How can I water my plants while I'm trying to let them dry out to kills fungus gnats?

The soil is pretty dry, but I'm hesitant to water for fear of those lurking beneath where I've sprayed soapy water. In the meantime, the plants are looking thirstier and thirstier. Replanting isn't an option, so how long do I need to wait to water while trying to let my treatments work on these little buggers?How can I water my plants while I'm trying to let them dry out to kills fungus gnats?
Go back to watering them. If you have a problem with fungus gnats, spray the plant soil with a 5% bleach solution and water normally. Might reapply after 2 weeks. If you know someone at the nursery you might get them to apply Ban-rot to the soil for you. At my nursery we spray all the greenhouses with this solution (bleach) to avoid this problem. The bleach will kill the fungus that attracts the gnats.How can I water my plants while I'm trying to let them dry out to kills fungus gnats?
I have the same problem. I let the soil dry quite well between waterings. But I water before the plants get too stressed to avoid further problems. I know which plant brought them in the house and although I repotted all the house plants this summer, the same one that brought them still has the most gnats. So maybe keep your eye on certain plants and segregate to another room. Also, when the plants are dry, the gnats sometimes hang out in the bathroom and/or bathroom drains. I also leave spider webs if one winds up around the dirt and sometimes a spider helps catch some. Maybe we could try some kind of a mesh around the pot and stem to trap them in??? I just thought of that. Some kind of a really thin breathable material... Also, I would personally never put ANY bleach or other toxic material on a plant.
do you like to drink coffee? spread the used grounds as a mulch layer around your plants and water as you normally would. this is an organic way to control insects.
The whole point in letting them ';dry out'; is NOT to water them!.... Don't water most plants until you can put your finger into the soil and tell it is COMPLETELY dry.
Don't know how long it takes but it's not worth letting your plants die of thirst. Then the entire process will be for nothing.
These little things seem to every where this year. Thanks for asking this question. Now I can try to solve one of my problems.