Tiny white crawlers in my soil??!!??!!

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FourTwenny

Member
Last night while watering I discovered dozens of white bugs crawling in the soil of my weakest plant. These bugs have got to be less than a millimeter long, real tiny things. I looked at the bug sticky and couldn't quite find a match so I'm wondering if you guys have any idea to help me. I won't have any pics available, they wouldnt be very visible anyway in a photo. Thanks for any help!
 
reggaerican

reggaerican

Well-Known Member
thrips actually move slowly untill you reach for them, and then they skeet out hella quick... if you have thrips in your dirt you might also have them on your leaves look closely on a few of them to be safe... they are real hard to see as you already know
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Something else to consider is that SOME soils have HYPOASPIS MILES living in them. Which are predatory bugs.

OP you should google all the above mentioned.

If its thrips or soil lice then they will jump when you water and you should try to rid yourself of them (spinosad works great).

If its HYPOASPIS MILES then these will generally walk around the top edge of your pot until your water goes then they will return to their colonies just under the soil level. As these are predatory bugs then you wouldnt need to worry about them. THey help against Thrips and Fungus Gnats.



J
 
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R

RRLBT420

Active Member
my guess would be thrips, though one of the posts mentions predator bugs which i'm unfamiliar with. in any case, the majority of thrips live on the top side of the leaves, and actually the easiest way to remove these is by shaking them off the plant. i would advise spraying the plant and soil with neem oil. it has low toxicity to predator bugs, and it's effective at controlling most pests.
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
RRLBT420 said:
my guess would be thrips, though one of the posts mentions predator bugs which i'm unfamiliar with. in any case, the majority of thrips live on the top side of the leaves, and actually the easiest way to remove these is by shaking them off the plant. i would advise spraying the plant and soil with neem oil. it has low toxicity to predator bugs, and it's effective at controlling most pests.
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true neem does control some but works best before any infestation , it only retards growth in thrips it does not control them.

spinosad as i mentioned is OMRI listed as organics and also doesnt effect all predatory bugs, it will effect some though.


the first port of call though before treatment is identification .


J
 
reggaerican

reggaerican

Well-Known Member
jondamon said:
Something else to consider is that SOME soils have HYPOASPIS MILES living in them. Which are predatory bugs.

OP you should google all the above mentioned.

If its thrips or soil lice then they will jump when you water and you should try to rid yourself of them (spinosad works great).

If its HYPOASPIS MILES then these will generally walk around the top edge of your pot until your water goes then they will return to their colonies just under the soil level. As these are predatory bugs then you wouldnt need to worry about them. THey help against Thrips and Fungus Gnats.



J
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heck man where can i buy some of these??? im fighting with gnats and thrips right now...
 
F

FourTwenny

Member
I THOUGHT i saw one jump just now as i moved the soil but thats the first time it has happened, and as i messed with them some more, none of them have jumped. I have organic MG soil. At no point do these bugs move quickly, they just crawl around the soil doin who knows what.
 
reggaerican

reggaerican

Well-Known Member
FourTwenny said:
I THOUGHT i saw one jump just now as i moved the soil but thats the first time it has happened, and as i messed with them some more, none of them have jumped. I have organic MG soil. At no point do these bugs move quickly, they just crawl around the soil doin who knows what.
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they probably are not thrips then...
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
reggaerican said:
heck man where can i buy some of these??? im fighting with gnats and thrips right now...
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just get spinosad

reggae ive already told you about spinosad .


if you wanted to combat thrips and fungus gnats with predators then use predatory nematodes and possibly pirate bugs.

otherwise just get spinosad


J
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
FourTwenny said:
its hard to tell what they look like cuz there so damn small
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You need to be relentless and get a a positive ID on your problem.

Without the necessary commitment from you to get an ID of your bug NO ONE CAN HELP YOU.

Catch one get magnifying glass and study it.

ITs really not that hard to do.


J
 
F

FourTwenny

Member
thats definitely an option, i just so happen to be flat broke and don't already have a magnifying glass... and honestly a microscope might be the only way to clearly id them lol
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
FourTwenny said:
thats definitely an option, i just so happen to be flat broke and don't already have a magnifying glass... and honestly a microscope might be the only way to clearly id them lol
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Just look at common pests for Indoor grows and have a little more commitment please. Whether you are flat broke or not you will surely see one you can identify.

The most common pests are

THRIPS
FUNGUS GNATS
APHIDS
SPIDER MITES


For gods sake someone you know must be able to help you out with a way to get close enough to see them. ( you dont have to tell that person what you are doing)

Pests can appear to be a small problem but they can quickly get infested and out of control until they kill your plants.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE INDOOR GARDEN PESTS THEY CAN RUIN A CROP VERY VERY QUICKLY!


J
 
F

FourTwenny

Member
the problem is every time i try to id them i can never find them, i have to scoop some soil up and find them in there but they move fairly quickly and they literally look like a grain of rice that are less than a millimeter long. i recently discovered that they jump but they dont look like lice. other than that i have no idea how to describe them further. its not that im not committed or havent tried hard, its just that difficult to figure them out.
 
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