Bugs in my soil

[Chewwy]

I noticed while watering today very little whitish bugs crawling on the inside of a few of my grow bags,they seemed to be crawling out of the soil(Fox Farms) and bouncing around...I also noticed a few adult knats once I turned the fans off.
Could these be the babies?or do I have 2 kinds of bugs?

Sorry no pics

 

[Chewwy]

Heres a pic,theyre bouncing around like fleas

 

[Chewwy]

Nothin?

Heres another pic

 

[unclefishstick]

bet it's a gnat larva

 

[mnsmokin]

Yeah I had the happen in one of my pots as well.. not sure what they were.. I just dumped the dirt and put her in a new pot.. seemed to solve the problem

 

[darookie2000]

Looks like it could be soil lice or gnat larva. Try pyrethrins if you don't mind killing off any beneficials you established or azamax/azatrol and water as a soil drench (I just picked up a bottle to kill off some unknown soil bug that keeps popping up).

 

[Chewwy]

Well theyre springtails and some say theyre beneficial and shouldnt damage plants as long as numbers stay under control

 

[ARTofMAKINGfire]

Chewwy. Had them before. If the numbers get out of control they end up eating peat moss and other decaying material in the soil, making it brittle and less able to support roots. I would try to find something to treat them with that is safe in soil. I have no suggestions on what will work. However I can tell you to STAY AWAY from SUCRASHIELD as it killed everything I hit it with even at half strength.

Me personally, they annoy the hell out of me.

 

[HungryHippo]

Springtails

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

I have had springtails "snow fleas" in my old RDWC setup before. I tryed nematodes to wax them, but didnt see any good results. They never did anything to hurt my ladies, even in large numbers. They like clean water

 

[KnuckleHedd]

Chewwy called it right. You have Springtails. I got them from some Walmart potting soil a couple years ago. One application of Nematodes and they disappeared. It was hilarious when I was applying the water containing the Nematodas. I think the Springtails could see the Nematodes...they were jumping like mad..looked like miniature popcorn popping.

 

[piosh]

looked like miniature popcorn popping.

exactly,exactly,same here,
how to get rid of them, anyone????

 

[boo]

I would use liquid sevin...apply liberally and they will die...drench the soil...I use this on all my veggies so there is no worry of contamination

 

[darookie2000]

I would use liquid sevin...apply liberally and they will die...drench the soil...I use this on all my veggies so there is no worry of contamination

I would go least-toxic first, as per standard pest control protocol. Sevin persists for at least a week, possibly more, after application. According to the product label, you should wait at least 3 weeks after application before harvesting certain crops. I don't know if I'd ever use this product indoors, given all of the potential hazards from exposure (both acute and long-term), and outdoor use would be suspect for me, since it's toxic to fish and a number of other animals.

 

[Rampant]

I know this is not a new thread but a few questions if i may. First noticed springtails in my nft trays about a year ago. Still not been able to get rid of them despite thoroughly cleaning everything each crop. Also got them living in my pots of coco. I really would like to get rid of them. Would a systemic miticide work on them? I dont have mites anymore but these things seem very persistent!

 

[CrossEyedMary]

This is the second thread I've heard about pests being in Fox Farm soil. I'm seeing a trend here.

 

[CannaDestroyer]

i've had these fuckers for about six months. finally got rid of them, but i'm not sure exactly what did it. i added beneficial nematodes to the soil about 3 weeks prior to them dissappearing. it could have been them, as they take a few weeks to build there numbers and get settled in. the other thing i used right before they disappeared is "FOOD GRADE" hyrdogen peroxide. i added this to my feed water at a rate of 25 drops of peroxide per gallon of water. do not exceed this amount, you can burn your roots by adding too much. 3% peroxide might also work if you adjust dose accordingly, but i don't like the idea of adding perseravatives to my soil. all plants were watered daily with this mixture for about a week maybe two. no ill effects to plants were noticed. i havn't seen any springtails in about 2 months. i tried all the chemical shit too. just about destroyed my 3 year old soil in the process, and didn't get rid of the bugs for more than week. if you grow organic the peroxide will reek a little havoc on your micro herd, but they recover quickly. if you grow with chems it will just add oxygen to your soil. also springtails never seemed to bother the larger plants, but they will eat the roots off fresh clones. be carefull if you have these and reuse your soil/coco for cloning.

 

[montanaorganics]

The best contol in my opinion is a living one. My fungus gnat mites are like hungry angry lions cruising the soil and eating anything in their path, bet they would do a model job of eating all those little jumping bastards. naturescontol.com
has some great info on them and other bugs, good and bad.

 

[Rampant]

Thanks for the responses all. Luckily enough the plants i have in soil which i never re use have none, its the re used coco and perlite i have a problem with. They are also in my nft trays so must find their way into the trays once they are put to flower as i have not found any in my veg space. I will give the peroxide a go i think, i used to use liquid oxy but stopped when i ran out.
Was also besieged by fungus gnats a while back, had been growing mushrooms and forgotten about them. Once i remembered and took the lid off they all flew into my room, had to stop the soil for a while until they went.

 

[CrossEyedMary]

The best contol in my opinion is a living one. My fungus gnat mites are like hungry angry lions cruising the soil and eating anything in their path, bet they would do a model job of eating all those little jumping bastards. naturescontol.com
has some great info on them and other bugs, good and bad.

Are you referring to hypoaspis miles?[SIZE=+2][/SIZE]