Secret Garden

Day 52 - December 13, 2023 After 13 days of flowering, we finally see little hedgehogs forming. Day 53 - December 14, 2023 Unfortunately, I made a little mistake. I was stupid and stoned, and for some reason, I decided to mix up my next batch of soil in my lung room (the room with my tents). I have been fungus gnat-free for a few months now, but today I saw many adults when I opened the tent. None of them were on the plants really, and there are no real flowers -- just pistils, and no real trichomes yet, so I need to correct this fast. Luckily, I always water with a highly-concentrated BT strain, that eliminates all larvae. I don't think the outbreak will last more than 2 weeks, about as long as a gnat will live. I put up yellow sticky traps to start, hoping that would wipe out most of them. We'll see. Day 54 - December 15, 2023 Well, I see less of the fungus gnats flying around. But, I notice that I see a lot more of them crawling on the ground. It is dry on the floor, and even the sides of my pots have been dry for days, as I have been trying to water in the middle to prevent moisture persisting in the fabric for too long, to discourage them from hanging out there, like I usually see them do. Because they are on the floor, and if I move pots around I see 1 or 2 scurry away, I am altering my setup for future grows a little, going back to how I used to do things. I was told it was okay to leave fabric pots on the floor of a tent, because, with a good soil and the proper amount of feeding, there should not be any runoff. Well, indeed, I do never have any runoff. However, I personally believe the problem is that, fabric pots are...fabric. In nature, soil doesn't sit on a flat surface underground. There are always slopes and cracks for water to travel. The fact that my soil is cooler than the tent air, because of evaporative cooling, and the bottom of the pot has no airflow, is not ideal. The temperature differential may be causing pockets of moisture from condensation forming, or from water eventually seeping downward from the input watering. With this in mind, I am now going back to my original setup that I used to have when I frequently fertigated. I'm just raising the fabric pots off of the floor with little plant stands, and letting any possible drippage catch in a shallow plant saucer below. I never let my plants get super tall, and I also installed my exhaust fan outside of the tent, so I have plenty of room to work with, with the additional 5 inches or so in height. Before I did that though, I removed everything from the tent, cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol, and then I wiped the bottom of the fabric pots with an isopropyl alcohol cloth to discourage any growth. Day 55 - December 16, 2023 We see hardly any fungus gnats today. If they come back in numbers, I know something is wrong. If they go away, it is just the originals lasting their lifespan. The concentrated BT israelensis solution I mix for my water kills all small insect larvae pretty fast. My only other thought is some of the ductwork in my grow room which is not moving air, may be letting them in. (My A/C is off this time of year). I guess we'll see.