Dorje..

Why not use lights? They would be very helpful. A good compact florescent one or some other one can suggest..
Especially as close to the lights as possible without burning your plants.

I hate to hear the word 'SOIL' used unless it is intended for ground use and not pots, especially inside.

Do you know the difference between soil and soilless mixes?
Do you know how to make any with not so much organic stuff in it like peat?
Is there any possible way you could be over watering too?

Lack of light, an organic heavy mix and water don't mix at all for just about any type of plant.
Besides. it makes a good breeding ground for critters, especially gnats that eat decaying material then possibly the fine roots if they would even grow in those conditions.

Hope this helps-)

Mike

You are a brave soul! I have plenty of difficulty growing edibles in perfectly good conditions outside. I agree, you don't have enough light without adding some extra source, at least for plants that usually grow in full sun outside, such as sage.

A product called mosquito dunks can help get rid of FG's if they show up again. Yes, they could have come from either of the sources you mentioned. Whenever there are moist organic bits decomposing in a pot, FG's would like to make their home there. I'm not sure about using this on edibles though. If someone doesn't pop in to confirm or deny, I'm sure the info's readily available by searching.

Do you have any interest in ornamental plants? You might want to ask about the edibles in the veggie, herb, and/or container forums. There's definitely folks who visit house plant forum who are interested and experienced in the kind of gardening you're asking about, but I think your questions would get more responses on one of those other forums. There's also a forum for gardening under lights. If you poke around these other forums, you should get a feel for which one would be best to help you, or might find some answers to previous questions that help you out.

Sending good vibes!
- Tiffany

ah, thanks guys :) And Tiffany I don't know if brave is the right word! It sounds like I've been doing pretty much everything wrong...

Regarding light, would putting them near normal lights do the job? If so, would energy saving lightbulbs be better than the old school kind, or is it unimportant?

By soil, I meant some (possibly fairly elderly) potting compost type stuff, along with whatever the plants were living in when I got them.

So ditching that and starting again, am I right in thinking I need to buy potting compost, vermiculite? And is it roughly 5 parts compost to 1 part vermiculite? And I'll also get some plant food and add that from time to time.

I had been overwatering a bit at first I think, though I don't think I've been doing that for a while. Oh and, for now I'm going to hold off on the salad growing and stick with a few herbs and maybe even an ornamental plant or two. Though I find things I can eat much more interesting!

Go buy a package of "Mosquito dunks" at the garden center. Put one quarter of one in your watering can. This will kill the larvae in the soil and stop future generations. Use sticky traps and manually kill the adults.

The active ingredient in those dunks is Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. It does come as a liquid, Gnatrol and I think that I've seen easy to apply granules. It's safe for use on edibles.

The idea is to use your Bti in your regular watering routine. The last thing you want to do is add more water than what your plant needs. The larvae will ingest the Bti, get sick and die.

I'd like to suggest that you amend your potting mix with perlite rather than vermiculite. Perlite is much more stable and able to perform its role of providing long term porosity very well.

Vermiculite collapses very readily, especially when moist. It'll turn to mush in an instant. Not exactly what you want to add to your potting medium, is it?

You wouldn't need much of a mosquito dunk in a watering can. I use just a teaspoon or so of a crushed dunk in a 5 gallon pail of water and it is plenty to keep the gnats gone.

tj

bother, I replied but it got eaten by the internet!
OK so I've ordered some perlite, and I'll get some of the mosquito dunk too, and I've ditched all the compost I had, which I'll replace. Is the ratio 5 parts compost to 1 part perlite OK?

Any suggestions on the lighting front? I'm not too keen to put growing lights around my flat if the normal lamps I have will do the job!

Many thanks :)

A reply of mine is not here either, sorry, and would be redundant now. Sending good vibes!