Problems growing food

[spadget]

Does anyone have any tips on growing grass and weeds for our leopard tort?
We dont have a proper garden but are trying to grow seeds in trays and pots on our terrace. Only problem is we keep getting infested with fungus gnats, whos larvae are eating the roots and killing all the plants and grass.

We're not quite sure what to do as we obviously dont want to put anything toxic down to kill them.

Anyone else had any problems or know how we might be able to get rid of the annoying little flies? We've tried sticky yellow pads to trap them but doesnt get rid of them all

 

[Yvonne G]

I've never had that problem, but I'm going to guess that you're watering too much.

 

[spadget]

Well we water a couple of times a week but we have to do that as its very hot here so the plants start to wilt.

 

[Seiryu]

Well we water a couple of times a week but we have to do that as its very hot here so the plants start to wilt.

I am not sure either how to get rid of them. The problems I had with growing grasses/weeds in trays were they eventually started dying off because the tray was not deep enough. I then started using 6-8" deep containers, and it works great.

The only thing I can think of, is to grow them inside near a window. Grasses grow surprisingly well inside (I do it every winter).

 

[Yvonne G]

Sorry to beat a dead horse but...

You are supposed to water the plants when the soil dries out. If the plant wilts and the soil is still moist, don't water. The wilting is from something other than no water.

Also, rotting stuff in the soil grows fungus, so if you truly have "fungus gnats" then there might be something organic in the soil that is rotting. Do you use a soil from someplace like Home Depot or Lowes?

 

[spadget]

Sorry to beat a dead horse but...

You are supposed to water the plants when the soil dries out. If the plant wilts and the soil is still moist, don't water. The wilting is from something other than no water.

Also, rotting stuff in the soil grows fungus, so if you truly have "fungus gnats" then there might be something organic in the soil that is rotting. Do you use a soil from someplace like Home Depot or Lowes?

The soil does dry out as its very hot here so doesnt take long. The number of gnats do reduce but then they seem to come back with a vengence after watering. Just cant believe how hard it is to grow weeds lol!

And yeah we have to use soil from the garden centres, we cant go out and collect our own as its mainly volcanic sandy stuff here.

 

[jaizei]

Diatomaceous earth might help, if you're familiar with that.

 

[Wirewehear]

Dont know if this will help you but I just found a company that sells all organic soils and fertilizers. The web site has a "contact link" that you could probably ask them if they have any suggestions to help you with your problem. I'm not sure if they have organic pest control ... didnt look that far into the site, but maybe they do. There is a product finder on the site so you can see if anyone sells it in your area. Sorry ... doesnt look as if they sell online, I was hoping for that. If anything ... the soil is better than what you'd find at Lowes or Home Depot.
http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/

 

[Mao Senpai]

Lately I've gotten those "Jiffy" planter things at home depot and I got like 3-4 of them that I plant tortoise grass seed mix in... I rotate them around so when one gets eaten down, I put in the next one.... they seem to grow really fast like 3-5 days from seeds to 6 inches indoors. I haven't had any mold or bug issues. Not to mention the kits are pretty cheap like 2-3 dollars.

 

[jobeanator]

make a greenhouse type of enclosure for your plants.. keeping your plants warm and moist is the secret i literally had plants sprouting in 2-3 days when i had them in my greenhouse

 

[spadget]

Thanks guys.

I'm trying again now I think ive managed to get rid of most of the gnats. I got some organic stuff which is supposed to kill the larvae as well but they may get immune to it at some point so might not work forever. Will try the greenhouse way, ive also got some sandy stuff to put on top of the soil to try to stop them laying their eggs at the roots. Will have to wait and see what happens.