I've been struggling with gnats infesting my plants! I need to repot but the soil I have is moist and loaded with these pests. Does anyone know how to effectively dry out soil? I've already tossed in a couple cups of diatomaceous earth, but they're still hanging around. All the soil I've checked at stores seems to be contaminated too. Help!
4 Answers
Try mixing in some mosquito bits along with neem oil. They work great together to control gnat populations and can help with the larvae.
Diatomaceous earth only works when the soil is dry, so it might not be effective right now. Try crushing up some mosquito dunks and mixing that into the soil—it’ll help kill the larvae! Also, sticky traps can be useful for catching the adult gnats.
I've had success using isopropyl alcohol! Soak the soil thoroughly and let it air dry for a couple of days until the alcohol smell is gone. This should help eliminate those pesky larvae.
You can actually bake the soil! Just pop it in the oven at about 200F for 20 minutes. This definitely sterilizes it. Personally, I prefer 180F for 30 minutes; it works well!