Has anyone a natural remedy that's been tried...

I added a good layer of perlite on top because I had it on hand. But what really helped was good ventilation around the base of the plants. This kept the flies from being able to land on the soil. I usually find that half-way through the grow I don't see anymore. I reuse the soil by reamending it and don't seem to get any flies then either. Only when i mix up a fresh batch of soil.

Diatomaceous Earth , 100% Natural and Organic, just throw some on top of your soil

You can do a few things to get rid of these pests , but neem oil mixed down with water sprayed on the plant and a little bit on the soil will repel them away and not only that but will kill an eggs they have left behind if any :) I hope this helps !

gnat off is the best stuff for black fly etc and its non toxic. if there is 0.6 ml long lavea around the roots its black fly. tbh ive never heard of fruit flies in a crop?

Yellow sticky card traps are always good because you may catch other critters too place at soil level and above plant. Lay out a layer of super coarse sand on the soil. Lastly get a bottle of unfiltered apple cider vinegar and empty a little bit out so theres room, plastic wrap the opening and cut a small piece of it so the bugs can climb in to it and get trapped, this wont affect soil or anything else as long as you dont knock it over. Bugs have been the baine of my existence this summer, i hope you get the little F-ers. ✌️

You can use a layer of sand on your soil.

I have the Problem too, ive put Silecea powder on the layer of the Soil, i clean up my growbox very often, i spray with neemoil -solution, and i hang some yellowcards in my box (sticky plastic cards) also i let the fan work to blow them from soil. ive reduced ti to only 1-or 2 flies.... . Its just the time of year they appear in the house, they will die soon if its getting colder.

Hello ! Both @SommerVirelli, and @Bulbi, are right and have good advices but diatomaceous earth will kill bugs while sticky strips will catch them. One strange thing about diatomaceous earth is that for it to work on killing bugs, you have to keep it dry. Even morning dew can make diatomaceous earth ineffective. 😁👍

I’ve heard people putting a layer of diatomaceous earth over their soil to prevent any bugs from laying eggs in the soil, as well as stopping them from hatching out of the soil.

hey man, fruit flies if not too severe can kinda spawn even from store bought soil. When i had that same problem i put up sticky strips all around the grow room and it took care of them over a week, caught them all before they laid more eggs it seems, left the strips up just in case until the end of my grow. Other than that foggers are the only ones that really work, just get the ones for indoors, and check the two active chemicals for effects and effects on humans, usually foggers will sterilise live bugs and any eggs they've laid. since your stargawg is still small you can probably spray it with neem oil, make sure you get the underneaths though... up to you ! dassit 🚀