How to flush soilless before use, without drawing fungus gnats?

[ballplayer 2]

Without naming the brand, so people dont think I'm bashing, I need to flush a soilless mix that comes with a pre-charge to make it usable.

The problem is there does not seem to be a good place for me to set 20 gallons of mix (or even 3-6 gallons) to dry without drawing gnats. Dont want to put it outside for fear of bringing worse bugs in.

i was thinking of turning on my lights and turning up the fans, making it as warm and arid as possible. Perhaps raking it under a little each day would help. I know this is a common practice in coco, in this case I need to flush an out of whack pre-charge (EC 3.0+) from soilless.

Wondering what the best way to manage this situation is, coco growers please feel free to chime in. Thank you for your time and help.

 

[waveguide]

if you can keep it in a small space, i find that mentha arvensis oil is an effective deterrent. i have had a *lot* of firsthand experience with gnats

 

[ballplayer 2]

Thanks for the help wave. Wish more folks would chime in...maybe its a stupid question? May try and dry some in the oven on a low heat on a cookie sheet. A lot of work for sure, but need to get my mix prepared.

After a preliminary flush i found the EC level in the soilless mix to be nearly a 5.0 EC.