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c/gardening by u/yo_scottie_oh 1w ago lemmy.ml

Spotted a gnat in my cucumber sprouts this morning - next steps?

34 upvotes 9 comments
**Background:** I've started a second round of seeds indoors, this time a mix of cucumbers (spacemaster and muncher) and tomatoes (tiny tim and marglobe). For my first round in April I used those Jiffy peat pellets, which I don't think I'll use again b/c [I'm reading online that the mesh netting may not break down as quickly as I had initially thought](https://www.gardenmyths.com/jiffy-peat-pellets-not-good-for-the-environment/). For my second round I used [a mix of Jiffy seed starting mix and coco coir as recommended by Gary Pilarchik of Rusted Garden](https://youtu.be/5ub0wywgr1A), which I also used to pot up my first round seedlings into 3" pots. I hydrated the mix w/ three pots of boiling water as shown in Gary's video and then let it sit for a day or two before using it.

**Good news:** My cukes have sprouted after three days!

**Bad news:** I must not have saturated the mix enough to kill all the fungus gnat eggs b/c this morning while inspecting my cucumber sprouts, I spotted what I assume to be a fungus gnat flying around inside the humidity dome.

**Advice/Next steps:** Is it time to head to the store and pick up some mosquito bits? What other approaches for treatment and prevention have worked for people of c/gardening?

**Further reading:** [How to Identify and Get Rid of Fungus Gnats | Almanac.com](https://www.almanac.com/pest/fungus-gnats)
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