Justaguy, my soil mix was mainly organic potting mix (whatever brand they have here - it wasn't Miracle Gro), some manure compost and Perlite. The guy at the garden center said that's all I'd need. Every couple weeks I'd add some organic fertilizer. Sounds fine except the manure part. Of course I have no idea what was in the mix itself. The fungus gnats love decaying, moist organic matter and roots do not :) If you have a serious problem with gnats that is a good indication the potting mix is holding too much water and the manure by virtue of it's small particle size will do this as well as feed the gnat larvae. I recommend leaving it out of containers. I just got back from the store and $150 later I found all of the ingredients in Al's Mix with the exception of the lime. That is really unusual. Usually people have trouble finding the pine bark fines or perlite in bulk or something like that. Lime, at least in the US, is nearly ubiquitous. Does the island tend to have ground soils of high pH? If so that would explain why locals haven't heard of lime, it would probably never get used. Ask for dolomite lime and if you just get blank stares maybe order it online, you won't need much. Bite the bullet and buy a 5lb bag plus shipping and you should have enough to last several seasons. I feel for you if you actually have to mail order it as in the states we can just buy 50 pounds of it for a couple bucks. You really do need it to counter the pH of the bark/peat acidity and supply calcium to the mix so some is available to the plants. If you can't find some locally click on my username and email me, I will ship you some. I noticed Al's Mix doesn't call for any type of dirt or pre-made soil. Could that be right? Yes, and the reason is all about particle size. If you use dirt it will always be super small particles and in containers they hold way too much water. Holding water is good, but the problem is that small particles will hold water in the spaces between particles that would otherwise hold air which roots are going to need. It's a balancing act between those spaces holding water and air and soil/dirt will hold all water and no air in containers. Al's 5-1-1 mix is well tested by forum folks and I have yet to hear from anyone who thought it resulted in poor plant performance. I know you might be reading this with some doubts, but if you read through the water/air movement threads on this forum you will find so many testimonials as to it's success that your concerns will be laid to rest.

Yes, they are plainly visible to the eye, the size of a small grain of rice with movement. I have found it easier to do the bath or chilling rather than dissection, but all those methods will work. See the recent swd/grape forum thread for more tips. Visibly damaged fruit can take 2 to 13 days from infestation, so very tiny larvae can be inside good-looking fruit and would not show in a chilling test or be very hard to see in a dissection test. At least with blackberries, there is a good contrast ratio (off-white larva against black background) for viewing.

Looks exactly like what's decimating my seedlings. I had a massive infestation of earwigs. The only thing I found that works for them without destroying the other good bugs is direct assault. (Trust me, I mean assault. I was so mad when they destroyed my plants.) I got a jar/cup of soapy water and a pair of tweezers and went out about an hour or two after dark and plucked them right off the plant/planter/soil and dunked them right into the soapy water. Yes, I realize that they're helpful in the fact that they eat other bad bugs, but a big infestation is just not good at all as they're omnivorous. I would suggest going out with a flashlight, get all the ones you can find, then come back in a couple hours and do it again. I had to do it over a span of three nights, but now it looks like they're finally retreating.

Army worms?