I’ve been growing for more than a couple decades, but only in my back yard for the past 5 years. Ever since I started growing here, my plants are always swarming with this insect, throughout all hours of the day. But, it’s not a problem – this is a friendly insect!
They are called long-legged flies, much smaller than the usual fly. You often see them darting back and forth from leaf to leaf. They feed on a lot of the pests we really dislike, such as aphids and other small insects. Their larvae develop in the soil and are also predators to some nasties.
For years, my cannabis plants are always swarming with these bugs, and I normally never have any pests because of that. If you see one, don’t reach for that insecticide right away! They are my friends
To correct myself, I do get one pest every year in my back yard, but only since 2 years ago. Damn cabbage loopers. I have since corrected the issue with B.t. variant kurstaki, but these caterpillars are the absolute worst!
Two years ago, I made the mistake of bringing outdoor plants indoor to dry. They were in a different room, on a different floor. Make no mistake – these things will find your indoor garden, no matter how isolated or distant it may be in your living space.
I wanted to cry when I found one on my indoor garden after that mistake. They are tiny little worms, but in a matter of 1-3 days, they will grow to be huge fat things, and literally chew off whole flowers from the stem in minutes. Despite spending hours per day with a magnifying glass, I always seemed to miss one, and the next day, buds literally severed off, laying in the soil.
I spray BT religiously. My Brussels sprouts are getting eating alive right now. Been rough getting rid of them, I’ve been seeing lots of wasps patrolling my garden bed though hunting for cabbage worms. I found a few catapilars on my critical red hourglass autos the other day and ive been hitting them daily with bt since.
Those flies don’t eat vegetation. They are predators. If it is the same family of flies, they are around because of that other pest. Check the leaves, especially the undersides, carefully under magnification, especially at the extremes of the day (dawn, high noon, dusk). These flies don’t cause that damage and feast on those little guys that do.
I do see this type of damage if I transplant in tall grass, or too early when the plants are short. I only see this when leaves are close to the ground. I don’t know what type of pest it is in my case or yours, but I have never been able to spot them either. It isn’t a problem if I plant when they are taller, or mow my lawn around them, or use a mulch, though. Hope you figure it out!
That said, the damage is usually isolated and never a cause for concern for me. I will see it on just a few leaves once in a while randomly when the above conditions are met, and in every case it doesn’t hurt the plant, and they turn out to be big and strong.
I’d be curious if you find out the pest responsible.
I pulled the few leaves with the damage. So we shall see if the spots reappear like Houdini 🪄I’ve also been spraying a couple times weekly with a gentle insecticidal soap.
I have soil mites and they freaked me out the first time I saw them. I cant say I enjoy not being able to touch my soil without getting 500 of them on me instantly…
But they are beneficial especially since I top dress and they break it down for me.
Im getting more used to them but I hope I don’t attract anything else.
Got a few jumping spiders I see as well. If one jumps on me one day ill lose it.
