Baking your soil before use

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2feather18

Well-Known Member
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
 

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myke

myke

Well-Known Member
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.
 
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halfbreed421

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

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
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
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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.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

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

xtsho

Well-Known Member
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

Raspberrykiwi

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

Well-Known Member
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.
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Take a look at pics think they can be saved
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
2feather18 said:
Take a look at pics think they can be saved
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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
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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.
 
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