Starting Over

So, bad news. I ended up with an infestation of gnats.

You know how a dog looks who's covered in fleas? That's how the surface of my potting soil looks. I think I discovered the infestation too late to effectively get rid of it AND save my seedlings.


Here's why: 

You see these two pics on the left? I took them tonight. These little plants are approximately 5 weeks old.

Now check out the picture under it, courtesy of Victory Seed's page on starting tomatoes from seeds. The plants pictured there? 16 DAYS old.

There is something rotten in the state of Stephanie's garden.

The best my research has indicated, the gnat larvae are probably feasting quite merrily on the roots of my plants; they haven't grown in a long time, not since putting on the nodes for their first leaves; a snap of warm weather allowed me to keep them outside for a long stretch, during which time they probably picked up the gnats. I didn't notice til a day or two ago when my house started filling with gnats because I was bringing them inside with the seedling pots.

 I did my best to get the gnats out of the soil. I even used pesticide dust to try and kill them. To no avail.

So, the game plan has changed.

I'll be buying a tomato green house seed starting kit from the store tomorrow night or so, and starting another batch of seedlings that way. With all luck and fingers crossed, I'll get healthy seedlings like the bottom picture in close enough time to plant.

It's disheartening to see 5 weeks worth of effort ruined in about two days.

That's all for now.