Indoor Plant Problems.

[IndoorNovice]

I am hoping some of you can help me identify some of the problems i am experiencing in my indoor grow room.

Below i have posted some pictures and hope you guys can help me out!
Room stays 74-86 constantly.
Plants are all potted in 100% Organic Compost.
Some of the plants came from outside which i know is where the pests came from, however i just ordered 150 ladybugs and put them all in today!
The room is 10x10

Picture # 1: Blisters? Root rot maybe?

Picture #2 also blisters, both are tomatillo plants from seed.

Picture #3 Another tomatillo, but has yellowing- Maybe too much nitrogen?

Picture #4 A young tomatoe but isnt happy, his leaves are yellowing.

Not sure what these are, gnats or something? Flying little black bugs! And they are chomping my beanssss!

This is the best picture i got of the little buggers! Looks kind of like an ant or something, its sucking the juice out of the leaf!

And finnaly some showcase pictures of the growroom, hope you guys have some answers for me, im tired of seeing my babies get eaten.

 

[IndoorNovice]

Oops, i posted in the wrong section, could an admin or mod move to diseases and pests?

 

[Java Guy]

Well I'll post here with ya and the mods can move us both. Those bugs are most likely fungus gnats. The fliers actually will not harm you plants. It looks like he is sucking the juice out but he's not. It's the larvae that cause the problems. They dig around you're roots chomping and tearing them to bits. They especially like young plant roots. Anyone who has grown plants indoors has had them so don't think you did something wrong. Nurseries get them as well. They just are what they are. There is a product called gnatnix http://www.growstone.com/fungus-gnat-control/ which you can put on top of your soil to prevent the larvae from hatching. I've used it and it worked but proved to be too messy for my tastes. I just put up a couple sticky tapes in each pot. I still have the occasional flier but it is acceptable to me. Fungus gnats love humidity and moist soil. Again, I THINK they are fungus gnats. A good way to know is if you disturb a pot, do they start flying around? Look closely at the soil. Do you see them crawling all around it?

I'm looking at your pictures. What kind of lighting are you using? How far away from the lights are your plants. Depending on the type of lights, you want your plants close to your plants. I use standard fluorescent bulbs and I keep them 1 to 2 inches from my plants max. The CFL's I use I keep a little farther away because of the heat they emit. If you're using HPL grow lights you want them a foot to a foot and a half away. Here's a quick link for lighting distances minus florescents which are always as close as possible. http://growgenius.co.uk/far-away-lights/

Regardless of what kind of light you are using, you are going to want the top of all of your plants at the same level under the lights, or as close as is reasonable. Looking at your pictures, some plants are higher than others and that's not good. Rig some boards up, stack some books or bricks or blocks of wood. Do whatever you have to do to get those plants even up to the lights. Lack of lights is a major reason you are having the yellowing. Get those plants up to the light and I'd bet you will see a remarkable difference in their appearance.

What is the humidity level in the room? Do you have a fan or ventilation or something to circulate the air? I see a white and a black contraption in the bottom right corner of the last picture. Is that what those are?

 

[IndoorNovice]

Im using HID, MH 1000w and i feel like i have it light sufficiently. The reason some are above and some arent is some plants require more light then others, atleast thats what i have read. I mainly beleive this because i have a tomatillo that has been pretty far from the light from the beggining and he isnt stretchy at all, he is very big and bushy compared to his brothers and sisters. I do have ventilation, a fan and the hood is also vented. the room stays 74-85 all the time. I am just noticing alot of chomp marks on my beans, they seem to like that the most.

 

[Corzhens]

My suspicion is kind of organism like fungus or mold. It is not easy to remove that kind of infestation. What we do is to relocate the plant like if it is planted in the front yard, we would relocate it to the backyard so the infestation will naturally cease. Maybe you can let it sun for 30 minutes to 1 hour each day to strengthen the plants.

 

[IndoorNovice]

This is not possible, it is winter here and there is snow outside, temps are around 25-45 degrees Although i had a recent spider mite infestation which i destroyed using some home made insecticide Anyway, gnats are still around but all they care about is the bean plants. Oh well

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

We only put an indoor air purifying kind of plants like the snake plant and bamboo palm inside our house which are easy to grow and to take care of. That is why we do not have problems when it comes to any kind of micro organisms and pests that the plants will have while inside the house.

 

[Java Guy]

This is not possible, it is winter here and there is snow outside, temps are around 25-45 degrees Although i had a recent spider mite infestation which i destroyed using some home made insecticide Anyway, gnats are still around but all they care about is the bean plants. Oh well

Here is a link to University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7448.html

If it looks like something is eating your beans, it is something else. Fungus gnat adults do nothing except annoy. Their larvae are what cause the damages and that is in your roots.

"....raw potato chunks placed in the soil are very attractive to fungus gnat larvae. These may be used not only to check pots for larvae but also to trap them away from plant roots. After a few days in a pot, remove infested chunks, dispose of them, and replace with fresh ones."