs were, again I am not sure they are hurtingthe plant, or doing anything more than using the water for the Laval stage. Ithink I will set some water out around the house to see if they are elsewhere,and throw some in a glass container and let them run their life cycle forbetter identification. I have read about every known harmful bug to gardening andcannot find these anywhere. If you lookat the water you cannot see them, if you take a cup and use a 40X glass, theyare small and gray and only on the surface of the water.
I have spent hourslooking at pictured
of bugs and cannot find them
They are springtails bud....google it[/QUOTE]

Damm I owe you a beer,.,, that is what they are... Thanks a ton, At least now I can fight them..

EDIT: ok let me change that,. the pics you can find of spring tails in water.. look just like what I have. But the adults are not the same.. I think the flyers I get are from them but I am not sure. I only see 1-2 flyers every 10 days.. but I can get larva by the hundreds over night with new water,
 

VX420

Active Member
Am I to belive these might be good in my rez???

Springtails are small insects which thrive where there is a lot of moisture. This can be in bathrooms, kitchens, basements, crawl spaces, behind walls, under siding, under mulch and just about anywhere moisture is prevalent and persistent. Springtails do not do any damage nor do they bite but because they will emerge enmass, people fear them. Springtails are commonly mistaken for fleas, ants or termites but are dramatically different. They eat mold, mildew, fungus and decaying organic matter which is usually present in moist areas. They can be found in great numbers in homes which have been built for several years or in homes which are new.

http://www.bugspray.com/article/springtail.html

damm i think I killed them all too.
 

borntoshine

Active Member
If you have bugs in your water, please get rid of them ASAP. I had this problem once and they murdered half of my crop during the night!
 
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