Issue #112 - Sunday, June 8, 2014

Dear Fellow Grower,

In today's issue...

• Learn how to get rid of fungus gnats in your soil for good!
• See which two strains we'll be growing next!
• This week's Trophy Pic features an amazing "Liberty Haze" bud!

Happy Growing!

Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)

"A dried plant is nothing but a sign to plant a new one."

― Priyansh Shah

Table of Contents

Introduction

What Causes Fungus Gnats To Attack Your Cannabis Plants?

How Do You Know You Have Fungus Gnats?

• Pictures of Fungus Gnat Damage to Cannabis Leaves

How To Get Rid of Fungus Gnats in Your Soil

Prevention: Safeguard Your Next Grow

For Composters: Get Rid of Fungus Gnats In Your Compost Pile

Introduction

Fungus gnats - how do you get rid of these tiny flying pests laying eggs in your soil? This article will teach cannabis growers how to fix their current fungus gnat infestation and make sure they never get fungus gnats again.

Fungus gnats are a common problem for soil cannabis growers (especially those who overwater their plants!), but they're actually easy to get rid of once you know what to do!

Fungus gnats (also known as "sciarid flies") are black or dark brown flies which look like tiny mosquitoes with dark wings. 

How Big Is a Fungus Gnat?

Fungus gnats are small, only about 2 mm long. To give you an idea of how big that is, 2mm is about the thickness of a quarter.

Fungus gnats can be a big nuisance in your soil cannabis grow, mostly because their tiny maggot/larvae offspring will hurt your plant roots (which will cause problems for your plants).

Why Do Fungus Gnats Attack Cannabis Plants?

Fungus larvae eat fungus or decaying matter, and need wet conditions to thrive. It is common for soil growers to overwater their cannabis plants, and wet soil is the perfect home for fungus and decaying organic matter. After fungus has grown (often invisible to the naked eye) or overwatered matter has begun to decay in the topsoil, fungus gnat lays their eggs in in the top layer of wet soil.

Warm + wet topsoil = fungus gnats (and other problems or pests in soil)

These eggs hatch into larvae that look like tiny maggots which only live in the top 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) of soil. The fungus gnat larvae are the culprits which cause damage to cannabis roots.

Cannabis roots are not the main source of food for fungus gnat larvae, but roots get caught in the crossfire. In addition to their main diet of fungus and decaying matter, the larvae happily gnaw on root hairs and young tender roots of cannabis plants.

The damage to the roots from these little suckers are what causes problems in the leaves and slowed growth. A bad fungus gnat infestation can even kill cannabis plants, especially young seedlings.

While the main problem is that fungus gnat larvae attack the roots of your cannabis plants, the adult fungus gnats can also spread diseases on their feet (such as pythium - a common cause of root rot).

Because of these problems, it is important to get rid of a fungus gnat infestation right away.

If fungus gnats need fungus and decaying matter to survive, where is the fungus coming from? Fungus grows in wet conditions and is an essential part of the environment (where it breaks down organic matter like dead leaves). Fungus spores are around us everywehere, but these spores will never start growing without moisture. Warm and wet conditions in the soil of a cannabis grow are what cause fungus to grow and matter to decay. Sometimes you won't even be able to see the fungus or decaying matter with the naked eye. But once the conditions are right, fungus gnats thrive in the top layer of you soil.

Check To Make Sure You Have Fungus Gnats

1.) Tiny flying black bugs around your plants & crawling on your soil

This video shows closeups of Fungus Gnats on cannabis plants

Even if your plant or leaves aren't showing symptoms or distress yet, if you see fungus gnats it means that you have a problem with fungus and moisture in your soil. Don't let the infestation get out of hand. It's always recommended to get rid of any pests in the grow room as soon as you know they're there!

The adult fungus gnat flies are just annoying (and gross), they don't bite you, and don't do much to hurt your plants directly besides spread disease. But even though the mature fungus gnats aren't a huge threat to your plants, the presence of adult gnats lets you know that your cannabis soil has been infested with their maggot offspring which cause the real problems.

2.) Tiny white or translucent larvae with black heads in the soil

Note: this picture is really big so you can see what you're looking for, but the actual larvae / maggots are TINY. If you spot them, you'll just see tiny white spots wriggling around in the topsoil.

How Fungus Gnat Larvae Cause Damage to Cannabis Plants

Larvae attack tender new plant roots and root hairs, which cause these problems:

• "Damping off" - seeds or seedlings are weak for no apparent reason; sometimes stems weaken and seedlings can even just fall over and die
• If the fungus gnat infestation gets out of hand, even adult cannabis plants start looking unhealthy, showing many symptoms such as wilting, yellowing, drooping, spots
• Cannabis leaves may show signs of nutrient deficiency (or deficiencies) which seem to be unrelated to pH, nutrients, or any other identifiable nutrient problem
• Plants will start growing slowly and may even stop growing altogether
• If the infestation hits in the flowering stage, yields can be reduced

Fungus Gnats vs Fruit Flies

Quick Check! Make sure you have fungus gnats and not fruit flies.

Fruit flies are brown/yellow/orange while fungus gnats are dark brown or black. Fruit flies tend to be bigger/fatter and easier to see than tiny fungus gnats. You need to take a slightly different approach with fruit flies.

Fruit flies will keep coming back if there's ripe or rotting fruit to eat. If you've ever left a banana or other fruit on your counter too long, you've probably noticed how fruit flies seem to be able to appear out of thin air if there's ripe fruit around.

Fruit flies can start buzzing around poorly composted soil which contains kitchen scraps, but otherwise fruit flies are uncommon in the grow room unless there's ripe/rotting fruit or other tasty bits for them to eat. 

So once you get rid of their food, the fruit flies will disappear.

Pics of Damage to Cannabis Plants From Fungus Gnats

A fungus gnat infestation on your cannabis plants can cause all sorts of strange problems - often they look like overwatering, pH problems or nutrient deficiencies. The more fungus gnats you have, the more likely you'll see damaged leaves and reduced growth rates.

Since fungus gnats are almost always caused by overwatering and too-wet topsoil conditions, some of these symptoms may actually be caused by too-wet soil. In any case, when you see fungus gnats, it means there's a problem in your setup that needs to be addressed.

Here's some pictures of cannabis plants affected by a gnat infestation. Notice how the leaves don't look healthy (there's yellowing, spots, curling, etc). It's almost impossible to tell that you have fungus gnats just by looking at the leaves of the plant because it can cause all sorts of different symptoms.

What To Do If You Have Fungus Gnats in Your Soil

Most Importantly, don't overwater your plants! Never water cannabis plants grown in soil until the top inch of soil feels dry (up to your first knuckle). Fungus gnats need wet topsoil conditions to grow and thrive. The most common reason growers get fungus gnats is overwatering their plants.

Without Wet Topsoil, Fungus Gnats Naturally Disappear!

While the steps below will help you get rid of your fungus gnats quickly and effectively, the gnats will almost always go away on their own if you simply stop overwatering your cannabis plants. When there's no fungus, there's no fungus gnats, and both need wet conditions to grow.

Prepare For Your Next Grow: Prevention

Before your next grow, make sure you thoroughly clean your growing area if you've been attacked by fungus gnats or other pests. Get rid of any houseplants that have any bugs flying around them. Never buy soil that has already been infested with fungus gnats or show any signs of flying bugs or larvae/maggots.

Some growers will even cook new soil to make sure any fungus gnat larvae are dead before letting their cannabis plants or clones near it.

If you're getting cannabis clones, make sure you get them from a trusted source and inspect closely for fungus gnats (as well as spider mites or other pests). You may want to start with seeds if you're growing in soil and worried about bugs, as clones are the most common way to introduce pests to the grow room.

Speaking of cannabis clones... I know this article is about fungus gnats, but I want to mention something else that's very important about cannabis clones. While fungus gnats are a big nuisance, they are not the worst pests a grower can get from cannabis clones. Fungus gnat problems pale in comparison to the horrible affliction of getting cannabis-specific spidermites (aka "the borg"). 

Once a grow room gets infected by the borg, it is incredibly difficult to get rid of these resilient pests which kill your plants, eat your leaves, and plants (and buds) with horrible webbing. Always check new cannabis clones thoroughly (including under leaves for bugs or eggs) before letting new clones anywhere near your grow area! You may want to dip new clones in spider mite killer to make sure they are free of spider mites. Learn more about spider mites.

Some growers will start with cannabis seeds (as opposed to clones) to reduce the chance they ever have to deal with spider mites or fungus gnats!

Remember, sharing is caring!

Jump to...

7 Ways To Fix Common Cannabis Growing Problems

List of All Cannabis Growing Problems

How to Water Plants Perfectly Every Time

Overwatering Explained

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