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- Apr 12, 2018
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Hello All!
I was just wondering if anyone has ever baked soil in the oven as a means of sterilizing the soil which is ridden with fungus gnats. I realize I could just throw the soil out, sterilize the pots, and start over, but it seems so wasteful, as I have over 100 pounds of soil. I had tried several other methods before, like dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, and other pesticides, but nothing really seemed to work and all of those methods did a number on my plants. So I decided to throw out all of the dying plants, bake the soil at 180-200 degrees F for about 30 minutes, and put the hot soil into airtight containers.
The containers have some condensation on the inside, but for the most part, it seems bug free. Now bacteria free, that's another question. Does anyone know if this method may have worked? Worked well enough that the fungus gnat party is over? Is it possible that I have created more bacteria by putting the hot soil into the air tight containers and allowed them to cool down? Any advice on this is helpful.
It seems that there are much fewer gnats flying around. I have several about 20 other potted plants throughout my apartment that were not showing signs of root rot, the soil was drying out appropriately, etc, so I've kept them as they are and put a layer of sand or cinnamon on the surface of the soil to prevent gnats from invading them. It seems to be working so far. Of course I don't expect to completely eradicate them, but it seems that putting the dirty soil in airtight containers and keeping the healthy plants as they are has cut down the gnats by at least 75%.
I'm just hoping that once I plant new plants using the sterilized soil, I won't have the same problem all over again. Of course, I won't over water and use gigantic pots as I did before, which caused the bacteria in the first place. Also, the awful garbage stench from the bacteria in the gross pots is gone. The sterilized soil just smells like regular soil.
If anyone has any advice, I greatly appreciate it! thanks!
I was just wondering if anyone has ever baked soil in the oven as a means of sterilizing the soil which is ridden with fungus gnats. I realize I could just throw the soil out, sterilize the pots, and start over, but it seems so wasteful, as I have over 100 pounds of soil. I had tried several other methods before, like dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, and other pesticides, but nothing really seemed to work and all of those methods did a number on my plants. So I decided to throw out all of the dying plants, bake the soil at 180-200 degrees F for about 30 minutes, and put the hot soil into airtight containers.
The containers have some condensation on the inside, but for the most part, it seems bug free. Now bacteria free, that's another question. Does anyone know if this method may have worked? Worked well enough that the fungus gnat party is over? Is it possible that I have created more bacteria by putting the hot soil into the air tight containers and allowed them to cool down? Any advice on this is helpful.
It seems that there are much fewer gnats flying around. I have several about 20 other potted plants throughout my apartment that were not showing signs of root rot, the soil was drying out appropriately, etc, so I've kept them as they are and put a layer of sand or cinnamon on the surface of the soil to prevent gnats from invading them. It seems to be working so far. Of course I don't expect to completely eradicate them, but it seems that putting the dirty soil in airtight containers and keeping the healthy plants as they are has cut down the gnats by at least 75%.
I'm just hoping that once I plant new plants using the sterilized soil, I won't have the same problem all over again. Of course, I won't over water and use gigantic pots as I did before, which caused the bacteria in the first place. Also, the awful garbage stench from the bacteria in the gross pots is gone. The sterilized soil just smells like regular soil.
If anyone has any advice, I greatly appreciate it! thanks!