Local garden shops are worthless

Have you tried the Grow Show?? The guys there really know their stuff, and are super clean!

rzza said:

I don't know what has changed locally but I cannot seem to get clean soil. I've tried a handful of shops but they're all selling buggy soil. I won't buy soil from someplace with gnats flying around. Does anyone have any suggestions? I might start treating the soil with heat before I use it but I'm on a quest to find a clean shop without bugs. Thanks.

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I will second the bti bit suggestion. If you can buy your soil in advance and put it in a big container, mix in some bti bits and moisten the soil. Within a few weeks the microbes in the bti bits will eat the fungus gnat larvae. Some yellow sticky cards will whack the adult population down a bit and you should be good to go...

pergamum362 said:

Couple yellow sticky cards here and there to monitor is always good too.

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Exactly, great way of detecting issues before they're outta hand.

I love how it's the grow stores.....Most don't even have the space to store pallets and pallets of soil for a long time. I cycle through 4 fresh pallets a month of most soil offerings. I could throw stores under the bus,as I have had people come to my shop after getting a gnat compromised soil. However I will defend all hydro shops.

Maybe......It is your precious manufacturers who are mass producing soils and storing them for 6+ months before they make it to the wholesaler, and then who knows how long before it reaches the retailer. Most soils have a date on them....For example the Pro-Mix order I just got in was bagged 8 months ago....Wonder where its been stored for the last 8 months.

941mick said:

Most soils have a date on them....For example the Pro-Mix order I just got in was bagged 8 months ago....Wonder where its been stored for the last 8 months.

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You still have to be careful with those dates on the bag, I purchased some Happy Frog soil a couple years ago and the date stamped into the bag was from 2-3 years prior. I questioned it when it caught my eye, the store owner thought it was weird as well, so he called Fox Farms right then and there to get an answer. Their response was that the soil inside the bag wasn't 2-3 years old, the bag itself was New old stock and was just being used up.

Still seemed a bit odd to me.

Almost every single bag of Happy frog or ocean forest I have purchased has came with fungus gnats.

The first and only time I used ROOTS soil, I ended up with my very first bout of Thrips.

Nubs.

Only time you see the gnats is when the lights come on?
I'd return those faulty lights asap.