Hi I’m on my first few grows here they are going pretty well except I am spending too much time worrying about fungus gnats. I purchased some soil gnat mix which worked well but now I’m out of it and wondering if I can use a cheaper option on my second start up grow. During the first few weeks or so of growth can I just cover the entire top layer of soil with plastic wrap? Of course I’m leaving the middle part open where the plant is and just covering the immediate area around the stem with some small rocks. My question is do I need to let air circulate to the top layer of soil ? am I going to hurt my plants by not letting air flow to the soil? I figure we need to aerate our lawn’s so airflow has to mean something…can I keep this plastic wrap over the soil for the first month or so?
Now remberthis is what I would do. Do away with the plastic wrap. Cause all your going to do is kill your plants with it. Think about it the heat that’s going to be traped in there
That heat is energy and that energy will turn into moisture which could or most likely turn into root rot or some kind of fungus.
Not to mention air flow to the roots. Just ask’n for a whole lots trouble
Will. 
No let airflow hit soil it will help your plants and their roots, it keeps them healthy and breathing fresh air constantly getting fresh oxygen, as for getting rid of fungus gnats either DE (Diatamacious earth) or the yellow fly strips to catch them. Personally I wouldn’t cover them
…nematodes & yellow sticky cards
Roots need lots of oxygen to keep healthy. So yes, they need air flow into the soil.
As a matter of fact, soil with poor drainage and airflow is a cause of fungus gnats. Overly wet soil without enough oxygen creates a environment where fungus gnats can thrive.
An option would be just to make sure you are not over watering, this alone will drastically reduce the number of fungus gnats you’d have to deal with.
Food grade diatomaceous earth, yellow sticky traps, and adding beneficial nematodes to the soil are all good options that can also help.
Happy growing,
MacG
I have special pots that I make myself that I started out using a while back and work really well for me but ran into the same kind of problem as my wife works for a nursery and tends to bring home Little Critters, I found the easiest way to keep them out of my ladies was to stretch nylons for bigger women around the pot and or just wrapping them over the top kind of wrapping it around so that each side meets leaving a ccenter slit for the plant… and you can water right through the nylons never having to take it off again until you’re done with your grow…
Plenty of ventilation for the plants and The Roots but keeps the bugs out
Peace
That’s a sweet idea. You could tie loosely around the bases even
Yeah every since I started this whole process of producing my own medicine it seems you always have to think outside-of-the-box or it just costs you a buttload of money 4 things you either don’t need or that you can make yourself extremely cheaply compared to the hydro store or anywhere else for that matter…
Good idea I actually started using those shelf liner mats, the ones with holes in them and cut them to fit over the soil- you can wAter right thru them and soil still gets air. gnat mix works great too but I didn’t feel like buying another bag. Tnx everyone
I’m going to be taking some pics so that everybody can see the pots I am talking about so they can understand , I do love fabric pots IE smart pots but at the same time you can’t wash them in your own washing machine without the wife trying to kill you because you need to buy a new washing machine and if you get caught at the laundromat washing these pots it could raise questions and possibly get you in trouble so I figured out a way to make my own pots that are basically the same as a fabric pot but is still a plastic pot and I can reuse and reuse and reuse without any problems…
Brilliant!!!