Hey guys I will post pics shortly, but I found different types of bugs today and they have me a bit worried. The first was on a leaf, and I only found one, not as concerned about it as the second. They look and move somewhat like spiders, they are small and brown/black... They were in some soil but mostly walking around the outside of the buckets and and the grow room floor. I found this very odd as there were a LOT of them, they are just very small. Any help would be appreciated. I recently have had thrips and bought ladybugs in order to eliminate them, and while I have seen almost no thrips, these new buggers have popped up. Any ideas?
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Ok guys here is the first bug, has a very peculiar shape and didn't seem to be malicious-
Here is the second,
again it as more around the buckets and on the ground them anywhere but also in the soil. They could not fly or jump and they moved a lot like spiders, slower however due to their size. It may be possible bug 1 is the adult bug 2 but I honestly have no idea... I did find some bug 2's that seemed to be a little older and larger and they had started developing different colors. Help?
Here is the second,
HeadMed
New Member
That 2nd one look's way to close to a giant mite to be comfortable. Clean the room, Find any unsealed penetrations and seal them. Start keeping the door closed as much as possible. You may want to think about chemical barriers such as bleach at entry points and possible pesticides around perimeter (keep these away from plants if used). Recently heard a good tip.... "Give your self a few inches of something sticky like backwards tape etc. around the base of the stem so they cant crawl up the plants and colonize".
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Well it's actually very small, they are maube a third the size of the bugs in the first pic, the ipad camera does a nice zoom job. But in my situation there is really no way to truly bar the area off. What are the cons of these mites do you know? I have heard some are beneficial and these seem far more interested in wandering around on the ground eating dead ladybugs...
HeadMed
New Member
Infestations in the plant can cause serious damage, many bugs leave babies in the top soil area that feed on roots, and then grow up to feed on the plant itself. Plants that have been weakened by exposure to such pest are more susceptible to everything.... heat stress, ph stress, etc. Clean out anything that's dead, bugs and leaves, its food for bad things, and when the run out of easy stuff to eat they colonize other areas... they do this by having millions of babies and spreading through the whole room. I have heard of people using lady bugs as a beneficial bug... they eat aphids and some mites.. But I haven't been interested in smoking bug droppings. I do use them outside in my vegetable patch. I just recently heard a great review of beneficial nematodes to combat gnats however.
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Ok, they do pass the squish test where they leave a reddish brownish smear when you squish them though... Idk I'm watching closely as of now...
i guess i have just been really lucky with not having pests. the only pests i have come across, was..
flour beetle.. why it was on my seedling i dont know.. that was easily removed, and squished.. no further issues.
and a weird mosquito looking / grass hopper looking bug.. there was about 4 of them on one of my older plants when i was in soil. squished all 4, and problem went away.
since those, i havent had a single bug issue. Probably due to the fact i keep everything overly clean, and my cabinet is almost classified as a category one hurricane
flour beetle.. why it was on my seedling i dont know.. that was easily removed, and squished.. no further issues.
and a weird mosquito looking / grass hopper looking bug.. there was about 4 of them on one of my older plants when i was in soil. squished all 4, and problem went away.
since those, i havent had a single bug issue. Probably due to the fact i keep everything overly clean, and my cabinet is almost classified as a category one hurricane
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jmac420
New Member
I wouldn't worry to much unless you start noticeing damage to the plants. There are millions of different types of insects some good some bad. The only kind you really need to worry about are ones that feed on the necter of plants. A large infestation of any kind of bug could be bad as well but if its just one or two and you don't notice them going for your plants don't worry. Who knows maybe they could be beneficial and chase off other insects!
