Oh no!!! I've never had fungus gnats before, in all my many years of starting seeds indoors. (Had thrips one year, that's it.) But I'm pretty sure that's what these are. Noticed them in the house even before the start of seedling season, so I'm pretty confident they didn't come from any of the materials (most of which are left over from last year).
I had seen the occasional fly here and there in the seedling room in recent weeks, but last night while watering I saw quite a few and decided to take my head out of the soil and do something about it.
So:
- Last night I watered the soil with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water.
- Last night I set out two traps of apple cider vinegar with dish soap, but these haven't caught any yet.
- Today I put up yellow sticky traps (already caught two :( ). (Last night I had put up clear packing tape and duct tape but those haven't caught any.)
- Today I ordered mosquito dunks -- they should hopefully arrive by Friday.
- As of today, all seeds that move from paper towels to soil are getting a layer of pure vermiculite on top, so that the top cm or two is just vermiculite, no soil.
Here's hoping this action plan will put an end to the gnat situation. I'm eager to get those dunks but must wait until they arrive since neither Ritchie's nor Canadian Tire had any at this time of year.
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