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Need Help!!!

puma35

puma35

So a couple of days ago, I made a batch of dirt for the repotting of my biggest plant (Trinidad Scorpion) into a 5 gallon bucket. This was my first batch of dirt that I ever made, so I used to helpful sticky found at the beginning of this forum and used the recipe that called for vermiticulite, peat moss, blood meal, bone meal, and lime. I used all the correct measurements and repotted the plant and everything looks great. But, this morning on my morning round of plant patrolling, I noticed a lot of flies were being attracted to the 5 gallon bucket! So I moved in for a closer investigation and noticed that they had been laying eggs in my soil. So, now there are dozens of tiny 1/4" worms in my soil and I am freaking out!

Will they hurt my plant?

If so, is there anything I can do to stop this infestation?
 
You can put up those yellow stick matts to kill the flies, but not sure what you can do to treat the soil without harming the plant. I've never had a problem with flies, but if your just noticing them now they are probably coming from another source or have been in the dirt and now they are just hatching. I think I would just repot the plant and make sure I start with fresh unused soil.
 
that's the thing I'm confused about! I didn't use a base soil, everything I used in it was store bought, right out of the bag, and into the 5 gallon bucket, and then mixed of course. I'm guessing they're attracted to the blood meal??
 
Ohh your first post said you used dirt. What were the plants in before you transplanted them? I use blood and bone mean (dry from a box) all the time and never had any problems. I have also never heard of anyone having flies as a result of using either.

Can you provide more in such as growing conditions, location, pics etc.
 
They could be attracted to the blood meal or bone meal. The first year I used an Earthbox, I ordered the organic fertilizer. Evidently, I didn't bury it far enough below the surface, because the flies managed to lay eggs in there in spite of the black plastic cover. That thing was FULL of maggots! I was so grossed out, I dumped everything out.

Hoping someone has a solution for you, other than not using organic fertilizers.
 
camera isn't working at the moment. The plant was with another plant in a different pot (which is why I had to repot it) and the other plant is doing just fine. The 5 gallon is currently just sitting on the opposite of my porch. The blood and bone meal i got was in seperate bags from lowes, I believe it was miracle grow blend (I checked it for extra nutrients, and I couldn't find any, so I thought it was a good buy). Could I have transferred some eggs from the rocks I put at the bottom of the bucket? Thanks for your help man
 
Well no chance of it coming from the old container. Not sure if you can treat the soil, but if it's that bad just replant it and use liquid fertilizer and not dry.

I actually prefer to foilar feed my plants weekly with a once a month liquid fert that goes into the soil.
 
I have bought bags of soil from the store got home and as soon as i opened the bag i had fungus nats flying everywhere.
So dont rule out contaminated soil

I know when your supposed to fertilize your garden space in the fall and let it break down and work into the soil.
Animals are attracted to it as well as insects.
 
I had that exact same thing to my first plant that used organic miracle grow soil, but I went to my local hydro store and was recommended Gnatrolwdg and the gnats were gone and even notice the small white larvae on the top soil was gone when repotting.
here is the link for the product:http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=PCGNATWDG00&eq=&Tp=
It is also omri approved which was a plus for me
 
Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question. I have only been growing for 2 years. Last year was a disaster; this year is going much better. I have just been trying to keep my plants growing through the heat and not really worried about the pods. I have several of my plants in the shade and they are much smaller and still don't have pods. There are just so many variables that can affect the plant... heat alone may not be the only problem. I wish I could offer more help... next year I plan to put up more shade cloth but I really notice a difference in size of the plants. The ones in full sun are much much bigger than the ones that get more shade. The key would be to get them started earlier so they set pods in May before it gets hot. I am trying to figure out how to accomplish that for next year.

Opps.. I wondered why my PM to you did not show up... LOL I Pasted into the wrong box. Sorry all, ignore this response.
 
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