Baking your soil before use

2feather18 · Nov 8, 2020

I bought two bags of Costa Of Maine also used a bag of foxfarm that's been sitting outside on the porch for 6 months so I don't know where these fungus gnats came from been trying to battle them using neem oil yellow cards. Should I get rid of these do they look salvageable also I heard people bake their soil before they use that that true

myke · Nov 8, 2020

I cooked about 7 gallons on my bbq a month ago. Brought it too 150F for 2 hours. Don’t think it hurt the soil any. I haven’t used it yet. This was soil I mixed up about 2 months ago. I’m now keeping my stored soil moist with mosquito dunk water.

halfbreed421 · Nov 8, 2020

ive seen others cover the top of the soil with 2 inches of perlite i think? maybe some diatomaceous earth in there too

hotrodharley · Nov 8, 2020

Whatever you do don’t bake it indoors in an oven. You’ll never believe how bad this smells.

PadawanWarrior · Nov 8, 2020

2feather18 said:
I bought two bags of Costa Of Maine also used a bag of foxfarm that's been sitting outside on the porch for 6 months so I don't know where these fungus gnats came from been trying to battle them using neem oil yellow cards. Should I get rid of these do they look salvageable also I heard people bake their soil before they use that that true

Bti.

Top Dressing with EWC will work too, but I'll take awhile for them to all be gone.

I'd get some Bti first. Mosquito Bits or Dunks. And yellow sticky trap for the fliers. I just used EWC. It wasn't instant, but I haven't seen one in over a year now.

2feather18 · Nov 8, 2020

hotrodharley said:
Whatever you do don’t bake it indoors in an oven. You’ll never believe how bad this smells.

Thanks for the info cuz if that's exactly what I was going to do

2feather18 · Nov 8, 2020

halfbreed421 said:
ive seen others cover the top of the soil with 2 inches of perlite i think? maybe some diatomaceous earth in there too

Somebody just put me on to cover sand that. Will get rid of fungus gnats

hotrodharley · Nov 8, 2020

2feather18 said:
Somebody just put me on to cover sand that. Will get rid of fungus gnats

It will. Cover it entirely with a thick coat.

Edit add: pour some hydrogen peroxide over the medium. That helps get rid of fungus gnat larvae.

stalebiscuit · Nov 9, 2020

gnatrol

xtsho · Nov 9, 2020

If you bake your soil you'll basically be sterilizing it killing any microbes in the soil. There are much better ways to deal with fungus gnats. There is no reason to get rid of plants because of fungus gnats which are easily dealt with. You can spray the top of the soil with a neem oil solution. That's what I've done in the past and found it to be effective. Other treatments already mentioned are effective as well.

Raspberrykiwi · Nov 9, 2020

2feather18 said:
Somebody just put me on to cover sand that. Will get rid of fungus gnats

I had fungus gnats. It comes from outdoor soil bags. Got mine from Home Depot and it was infested. I got rid of them by letting the soil get bone dry for a few days and lightly watering. Just let the soil get bone dry 3-5 times before you water like normal again. They live .5-1 inch into the top soil and that’s where they lay their eggs. Dry it out and it should solve your problem.

2feather18 · Nov 9, 2020

hotrodharley said:
It will. Cover it entirely with a thick coat.

Edit add: pour some hydrogen peroxide over the medium. That helps get rid of fungus gnat larvae.

Ohhh i did that all ready little fucks still around

2feather18 · Nov 9, 2020

xtsho said:
If you bake your soil you'll basically be sterilizing it killing any microbes in the soil. There are much better ways to deal with fungus gnats. There is no reason to get rid of plants because of fungus gnats which are easily dealt with. You can spray the top of the soil with a neem oil solution. That's what I've done in the past and found it to be effective. Other treatments already mentioned are effective as well.

Take a look at pics think they can be saved

2feather18 · Nov 9, 2020

2feather18 said:
Take a look at pics think they can be saved

Oh I've been soaking them bitches with neem oil .went through 2 bottles it only seems to be slowing them down

Medskunk · Nov 9, 2020

Dude fill the place with yellow stickies. In a couple months they ll be done

xtsho · Nov 9, 2020

2feather18 said:
Take a look at pics think they can be saved

Yes

2feather18 said:
Oh I've been soaking them bitches with neem oil .went through 2 bottles it only seems to be slowing them down

You only need a few teaspoons per quart. If you're using "bottles" then you're using a premixed product. I'm referring to using actual 100% neem oil that you mix into a solution yourself with a surfactant. I don't know what you're using but in my experience gnats are easy to get rid of, have basically no effect on the health of the plant, and are more of a nuisance than anything else.

Raspberrykiwi · Nov 9, 2020

Drying out the soil is the best way to get rid of them, along with sticky traps

2feather18 · Nov 10, 2020

Raspberrykiwi said:
Drying out the soil is the best way to get rid of them, along with sticky traps

I just put a half inch of sand all over them

Raspberrykiwi · Nov 10, 2020

2feather18 said:
I just put a half inch of sand all over them

Let the soil dry out too. Plants may start wilting. But it’s best to do it.

2feather18 · Nov 11, 2020

Raspberrykiwi said:
Let the soil dry out too. Plants may start wilting. But it’s best to do it.
[/QUO I don't know the plants through the looking a little scruffy and sick but better than losing them

Baking your soil before use

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