Hi all,
I am using Royal Gold - Basement Mix which is a coco fiber based potting mix.
My first grow I had some little fly things that appeared out of nowhere at the beginning. and stayed around for the entire grow. I did use those yellow sticky pads to controls most of them.
My question is, does anyone treat their soil/soiless mix before planting seeds in it?
Hopefully I won’t have as many Q’s this second grow.
Thanks again to all of you for your excellent support.
Those things flying around are fungus gnats. It is a common problem and there are many threads and many solutions. Do a search on this forum to see detailed responses.
The gnats lay eggs, the eggs hatch, and the larvae eat the fungus in the soil. Once the fungus is depleted they eat your roots.
They lay eggs in moist soil/coco. Diatomaceous earth or a product called mosquito bites will kill them. Drier soil (less frequent watering or bottom watering) will discourage them. Covering the soil with a layer of sand keeps them away from the soil.
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Thanks @CMichGrower. I feel like we are almost neighbors. In Frederic, Northern Mich.
I would not use DE to eliminate fungus gnats in any medium, but it would be especially counterproductive in coco coir.
Instead, filling in 1” of perlite or rice hulls on top of the medium will do the trick. I haven’t used sand, and I’m not sure I’d want it in coir. But it’d be effective too.
Isn’t there a recreational grow store in Frederic that I see advertised along I-75?
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@RBucey is the guy who help me out with this. Mosquito Bits and Preen Oil. Also you can take your starter soil and bake on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10 minutes on 200, this will kill off everything. You can also take a large black bag and put the rest of your soil in it, put it out in the sun for a while to heat up, kill them off. I’ve killed off 90% of them and now just treat with Bits and Preen
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Yes there is! There are always lines of cars waiting for curbside. They are adding on, must be rolling in it…pun intended
Thanks @KeystoneCops, I think I will just deal with any issues as they arise. Don’t want the cure to be worse than the problem. I had the fungus gnats my first grow, not too much damage that I could see.
Just getting ready for my second grow, and thoughts are running wild.
Moving from the garage grow room to an indoor tent.
I haven’t started anything yet, just getting the soil ready first. maybe I’ll wait to neem oil until there is an issue. Thanks!
Do you need to continue to add the rice holes after every watering or are they OK once they get wet?
Rice hulls are resilient and will last for an entire grow. I haven’t seen them break down when used as a topdress; they will break down if they’re incorporated into soil though. I have to say, they’re a pretty neat sustainable material.