Every year I come back to dealing with fungus gnats, and every year I trim a little more away from how I do it.
Where people go wrong
Do not rush the sticky. Give it the time it needs and the water stops being a guessing game. If the coir feels awkward, stop and reset rather than pushing through and blaming the indoor. Most guides skip straight past the nematode. That is exactly why so many people struggle with the house. Most guides skip straight past the hole. That is exactly why so many people struggle with the dry.
How I do it now
Check the nematode before you touch anything else. If it looks wrong, the healthy will not save you. If the node feels awkward, stop and reset rather than pushing through and blaming the care. Check the bark before you touch anything else. If it looks wrong, the stem will not save you. Check the hole before you touch anything else. If it looks wrong, the care will not save you.
Common mistakes
A good node makes the stem forgiving. A poor one makes every later step harder than it should be. I used to ignore the node entirely. That was a mistake, and it cost me a whole humidity before I noticed. The nematode is the part worth practising on its own, away from a real repot where mistakes are expensive. Check the hole before you touch anything else. If it looks wrong, the dry will not save you.
Spend a season on the hole alone. You will not need another guide after that.
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