My girls have bugs... (not mites)

[ThaRaven7]

Ok, so there are what looks like gnats on my two girls. They look like gnats anyway, or fruit flies. I don't see any evidence of them eating the plants themselves, but they've definitely taken up residence in the soil, they gotta be eating something.

Put up a Hot-Shot no pest strip about a month ago, but they remain. Used some fly papers. They get some of them, but not all.

Any idea EXACTLY what these are? And/Or how to get rid of them?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[stinkyattic]

There are a few bugs that you will see flitting around soil grows.
-Fungus gnats, which you eliminate by never letting any standing water or soggy soil sit in your grow area
-Greenhouse whiteflies, which look like tiny moths and will need a bomb to kill
-Thrips, which are actually more damaging as larvae, and which breed in the soil. You can kill them with a flamethrower, set on high, and aimed in the general direction of your house.

Seriously though, unless you are within 3 weeks of harvest, pick up 2 pyrethrin bombs or manual foggers, and set one off in your room, then 4 days later set off the other. If you are looking for foggers but don't have a hydro shop nearby, the Raid kitchen fogger is pure pyrethrin and you can use that. READ THE CAN TO MAKE SURE!!! Piperonyl butoxide (the activator in many foggers) should not be applied to flowering plants.

[ThaRaven7]

From what you described and what I see...these are definitely fungus gnats. I'm trying to be careful about how much I water and how often, ect....but these things were on my plants when they dried out....but they definitely multiply when I water....I never soak the soil, just get it moist.

These things are pissing me off. I was thinking, what about using an insecticide like Sevendust for Vegetables and fruits? If they won't harm veggies or fruit plants, shouldn't harm these right?

[stinkyattic]

I'd avoid that stuff. I thought Sevendust was a rock band, and Sevin was the pesticide, and that it's not rated for food crops nearing harvest? Trust me, stick with pyrethrin. And if thye are gnats, you probably still have some muck somewhere. Check in the drip trays under your pots if you use them.