hostilis Posted December 2, 2013 You are close. I use 1 part fox farm organic soil, 1 part coir, and 1/2 part worm castings for my pereskiopsis soil. Then I inoculate it with thricoderma/mycorrhizae/other beneficial bacterias. I'm actually in the process of switching to a different strain of pereskiopsis (a thicker hairier strain or species) so I'll be switching everything out anyways, I may just use completely new soil. Anyways my new plan of action should work out good. I am going to be taking everything out of my grow room and i'll clean/sterilize everything and suck up any gnats into my vacuum. Then I will change the soil in all my pereskiopsis pots (that seems to be where the worst of the infestation is) Then I will spray everything down with water based pyrethrum. I will innoculate the soil with that gnatrol stuff. Then I will put DE on top of the soils. I will continue to treat all the plants with the pyrethrum. I think that I should be able to get a handle on this infestation with this plan of action. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 2, 2013 Yep, I found the gnat larvae in the soil as well...... This is a mess. I will not let them take over my plants though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) These thrips are just ravaging my pereskiopsis. Everyday I wait for the pyrethrum to get here I die a little bit inside. Edited December 4, 2013 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted December 4, 2013 She'll be right bro, pereskiopsis are tough little fuckers and they will grow back bigger and badder than before., Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) Yeah, problem is there are lots of different species of loph and trichs on a lot of the peres. I don't see any damage on those though luckily. Not yet anyways. The leaves on the peres are starting to get bumps on them and some are falling off. I'm sure I'll be able to kill off the thrips though with my attack plan. Edited December 4, 2013 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tipz Posted December 4, 2013 Don't have time to read the whole thread so Ill just chuck this in and hope that it helps. Back in my indoor production days ( pre bust ) I used to cover my media with lots of layers of chux superwipes. It still allows the rootzone to breathe but stops the little fuckers from laying their eggs in the hydro medium. Quick easy and effective prevention. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 4, 2013 Interesting. I was planning on using diatomacious earth, but I may try this. Not completely sure yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted December 4, 2013 Keep in mind that they can still get in/out the bottom of a pot.Sneaky bastids. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 5, 2013 Would dusting my plants with DE harm them? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Posted December 5, 2013 I had this problem last year. I used coarse sand. At least a 1/2 inch deep on the top. Tape all your holes with duct tape. Let them sit for at least a week. What this will do is prevent new infestation to the soil from adults. It also suffocates the larva. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted December 5, 2013 Where did you get Fox Farm from in Aus? Ebay? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) I live in the US. Fox Farm is a great, well balanced, awesome draining soil. Edited December 5, 2013 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyAmine. Posted December 6, 2013 Ahh that explains Yeah I keep reading about how great FF products are so would be keen to try it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 6, 2013 (edited) That's too bad you can't find them out there. Just today I went and got the "happy frog" fox farm soil. I am going to test that out soon. Fox farm works amazingly for almost every plant. If you take it and then mix with 50% pumice it makes a pretty good, easy trich soil too. I like it. And it has trichoderma and mycorrhizae. Edited December 6, 2013 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 7, 2013 I dusted the hell out of my plants with DE. Will be cleaning it off here soon, but it definitely killed off a ton of bugs. One of my friend's called these pictures "X-mass in Cacti Land" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 18, 2013 Well an update for you all. I cleaned the hell out of everything in my grow room after applying the DE and leaving it for about 10 days. Then I sprayed with pyrethrum and treated the soil with gnatrol. I put up tons of sticky traps too and sprayed the room itself for bugs. I can't find any bugs now except for the occasional lone gnat which usually ends up on one of the traps. I also split my grow room up and made 3 separate stations in different rooms to prevent all of my plants from getting screwed from an infestation. I really appreciate all of your responses and help. Without the information I got here I'd probably stuck at square one and have my plants eaten up. Here are some pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 30, 2013 These fuckers came back. Spotted a few of them. But i'm spraying with pyrethrum and I ordered some predatory nematodes after a knowledgeable person recommended them. I think they wont stand a chance with the nematodes since both of the bugs i'm having issues with have a soil stage in their life. Does anyone know if pyrethrum will kill predatory nematodes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zelly Posted December 31, 2013 set up an oscillating fan in your grow room.....with the addition of constant air circulation, you can probably eliminate nearly all your bug problems. add a 24 hr time clock to cycle the fan if necessary also, use an old toothbrush to clean off bug coated plants works fantastic on super spiny plants........ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted December 31, 2013 I have a non oscillating fan going in there. I may just get one that oscillates now that you mention it. Thanks for the advice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacocereus Posted January 29, 2014 hey man, its been a while, but any updates on the gnats? I have a pretty serious problem, my seedlings are toppling over by the day I let the soil medium dry out regularly, ive got several fly traps lingering around, ive covered the drainage holes and sealed the soil surface with sterilised propagation sand, and even used neem oil to kill the live flys (2ml per 500ml), although I cant break the cycle! A couple of people have recommended a few options, although its hard to decipher some of the information given........ Can anyone suggest in plain English (somewhat that a noob would understand) how to get rid of these little buggers! Also, how do all you experts prevent them from infesting your seedlings? I think I read somewhere that cedar chip wood is effective? I keep a flea collar in my seedling greenhouse, but obviously to no avail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hostilis Posted January 29, 2014 (edited) Well. The diatomaceous earth did a ton of damage to the critters. But then they came back slightly after that. Then I sprayed with pyrethrum and used Gnatrol. The pyrethrum fucked up a lot of my plants even though i was told the water based stuff wouldn't. All the leaves on my pereskiopsis fell off too. I lost a crested lophophora fricii and a variegated caespitosa williamsii. (Lost them due to the treatments and not the bugs... lol) They even then came back. So... I got some predatory nematodes for the soil and predatory mites for the plants and I released all of those. Now those ass holes are dead as fuck. Hehe. Glad that it's done with. I have my seedlings separated from the outside world when they're young. I had my older ones out though, but they didn't really get affected. Predatory nematodes will kill any bugs that come into contact with the soil. Edited January 29, 2014 by hostilis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
