Fungus gnats are killing my first indoor grow.

Hey guys, this is my first indoor grow and my idiot friend told me to put orange peels in the soil. Since i didn't know what would happened, i did it. Peels molded and now i have fungus flies.

Details of grow environment:
18 gal Rubbermaid tub
1intake fan
1 exhaust fan
1 65watt CFL

Any quick fixes that don't shock the plant?

I've heard of the method of just drying out the soil and watering every other day or so and the sand method.

Would just replacing the soil do the trick as well?

PS: The flies ended up getting to my roots because the growth was stunted and now has tiny leaves compared to my other control plant.

Thanks in advanced

I had fungus gnats before. I dried my soil out an extra day and then watered with a few drops of dish soap mixed in and that took care of them. Now I sterilize my soil this way before I plant and I havent seen one since.

I posted this about the same time it might help

https://www.rollitup.org/bugs/366174-fungus-gnats.html

mosquito dunks work Great , and its organic

So i just add a few drops of dish detergent and water normally?

Since this is my first grow, i also think that i water too often, my soil never dries out, which probably gives the flies another excuse to live in my soil.

Yeah I used a couple drops of plain dawn

I always use SPINOSAD on any bugs that i have.

I mix up a good solution of the spinosad and spray my entire plants and then also spray the medium so that the first inch or so of medium is coated in the solution.

If i have anything flying around then i break out the HOT SHOTS NO PEST STRIP for a few days and then seal it back up until everthing is gone.

The trick with getting rid of fungus gnats is to break the life cycle. Which is why i do a few things.

Treat the medium with SPINOSAD
Break out the HOT SHOTS
Add some sticky yellow traps up.

Within a week or so all are gone!


J