Help with fungus gnats.

So I got a fresh batch of fungus gnats with my fox farm soil. I transplant my 5 plants into new pots and into the fox farm soil. I inspect it a few minutes later to see 1 little gnat dig down into the soil right after I finished transplanting. So I sprinkled some Diatomaceous Earth on the soil for each pot and I should be getting some yellow sticky traps soon. My questions are,
1.how soon again do I water? 2.Will the Diatomaceous earth hurt my plant if it stays on the soil too long? 3. Some of the DM got on my leaves will it damage the leaves? Thanks for reading

DE wont hurt plants. Ive tried it on gnats and i didnt see any change. Ya wanna buy a 50 lb bag just opened? I use mosquito bits. They come in a container that looks like it holds spices. They look like bacon bits and smell like em too. Im pretty sure amazon has em, ill check for a link in a sec. Anyway, if theyre already there in the soil you cant just not water. Just water as you normally would. And get some stuff to treat for them. The bits are cheap and do lots of plants. I use about half a capful for a 5 gallon pot and theyre gone in two weeks. After you harvest make sure you clean wverything of standing water. Even dehu hoses or tubes laying around, they hide in everything.
Here you go. 16.28$ problem solved. https://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Dunks-117-6-Bits-30-Ounce/dp/B0001AUF8G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466306592&sr=8-1&keywords=summit+mosquito+bits

Spinosad kills them it's in the mosquito dunks and they also make it in liquid form that is sprayed on the soil like Captain Jacks Dead Bug Brew that works fast. http://www.bonide.com/products/garden-naturals/view/252/captain-jacks-deadbug-brew-conc

I mix a small amount of spinosad in my water when watering. Works pretty well just don't go over board with it because it WILL hurt the plant. I also have a 5" pan fan out of a computer or something with a nylon over the back side. Sucks them in and they can't get out.

I recently used beneficial Nematodes and haven't seen any since. The fan never gets turned off and has a few shot glasses of gnats in it. You got to kill the flyers before they lay more eggs.

Thanks everyone

A little bit of need oil always helps keep them away for me. Also maybe add an inch of perlite or sand to the top of the soil. I notice that they don't even try to lay eggs in the soil if there is a nice layer they can get stuck in. Do you have airflow right on the plant? That also helps prevent theme a bit too but need oil is gold that works for gnats,spider mites, powdered mildew and many other little demons. Just make sure not to use too much and people say not to add soap but a little liquid soap helps mix up the solution a bit. Goodluck man!

mosquito dunks/bits are the shit, i sprinkle a little of the crumbs on the soil in each pot, no gnats.

Rocket69 said:

A little bit of need oil always helps keep them away for me. Also maybe add an inch of perlite or sand to the top of the soil. I notice that they don't even try to lay eggs in the soil if there is a nice layer they can get stuck in. Do you have airflow right on the plant? That also helps prevent theme a bit too but need oil is gold that works for gnats,spider mites, powdered mildew and many other little demons. Just make sure not to use too much and people say not to add soap but a little liquid soap helps mix up the solution a bit. Goodluck man!

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Yea dish soap worked wonders for me. Killed every single adult and I put some Diatomaceous earth on the top layer of soil for the larvae. So far so good.

Woops I meant neem oil..damn auto correct. Sweet dude glad you got rid of them!

There is no use top dressing with anything it wont do the job as the gnats come out of the drainage holes. A natural way to stop this is with a pair of your mums pantyhose (or yours but that a totally different issue) and put the pot in the pantyhose and ties it around the stem.

the only problem with DE is that once it gets wet its useless, so the first time you water its gone, and you can't reapply till the soils dry.......better to use it on the floor of your grow room, and any ledges-areas where they seem to land alot, you'll get better use out of it that way than top dressing with it.