Soil cookin ?'s

Got soil cookin' in the backyard that I've had sittin for 2 months now. Looked in the container yesterday and the soil is semi moist, smells good, but is full of fungus gnats. Also got some lady bug larvae chillin in there. Didnt see anythin bad like thrips but that doesnt mean there not there. :S anyway was wonderin if I should throw a few inches of sand on top to suffocate the gnats. Unless theres an eadier way ofcourse, that's where you guys chime in.

-Rotten

mosquito dunks..BTI will take care of the gnat larvae

Cann said:

mosquito dunks..BTI will take care of the gnat larvae

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Indeed it will. I wouldnt worry about it until you plan to use that soil. At that point, give it a nice drench with water that's had a mosquito dunk floating in it for a couple days. Don't want to drench that soil while it's in a big container without holes, because it's likely to go anaerobic on you.

I'm planning on using it this upcoming week. I want it to stay as organic as possible thats why I thought sand would be a good route. I wasn't really planning on adding anymore water, like you said don't want to go anaerobic. I will look into mosquito dunks though. Thanks for the info guys, anymore suggestions are welcome and well appreciated.

-Rotten

i wouldn't advocate sand for fungus gnats in any situation...BTI is much better.

is this for an indoor or outdoor grow?

Any reasoning behind that? It is in an enclosed container. Wouldn't it suffocate them? From what I've read and experienced they only live in the first few inches of soil. BTI huh? Not familar with the term shall look it up now.

It is for indoor, btw.

BTI = Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis. Active bacterial agent/ingredient in dunks. The bacteria produce toxins that kill larvae in soil. You can also get predatory nematodes which will eat said larvae, but the dunks with BTI should suffice. It doesn't get any more organic or environmentally friendly than these methods.
Sand can compact at the surface, and/or filter down into the soil at the root zone and could cause compaction there as well. Not a good thing. The theory behind the sand is to break the reproductive cycle by preventing the adults from laying eggs in the moist soil, and prevent existing larvae from reaching the surface.
Having good drainage, and letting the soil dry out completely prior to watering (when gnats are present) will help the dunks do the job. After the gnats are gone (?), keeping the soil on the dry side will help prevent re-infestation. The presence of fungus gnats indicates poor drainage and watering, at least it has been the case every time I had 'em.

RottenRoots said:

Any reasoning behind that? It is in an enclosed container. Wouldn't it suffocate them? From what I've read and experienced they only live in the first few inches of soil. BTI huh? Not familar with the term shall look it up now.

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In real soil (about 5% organic matter) they live in the top few inches. Partly because the soil is tight, and partly because that's where the majority of rotting organic matter is. In our loose, airy soilless mixes with lots of compost and other goodies, they roam free throughout the pot.

Mosquito Dunks are a formulation of bacteria which is toxic to larvae. It won't have any negative affect on your organic mix.

Thanks for explaining everything clearly jack harer. Probably gonna pick up some tomorrow. What's your guys' opinions on Spinosad?

OMG! I just realized your screen name! You'd better watch the drainage with a name like that!! LOL! Anytime man. Much of what I share here I learned here.

Oh right on man, yea I've definately learned drainage is a key factor lol.

You can buy BTi without having to get dunks. A little bottle goes along way. I brew it up in bubbling water with abit of molasses.