So I am sick and tired of trying to fight off the stupid gnats. I have adapted my 1gal cuttings with 1" of sand on top and a knee high panty hose around the base of the pot so the gnats can't get in through those holes. Seems to have worked. I havent seen a gnat on them since :) although I check them quite frequently.

I still have some cuttings in uline bags on a heat mat. Unfortunately I see gnats. So I got to thinking. I've read that some of ya'll plant the cuttings directly in the ground. Do you think it would be possible to transfer my uline cuttings to deli containers and bury that in ground? My reasoning for the deli container is because I don't want to disturb any roots when I want/need to move them.

Do you think this would be something that might work? I'm sooo sick of the gnats and losing cuttings to them. Thought maybe I could dig a trench and then cover them up......I know about the dunks but I don't like to have a lot of poisons around with a 3 & 4 yr old that are very curious.

I sympathize with you Jenn, I lost several nice cuttings to gnats over the winter.

As for your cuttings, I would just bury them in pots, cover with 1 or 1 1/2 in of dirt. Use good loose potting soil, maybe even add in some perlite. Or you can just bury in a sand filled trench in the yard. I did some that way and they are doing fine. Right now more than half of my simply buried cuttings are growing, compared to 100% loss from the fancy indoor rooting rituals.

Thank you! It gives me hope that I can try it this way :)

Guess I better get to digging! I will try almost anything to avoid those darn gnats.

what is the growing mix in the sleeves?

Its peat/perlite mix. Maybe 50/50 more or less.

Hi Jenn42,
In Zone8, you should have enough heat outside, so definitively I would put them all outside - if the leaves are not too tender...
In my Zone7 I set them all outside .
 Nevertheless if they are meant to dry, they will - so I got rid of the gnats that way.
The problem is the weather here is a bit colder and drier than expected - but they still could do it . If not, than so be it !
The problem is now, it is really tempting to put them next to the window ... and that is the shortest way to cook them .
So they are outside in partial shade ... But they are all for now still thinking ... "Should I stay or should I go ?"
I think as well that pushing them too much is the best way to dry them. So if they need time to make more growth, I'll let them have it ...

I have found that gnats are a symptom and not the cause of rotting cuttings.

Do you think it has anything to do with Miracle Grow? I am using the same mix but this time used mg to wet the dirt before planting them. I didn't notice gnats on my 1gal outside until I gave them MG too. Don't know if it's just a coincidence or not, but thats what I was thinking.

Do you still get gnats when you do the cuttings the 120 day way? (Not sure what to call it)

Wow! Thats pretty awesome! I bought some stuff from kelp4less.com that can be used for soiless growing. If I were to try your method, do you think that would work? I've actually been wanting to ask you that question for a while. I think its the grow pack. Just wondering if that might work

I know waht you stated on poison, but I still have to suggest using Gnatrol BTI from day one before you ever see a gnat.  If I pre-moisten my potting mix prior to potting I use it and every water they receive after. It is cheap. There is what I bought $5 worth lasted me the whole cutting season.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-ounces-Gnatrol-highly-selective-biological-larvicide-for-Fungus-gnat-control-/181295212463?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a360967af

Jenn,
I had a terrible time this year with gnats. Far worse then at any time in the past. Normally I use BTi and it works fine. This year it was not helping fast enough so I added beneficial nematodes and that did the trick. As a matter of fact it did such a good job that I will treat with both Gnatrol and Scanmask nematodes as soon as I see signs of gnats from now on. I am very pleased with the results.