Cheese { FC 4000 EVO }

[Captain_Oveur]

@GMT
The simple 90 degree clips were too narrow or too tight. They are not suitable for cannabis stems. The plant stem was unable to spread and was pushed sideways. With the variable clips, the plant stem grows in width without being crushed, and a healthier bend can be chosen between 45 degrees and 90 degrees.

With the white laundry bags, fungus gnats cannot enter from outside. The important thing is that they have to be laundry bags with the “fine-mesh” fabric.
If you already have fungus gnat larvae in the soil, the bags prevent the fungus gnats from flying around. Despite the bags, I give neem oil as a precaution in case there are larvae in the soil.


@BReal
Thank you for the kind words.

I didn't know about prevention with diatomaceous earth, interesting!
At first I also had sand as a layer on top. I think you can see it in the first few pictures. After repotting I left out the sand. I saw the laundry bags from a member here at Icmag. I really liked this idea.

 

[BReal]

Silica works as well. If you mix soil with silica, larvae shouldn't be able to survive in it because they can't digest silica for some reason I had a problem with fungus gnats so I bought organic silica powder from Sistar and set a few glue traps nearby. I spreaded a spoon of silica per pot (on the top, once a week) and 2 weeks later they were all gone after cutting down plants, I checked the pots and noticed that top layer was kinda hard and smooth.. like a shell or a hard trail surface in a forest. But deeper: soil and roots were fine, airy, soft and healthy over all I think that organic silica products are amazing for pests prevention and boosting vigor of plants

 

[Captain_Oveur]

Oh, this is very interesting! These beasts are extremely annoying. I will buy a bag of organic silica and use it on my next run. It also provides some calcium and magnesium, that is very good.

Thank you for sharing this experience!

 

[BReal]

The only downside of using organic silica powder from the top, is that it might make watering much slower, because if the top layer gets harder/denser (like in my case) it's gona take more time for water to get through it. But it shouldn't effect plant's health in a bad way, if roots/soil have enough air from the bottom or sides of the pot Good luck with your war against those little bastards my friend

 

[PH donner]

Amazing plants @Captain_Oveur

. I saw someone using just sand as a top layer with good results.

Then use masonry sand. This contains no salts. It is very effective with a 3 cm top layer. The disadvantage is that it makes the pot heavy, making it difficult to lift to check the moisture content.