Large quantity of SuperSoil... fungus gnats.. And more!

Hello everyone! It's been a very long time. I've moved into a much nicer house and got around to making myself a nice little grow room!

I set out to transition from DWC with Advanced Nutrients to an all organic hand-watered grow using Sub's SuperSoil recipe and Nugbuckets' main-lining training strategy.

I amended about 60-70 gallons (not sure of the weight... roughly one shit-load, I would estimate) of Roots Organic soil following Sub's recipe. I purchased a new 50 gallon trash can (with lid) for 'cooking' the soil during the waiting period; I was uncomfortable sealing the can as I wanted gas exchange (still left the lid closed always). The SuperSoil was started in late May or Early June (5 months+ ago now).

As I am now in veg, flowering is about 55 days out, and I've started to think about moving the soil to sealed storage containers in my basement (winter is rapidly approaching).

Of course I wanted to check and see if my soil was looking clean and healthy. Smells good, looks good, moisture seems a little... high.

As soon as I think moisture my brain whispers "...fungus gnats....." so I pound my fist on the soil... and again

Lo and behold, a bakers dozen of adult fungus gnats make themselves visible, alerting me to their presence and that of their larvae.



I'm skeptical that the Roots Organic I bought was free of larvae... but regardless.. I would very much like to salvage this awesome batch of SuperSoil. Losing this soil would be extremely cost prohibitive to the rest of my grow, as I went balls-out on gear / safe & abundant electricity.

I would much appreciate any advice on getting rid of these fungus gnats.




Unfortunately I know that freezing does not work.

Predatory Nematodes , Work Great !

only about 20 bucks , its just a sponge you soak in your water , then water you soil .
trust me they are kick ass and organic

I realised a bunch of them not that long ago in my trash cans, and I thought WTF, I had the lid on and I used promix (never had bugs) anyway I am not 100% maybe I had the lid open at some point but one thing I did is I used a little bit (1/3)Azamax of the recommended dosage on all containers that I brought in the new room... I wanted to be on the safe side and it seems to have worked. But I have had some here in there in previous run, and my room is sealed and the few times I had them I dumped a shit load of ladybugs and I would always see the odd one flying but never was a problem. If I could buy ladybugs locally right now I would have done that instead of the azamax but anyway I used very little and it is still organic ... Also I have neem cake in my supersoil recipe and that has always helped.

Cheers good luck, dont stress over imo fungus gnats are the easiest thing to deal with, dont waste that soil!!!

Appreciate the replies, guys; thank you!


Sniffer, I've been looking into a 50 Mil box of nematodes; I'm just concerned that my infestation is extensive and the nematodes aren't gonna cut it.

Endur0xX, I agree about the gnats... not necessarily a huge problem. I'm a little spooked at the possibility of root aphids or other opportunistic moisture-loverz. Azamax has worked wonders for me in the past... I may have to look into a big bottle.



Edit: realized azamax was a botanical insecticide.

you sure they are fugus knats, and not those harmless whitish flies?

Every time I've had fungus gnats, they have been EASILY handled with two treatments with Azamax (back to back).

Mine kinda just went away. Weirdest thing.


Edit: I really dig the way you tell a story as apposed to "talking" it's rich. Keep it coming! Are you going to make this a log of sorts?

dabumps said:

Mine kinda just went away. Weirdest thing.


Edit: I really dig the way you tell a story as apposed to "talking" it's rich. Keep it coming! Are you going to make this a log of sorts?

Click to expand...

Might seem weird, but there's nothing supernatural about Fungus Gnats. They are really simple little creatures with a SHORT lifespan. The adults only live for an absolute MAX of about 10 days. Even if you don't kill the larvae in your soil, you can knock them out by not giving them the conditions they need to reproduce once they mature (moist soil in the top inch or so of your pot).

get some mosquito dunks crush em up and water the soil with it.. should knock em out in a couple doses

Thank you kindly, bumps; I plan to start a log tonight. Got some nice pics from my last cab grow and of the new setup.


Teaser:

23 in veg currently on day 7: Lemon G, White Russian, AK48, Strawberry Cough, Magoo (Mango x Afghani x Silver Pearl), and Barney's Farm Sweet Tooth (Sweet Pink Grapefruit x Blueberry)

Veg - 2x 400w digi (phantom) w. MH, 6" hoods

Flower - 4x 1000w (digi phantoms as well), 8" hoods, Auto-Pilot 8 burner (high altitude)

nugbuckets said:

you sure they are fugus knats, and not those harmless whitish flies?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, Nugs, I am relatively certain. I've had some gnat issues before back with my DWC. My concern is that they have completely permeated the SuperSoil batch, as there is likely (enough) moisture content throughout.

Any ideas on clearing out my media? I'm worried I might get root aphids or other buggers.

dabumps said:

Mine kinda just went away. Weirdest thing.


Edit: I really dig the way you tell a story as apposed to "talking" it's rich. Keep it coming! Are you going to make this a log of sorts?

Click to expand...

during veg when i had the t-5's blazing i had a damn infestation of the Fungus gnats(by this i mean the drain fly's that love shower drains grey in color with fat little round wings) i put down a bunch of organic flytape at the soilbase and it worked but wa amazing was how quickly they disapeered when it went to 12/12. Havent seen one since its been 4-5 weeks! I was wondering in the back of my head if the 6000k spectrum is beneficial to more than just plants lmao!

gimmethatfish said:

Unfortunately, Nugs, I am relatively certain. I've had some gnat issues before back with my DWC. My concern is that they have completely permeated the SuperSoil batch, as there is likely (enough) moisture content throughout.

Any ideas on clearing out my media? I'm worried I might get root aphids or other buggers.

Click to expand...

I'm not 100% certain on this, but I believe the larvae mosty live in the top few inches of soil. You could potentially start by scraping the top layer and setting it aside to dry out. That would at least be a cheap and easy option until you put plants in it. Then I'd just dose with Azamax if it's still a problem.

like i said man get some mosquito dunks they contain a bacteria that the larve eat and die. all organic... safe...

they cost like 6 bucks for a 6 pack..

Fight mother nature with mother nature and go with predatory nematodes! Sub even uses them when he gets a bag of Roots Organic 707 with bugs.

I'm fast becoming a believer in the nematodes myself.. I've never see the sponge type though, I've gottten a couple containers from planet natural that were containers of little rocks that I top dress with.

You can order the ones in the sponge from this web site, I have used those ones in little rocks and I didnt like them either.


http://www.naturescontrol.com/predatornematodes.html

Holy ballsacks! I'm gonna try and figure out a way to perpetuate 1 plant scrog! !!

gimmethatfish said:

Unfortunately I know that freezing does not work.

Click to expand...

Worked for me..... just saying...

dc4 said:

Worked for me..... just saying...

Click to expand...

Wouldnt that only freeze them/the larvae until you thawed the soil?

And thanks beev, I will try that....I ran out of the rock sort and wanted to get some more on hand... I havent had any experience with any other type and I thought the rocks did a decent job but they get spread thin across an entire garden....how much is how enough per plant is what I couldnt figure out so I just went with a tbs per plant or enough to get a layer spread all the way around the top of the pot.... Usually a few days after I transplant anything I'll see a gnat here or there for a few days and after that I dont see them anymore.... I figured the rocks were doing the job...