Gnats!

[JayDubya]

Hi! Fairly new to this, in fact only on my second round. I have a problem. I have 1 plant in flower and 2 plants still in veg. I recently ordered a couple of bags of expensive soil and they have been hanging in my basement. Yesterday I started germinating a seed, so today when I opened the box that contained the bag of soil out flew what I am pretty sure are fungus gnats. Since then I have noticed a couple in my tent. I have set up a glass with apple cider vinegar and saran wrap on top with little holes one inside my tent and one beside the pots that contain the new soil for the germinating seed and I put slices of potato on the surface of each pot. That being said... 1) Is there anything else I can do? 2) If my seed is ready to move from the paper towel, should I just pop it in the soil or will the gnats kill it? and 3) I still have a huge bag and a half of soil, how can i save it.... currently I've done my best to seal it inside of a garbage bag but am worried that will have adverse effects. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks! TheBylaw.

[echdk3]

Gnats suck! I like these:

Safer Brand SF5026 Houseplant Sticky Stakes Insect Traps, 1 pack, One Color https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OV8OTY...ing=UTF8&psc=1

[PLreef]

You can order nematodes on amazon and just mix them in with your water.

[MeEasy]

I use mosquito bits but instead of putting them in my plants I soak them in water for a couple hours strain them out and water as normal. You'll need to do it about every 2-3 weeks to keep them under control. This and some yellow sticky cards and they are just about gone. The nematodes are a great idea and have heard they work about the same I just haven't tried them yet. I don't think you can ever completely get rid of em without the use of something (poison) I wouldn't want on my weed

[gbauto]

Yep, the bt in dunks is a good biological for the gnats.
I've also alternated a spinosad drench, that with the dunks and sticky cards keeps them at bay.

[Xena]

For me proper watering practices get rid of them. I have had them to start on both of my grows and as long as I water and let them dry enough in a short time no more gnats.

[MeEasy]

You kill your little soil critters when you let it dry like that, before switching to living soil I didn't have the gnat problem. Soil has to stay moist to stay alive

[Xena]

True...I’m not in living soil yet. Gnats might be a problem then I’ll be looking into the stuff you guys are recommending.

[MeEasy]

Yep gnats are the only part of living soil that I do not like so far. They got pretty bad for awhile until I stumbled across a video of a lady explaining to use the bits like I described above. Then PLreef I believe it was bought some nematodes that came in a ball from Amazon he said that they worked good to.

[crucialbunny]

Sticky cards and DE over the surface of the soil has always worked for me. The gnats can be annoying as hell but unless it's a massive infestation they seldom do much harm. The DE doesn't do anything once it gets wet so it needs to be reapplied often for a week or two.

[Budgal]

Try using hydrogen peroxide mixed with water and spray on your soil. Go to youtube and find The ripe tomato farms and look for 6 benefits of hydrogen peroxide. He explains things easily, also check out his other fixes for spider mites and aphids organically (or close to it).

[JayDubya]

Excellent! This is the solutions I used. So I took a 2 ltr bottle and did 1 part hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts water per plant. I slowly poured the bottle into the pot. Then I let it dry right out then bottom fed the next two meals. Within a week there were piles of dead gnats in my tent. I took the plants out, bleach cleaned the tents and it hasn't been a problem since. Thanks for the advice!

[CaptainWiese91]

With my tomato soil I have gnats every time I start a new grow. 5$ for 50 L of soil. But as soon as my watering practices is en place they are not there anymore. And I have sticky fly strips hanging in the tent. Never had a problem with them or never have they destroyed my grow. It’s one of the easiest pear to get rid off and they don’t do a lot of damage in my opinion.
Set up some sticky fly strips.

Don’t spray your plants! Not just for a gnats, would be terrible ..