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Best way to 100% kill all bugs before bringing plant back inside

M

MmmHmmml3

New member
I made the mistake of using a peat pot in the grow room and it molded on the sides. Set it outside for 2 days and then transplanted to small container using my outdoor stash of soil. Plant is looking awesome, but it's a photo and I want to flower it same time as it's sister which is inside and will be ready to start within 2 weeks (2 seedlings from 1 seed that was split apart).

I need something that will kill any bugs and then work itself out of the plants system over the next 2 months. Is it safe to use really powerful insecticides since I haven't started to flower yet? I'm mostly worried about something small in the soil I don't see. Only bugs in the grow room are a handful of house gnats every other day or so.

I have azamax right now and not sure if it would work to just drench the soil with it. What about taking it out of the soil, spray the roots down and then move it to my indoor soil? I know some plants respond fine to this and others will nearly die. The root system is fairly small despite being almost 6 weeks old. The seed made 2 plants, but this one was growing like a bonsai at first. The last few days I can notice it's ready to explode in size. Ideally I clean it, move to a 5g pot indoors and start flowering after 1 or 2 weeks of veg
 
Sounds like fungus gnats if you have mold. Keep air blowing over the soil. When you transplant, use diatomaceous earth mixed in with the soil. If you have room in your pot, otherwise, sprinkle some DE over the top of the soil and mix it in an inch or two until you transplant. I've gotten rid of gnats in all my house plants with the stuff. Poisons bedamned!

I have a dieffenbachia that was smelling bad like mold. I dosed it with a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. I'll let you look up ratios if you're interested. The plant dried a little extra and I have no more mold.
 
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Gingerbeard said:
Sounds like fungus gnats if you have mold. Keep air blowing over the soil. When you transplant, use diatomaceous earth mixed in with the soil. If you have room in your pot, otherwise, sprinkle some DE over the top of the soil and mix it in an inch or two until you transplant. I've gotten rid of gnats in all my house plants with the stuff. Poisons bedamned!

I have a dieffenbachia that was smelling bad like mold. I dosed it with a solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. I'll let you look up ratios if you're interested. The plant dried a little extra and I have no more mold.
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I wouldn't say the mold was an issue. It was just the reason the plant ended up outside and then transplanted. No mold or fungus gnat issues indoor or outdoors, only a few house gnats every couple days. Seems impossible to get rid of every single house gnat in the grow room. No matter what, a couple appear every other day.

I'm worried about new bugs that may have appeared since it's been outside a few days. I have a huge garden and no pest issues, but anyone with an outdoor garden knows what I mean. Everything seems fine, but you still have some bugs regardless of what you do and I want all of them to die before moving the plant back.

I have DE and neem meal. Think your method would still help to kill any bugs and not just gnats / mold?
 
Insect soap. Safe for organic gardening. Works on a wide range of pests as a foil spray. Use at beginning of lights out if possible.
 
I guess I was calling your house gnats fungus gnats. I did a little research and consider what I know about DE. DE treats gnats in general and anything that propagates in soil. If you're getting yours every few days, consider maybe they're laying larvae? Maybe feeding on something? They can't lay eggs and don't eat your plants leaves. They do their thing in the soil.
I treat all my plants, regardless, because I don't trust fresh garden store soil. That stuff is lousy for soil born insects. I will buy a bag and empty it into a large planter I have to dry out. Also mixing DE. A little air over the soil in the tent and I got rid of my fungus gnats.
H2O2 is good and bad. Good because it kills mold, fungus, larvae((?) it at least kills their food) and other soil born nasties. The stronger a solution is and the more mold/mildew/fungus there is, the more the soil bubbles up. Cool. Think treating a wound with it. It also adds extra oxygen to the soil. Bad because it can kill beneficial elements. I gave my dieffenbachia plain water then nutes when time after the H2O2 treatment. It's a happy plant.
 
Toker1 said:
Insect soap. Safe for organic gardening. Works on a wide range of pests as a foil spray. Use at beginning of lights out if possible.
Click to expand...

I'll try this plus DE mixed in the soil. I just feel like there will be something small I won't see that will live. Maybe I am worrying to much. I already have a few soaps various insect soaps. Was hoping to find out about something powerful, but safe liquid I can drench the plant in and kill everything living in it so not a single outside bug makes it in. Perhaps this is overkill.
 
Orange oil and Garrett Juice will solve your problem. Use the orange oil at 1 oz. per gallon as a drench and 2 oz. per gallon as cleaner and critter killer in your grow area.
 
Kill 'em All.
Maybe you researched, or not. If you get a good mix of DE in your soil, nothing is going to move around. Noting is going to go in or out. It's like trying to move around in glass to them. If flying insects get it on their little bodies, it's like getting glass under their wings.
But in an indoor environment, a steady flow of air across the top of the soil. Don't give fliers a chance to land. Same-same everything if you're using smart pots.
 
Thanks for the help. Going to try DE / neem meal into the soil during transplant and orange oil drench before transplanting. I really wanted to leave it outside another week. I like how the sun is making it grow a bit taller. Main concern was that leaving it out longer would cause more issues before moving back in, but I feel confident this will work now and even another month from now.
 
FWIW The DE works great when you carpet the top of your soil with it, I've never mixed it in. You want it placed so the critters have the opportunity to get covered in the stuff.
 
Rwise Yeah it's food grade. I made sure it was when I bought it because the original plan was to take it as a supplement. I was reading about some health benefits when you drink it. I did more research and after seeing how it kills bugs and all the warnings about not breathing it in I decided not to drink it.
 
You can in-jest the food grade kind. Rocks and Old Shell fish deposits in the ground already add calcium to home drinking water. We all drink it, and don’t even realize it.
 
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Toker, amigo. I didn't mention the nematodes although one of my old favorites for soil problems. I couldn't justify spending the money on two pots. Big fan...big fan.
 
Surface application didn't work for me, HappyDaze. When I watered a time or two, I would have to reapply because it clumped up. If it mixes in with the soil, you can forget about it doing anything but slicing up bugs and their bug-uns. It doesn't take much. Mine are not smart pots but plastic ones I stabbed a bunch of times. Gnats would take residence in my violence and the bottom drain holes. Mixing DE with soil got rid them. All my holes have forever been infestation free since!
 
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