I had a ton of fungus gnats on my peppers that I wintered indoors. I did 2 things and it drastically reduced (but not eliminated) the problem. I sprinkled cinnamon on the top of the soil and I began watering with a weak chamomile tea. Both are natural anti-fungals. Now I water all my seedlings with a weak chamomile tea. You can search on this topic, or google it and read about the benefits of watering with chamomile tea. Also, if you want to get a more focused search scroll to the bottom of the forum you are on, just below the last post on the page, and use that search function. Make sure you click on search this forum rather than entire site. When I first started using this site, I used the search function on the top and found it impossible to weed through all the topics the search brought up. Good luck!

I don't see where anyone was rude. I certainly hope that you are not referring to me (with a degree) as being rude. I'd very much want you to reflect on that a little bit. We are all here to learn...and to share. I asked you a couple of questions about the alcohol soaking and if you can't answer them....that's no big deal. There might not be any studies about what happens when a plant is soaked in alcohol for a couple of hours. But I can tell you this....I'm not gonna test it! I'd be nervous as heck to put one of my plants to the test. Well, maybe that awful grafted cactus thing someone gave me a while back. It could use an alcohol soak. heh heh heh This might be a good time for good old diatomaceous earth. A couple of tablespoons sprinkled on the top of the soil will cause some real problems for whatever-the-heck these things are without adding a toxic substance. Be sure to use horticultural or food grade DE and not the stuff used for pool filters. Won't hurt ANYTHING but any kind of arthropod meandering around in the potting medium. Toni, I agree with you about being a bit put off when I see assorted livestock swarming around in the soil of a newly purchased plant. I can't think of ANY time when that would be a good thing, lol. At the very least, it speaks to poor maintenance practices at the garden center.

Believe me the hard work is worth it, it all pays off in the end. If you feel you cannot go through all the cleaning process and have no place for all that soil then I would buy some new soil and mix it with what is in the pots. I would take off about 4 inches off the top layer and get rid of it, then mix in the new soil on top. Once the plants are planted use a anti-fungal spray on the roses and spray the dirt and around the rim and edge of the pots maybe that will help keep the fungus down. Do not water at night, water in the morning's and do not over water, also keep the water off of the rose leaves. If you buy new soil have the garden center guy help you take it to your car, then when you get home have someone help you take it out of your car. But I must stress NEVER, NEVER use soil from the ground in your back yard there are soil borne disease's in the soil from the ground. If you feel you want to go through the process of cleaning the pots then here is an easier way and How I would do it if I had all those pots to clean, since they are so big an easier way would be to: Take out all of the old dirt and dispose of it (since it had fungus in it) and rinse out all the old dirt from the pots with the hose on a high blast. I purchased a scrub brush on a long handle at Home Depot for $4.89 which helps at scrubbing down into a large pot, if you want to. I think you can get away with out scrubbing. Fill a large bucket with 9 parts water and 1 part household chlorine bleach, you might need larger parts since your pots are so large. Pour some of the solution down the inside of the pots make sure all of the inside of the pot is covered with the bleach solution. Let sit, if your pots are plastic a 1/2 hour is good but, if they are made out of a porous matieral clay,or cement longer would be better. You can scrub the pots with a long handled scrub brush, if you can't, I am sure the bleach will kill everything in the pot. Rinse the pots with a high blast of clear water. Let dry. As far as putting the fungus infected soil into your composter I am not to sure about that, I would think it could contaminate your compost. I don't compost because I have no room to do it so I cannot answer that. I would love to be able to make my own compost. There is a compost message board here you might want to go there and ask them that question, because that is a lot of soil. As far as using the fungas soil on other plants in the garden I would'nt but, you have alot of soil. What plants did you have in mind to put the soil on. Most plants are susceptible to fungus and/or mildew. Since you have limitations in your gardening because of your health. I would just mix the soil with half fresh soil and the soil in the pots already. Like I said above take off the top part and mix in some of the new soil and use a anti-fungal spray on the plants and soil. Because moving all that dirt is alot of work for you. I wish I lived closer so I could come and help you but I live in Arizona and you are in Canada so that is out of the question. If it is too much for you to take all the dirt out and clean the pots, don't do it, you have to do what you have to do. I believe the fungus came about because the rose's are in the garage and they are not getting any sun. I would not do this now, wait until you are ready to put them outside for the spring and summer, because it might come back if they stay in the cold garage with no sun. Good luck Carrie

Your posted picture looks like mulch, not soil. Is this shredded wood a layer on top of soil? How deep is it? If it is a layer of mulch your solution is to push it back and plant *in* the soil, not in the mulch. I certainly wouldn't go to the work of removing the mulch but use it between the plants. Mulch is good for many reasons you can learn by googling "benefits of mulching". As already stated fungus is not usually a problem and is part of the process of decomposition of wood products. Check out the FAQ section of this forum where you can learn more about soil.