so i got really nice cuttings from one of very generous members of this from. Paradiso Dusan, and Moscatel Preto. i killed all Paradiso, then i killed one of the MP. pulling out MP on that one showed fungus gnat larvae. so it was rot. probably due to roots not well set, and for whatever reason the water didn't drain well in that soil mix.

two MP were doing fine up until tuesday. then one of them just suddenly decided to take a dive on me. i mean.. urgh..

i'm hoping the one that left will keep on going and i'll have it growing well by next yr.

too many gnats for me too.

maybe ill try to put the soil in full sun for few days to disinfect first and then use as rooting medium.

long term Rafed root riot looks like a fine choice for me.

Sometimes you just have a run of bad luck.  Hope the last one makes it.  Plain, agricultural grade perlite from hydroponics stores has been working really well for me lately.

those gnats... they must be good for something. I have several airlayers on my large tree that I intend to do a severe pruning and am trying to save those large formed branches... it is unreal how many gnats are in and out of the cups in place still on the tree. It does not seen to bother the old tree, the roots from the airlayers are very strong and a few I transplanted are doing ok.  Hope your  cuttings will make it.  it is sad to see them perish.

not worried about gnats too much. they are manageable. got rid of the source and they are gone. what worries me is what's causing my cuttings to rot. i know i changed few things, but only thing that really changed is more sturdy clear cup. when i used to use dirt cheap 16 oz cups, i haven't had any issues. next cuttings that comes in will be in my dirt cheap cups. 

few yrs back, i had an ornamental ficus. after yrs of staying in a small pot, and very spent soil, i decided to give it a good new soil. i got MG soil. as soon as i changed the soil, i noticed gnats. i took it outside and no more gnats in the house.

since about month or so ago, i noticed few gnats. they were feeding my D. venusta. in that room, i have C. follicularis, and some Huernia. and i root my fig cuttings there. i moved all my cuttings out of the room since they were more than likely to hold gnats and they were ready for the 1 gal. Huernia have about 1/2" of crushed stones on the top. and the soil mix dries super fast. but my D. venusta and C. follicularis have soil mix that will hold the water.

now. i keep my D. venusta on a dish of water, and C. follicularis in a enclosure with top and bottom. guess where the gnats are coming from? that dish of water. so if i get rid of that dish of water, there won't be any problem. but i'm keeping that in the room.. i need gnats to feed my D. venusta.

now.. if there is gnat infestation, first thing you want to do.. before start rooting the cuttings, is isolate where the gnats are coming from and get rid of the source where the gnats breed. sanitize the area and see if you see any new gnat. then once it's clear start rooting again.

my dead MP is also holding gnat larvae. i tapped the 1 gal container that MP was in and saw few flying out. so for whatever reason, the cuttings started rotting and the gnats took hold of the place.

I had better success on my second round of winter cuttings last year but I took some extreme measures that time. I wrapped the bottom of the cups with a fabric softener dryer sheet held in place by an elastic band. That way I still had drainage and source of air. Then I used saran wrap on the top which helped lock in the moisture but also kept the gnats out. The saran could be fitted relatively tight to the cutting. I figured the less available breeding ground they can find the better! :)

Tyler

OK I have to ask some questions that will surely expose my ignorance.

Everyone is familiar with the worrisome gnats that buzz around you in the summertime and invariably try to land on you face, ears, nose and eyes. Are these Fungus Gnats?

If not what exactly are Fungus Gnats?

Are all gnats Fungus Gnats?

How big are they?  We get fish flies that get about 2-3 inches with two things off their tails and large clear wings, they fly all over make a mess, stink when they rot and then stick on your clothes or whatever they fly into.

Charles,

What I think you mean are face gnats....I hate those tiny annoying %$$^^%.  My neighbor says just ignore them.....I can't lol.  They like blood, if you have a wound they cluster to it and are very very small.  Fungus gnats are larger and black, I only ever see them inside around the plants don't recall noticing them outside though they are there also of course.



Chivas,

Look up Mayflies is that what you are talking about?  Way way back when before Lake Erie became polluted there was a huge strain of mayfly that was called locally a "Canadian sailor"  (Hexagenia) they were huge 2-3" long and would die on the streets of towns like Erie PA by the millions after they had bred.  What a mess they made or so I hear.  For awhile that bug was thought to be extinct but they are making a comeback as the lake gets cleaner and cleaner.

MP???? Nooooooo... died or nearly dead? Crap Pete, I know how you feel. Why don't you just try using straight perlite and a half a fist full of vermiticulite. I never failed with that mix.

Jenny

jen, still have one MP alive, and going well. other two, i have no clue why they rotted. some how the water didn't drain well. i notice this with some 1 gal. they are all in same soil mix, but some will just not drain well. if i catch fast, i usually clear the drain hole on the bottom. sometimes that helps. but i didn't even water them all the much. made sure just little water once a week. crap happens. 

Pete,
You can try a trick a guy from a local nursery suggested to me.
He told me, while moving the figs from cups to the 1 gal pots, to plant 2 melon/pumpkin seeds along. They grow fast and have strong demanding roots which suck the excess of water and provide the air to the fig by their roots. I tried one about 2 weeks ago and to my surprise, it worked! The fig first almost died and the leaves were droopy but as soon as the melon started growing (with 2 leaves it is almost a foot long), the fig came back to life!..
I think at the end, when the fig gets better, I am just going to cut the melon's top off. I noticed that the soil gets dryer much quicker now.

So, maybe there are some other plants that could be beneficial at that crucial up-potting stage but the melon seeds seem to work.
Ah, yes, I just got them from a ripe melon in a store. I dried a few dozen so I don't have to buy them often. Also, there is a season for them now so they are nicely ripened. 

I had a bunch of casualties to the gnats also,it's really fu#$ing annoying. We mustn't give up tho, then we truly lose.