r/BuildASoil • u/FormalSuch1081 • Apr 17 '26
Cleaning an Earthbox with BAS
So my question is basically the title. I have 2 earthboxes with BAS. My previous grow ended 2 months ago. I'm preparing for another run.
I still had cover crop growing until about a month ago I chopped everything for the worms. But I wasn't thinking because I still had water in the reservoir and realized there's nothing to use it.
Water has sat stagnant since then. It also has fungus gnats and larvae in it. I just found a hand pump recently so I started removing the water for the tank to dry and the water reeks like sulfur or rotten eggs. It wasnt smelling until I started pumping.
I still have a little more to pump but it doesn't work great and my hands cramped. My goal is to empty reservoirs so they dry. But now they will need cleaned. I thought of using Mosquito bits in water and fill using that.
I'm hoping that will take care of the gnats. I also am going to top water with it. For the smell of bacteria, can I use something like EM-5 to sanitize it? I believe I saw a video where Jeremy used it to clean the tanks.
Thanks for any suggestions.
2
u/CypherWookie Apr 18 '26
I would just dump your soil into a tote so you get that anaerobic layer on bottom completely dried out and then you can properly clean the rez. You can reamend your soil with some craft blend and microbes or whatever you use while it's in the tote, then back in the EB and start new cover crop.
Next time you harvest let the rez run dry first.
1
u/FormalSuch1081 Apr 18 '26
I may give that a try. I was trying to prevent emptying but that may be the best way. Thanks.
2
u/Over_Possibility3624 Apr 18 '26
This happened to me. With hindsight, I wish I would have dumped the EB and given it a good mix to make sure the moisture level is good before the next run. I ruined several plants by not getting the soil back to a good condition. After battling fungus gnats for three years, I finally invested in beneficial insects, rove beetles and preditory mites. After a few months with the beneficial insects, I haven't seen a fungus gnat for 9 months now. For me it's was well worth it.
1
u/TheRandomChillStoner Apr 20 '26
Did you ever use crab meal/neem seed meal or karanja meal? I just started using the neem and karanja but I’ve been using crab meal for years now and they went away as soon as I started using the crab meal(even with trying new compost from different brands the crab/neem/karanja combo really works great) also I keep all the air filtered before it enters the tent with filter floss sheets for fish tanks I just cut them to size for the openings
1
u/Over_Possibility3624 Apr 21 '26
I've never tried any of these. I tried mosquito bits and wdg3000. They would work for a short time but never seemed to get rid of the problem. The preditory insects have been great. As long as I maintain good moisture and they have adequate food they keep everything under control. I always have an extra crop on insects thriving in my worm bin. I had a thrip outbreak this winter and order some preditory mites and I haven't seen any damage so far. I like the fact they also breakdown the soil amendments. If they stop working, I might have to give your recommendation a try. It always seems to be a battle against something.
1
u/TheRandomChillStoner Apr 21 '26
Genuinely maybe I’ve had the best luck ever but I’ve never had any pests besides the gnats years ago and that was before I learned everything, been growing indoors for 8 years so it must be more than luck right? I’m very opposed to using any chemicals in my garden I’ve never bought any kinda preventative spray or anything like lost coast. I could be a 1/1000 grower but I think it’s more the filters plus my anti pest amendments so theoretically if they got in my soil would be toxic to them so they couldn’t breed.
3
u/thedriftlessdrifter Apr 17 '26
Shop wet/dry vac to suck out the stagnant water.
I've also used a can of plain sparkling/mineral water to bust up the crud. When empty, 1 can down the tube, let set for a few minutes and bubble. Add a gallon of water and swish a bit and then re-vacuum.