Mulch alternative

[sfrigon1]

Hey all! Just at the point in my life where I don't wanna deal w fungus gnats anymore. I can somewhat control them but the fact that my wife has 20 or 30 houseplants upstairs really puts me in a tough spot. Can't get rid of them time to cover top inch or so of the soil up w something. Any good cheap ideas? I used hydroton in the past w meh results . Thank you

 

[H.A.F.]

Still working on a perfected product, bur here's what I have so far.

Coco-chips. I used a gallon of water/neem-oil mix to bust up the block, then tossed in a cup of DE. I sealed the tub and shook the hell out of it.

I have about an inch on top of each plant and it seems to be helping. The neem gets the DE to stick to the coco chips, and after watering when the chips dry, the DE is still there.

 

[sfrigon1]

Using the de now pretty liberal. Saw Kevin jodrey uses rice husks and it got me thinking. Love the husk idea . I might try that but break the PC's up more ? What u think

 

[Turpman]

Following along hear. Recently went to coco. I have 5x 25 gallon worm bins in the same building that have nats so it's hard to keep them out.

Things I've tried.
Stickey traps. Work well.
BTK
Mosquito dunks different BT I think.
H202 not at the same time as BT.
For these I have just been winging the amount so maybe I'm not treating with enough. But not much effect.

Just potted a couple up with coffee filter in the bottom for a barrier for the bottom holes. And perlite on the top.
I'm thinking a course sand may work on the top.
Not sure if traps work. Just made up a couple sugar yeast ferments with a hole and funnel trap on top. I'll post back if the are trapping. Co2 will benefit the plants as well.

 

[sfrigon1]

Following along hear. Recently went to coco. I have 5x 25 gallon worm bins in the same building that have nats so it's hard to keep them out.

Things I've tried.
Stickey traps. Work well.
BTK
Mosquito dunks different BT I think.
H202 not at the same time as BT.
For these I have just been winging the amount so maybe I'm not treating with enough. But not much effect.

Just potted a couple up with coffee filter in the bottom for a barrier for the bottom holes. And perlite on the top.
I'm thinking a course sand may work on the top.
Not sure if traps work. Just made up a couple sugar yeast ferments with a hole and funnel trap on top. I'll post back if the are trapping. Co2 will benefit the plants as well.

Didn't think about the holes . Perlite is a good idea as long as it's reusable. Those rice hulls may be really cheap I might try it . Just Soo sick of the gnats and I'm only assuming they will get worse as it gets warmer .

 

[Turpman]

Ya they like the bottom holes fuckers.
Rice hulls are used in brewing. So if you have a place that sells malt, that would be the place to get it. They are used in stickey mashes to open up the mash so water will flow through.
It's commpressed in a big bag think I payed 50 for 50lb.

 

[sfrigon1]

Ya they like the bottom holes fuckers.
Rice hulls are used in brewing. So if you have a place that sells malt, that would be the place to get it. They are used in stickey mashes to open up the mash so water will flow through.
It's commpressed in a big bag think I payed 50 for 50lb.

Thx for getting back, great advice

 

[baldmountain]

I finished one grow so take what I say with a grain of salt.

You didn't say what your grow medium is but I used Fox Farm Ocean Forest. Being new I was over watering a bit and one day I opened my tent and saw a couple bugs flying around. I got a couple yellow sticky traps and stopped watering. I let the soil get really dry and the bugs went away. They trained me too water much less often. A couple weeks later I saw one flying but that went away and didn't see any after that. So the lesson is you can let your plants get a lot dried than you think and you'll be less likely to get gnats.

I did have a look at the root ball after harvesting. No bugs and the roots looked good. I'm going to mix in some Coast of Maine lobster compost and some worm castings and reuse the soil. I left most of the roots in so they can feed the next plants.