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Vegetable Gardening

Tiny bugs in soil. What are they and how can I get rid of them?

14 years ago

I have these very tiny bugs that are walking around on my soil and climbing out of the pots. I havent seen any of them on the plants. They seem to come out right when I water or disturb the soil. They're NOT springtails. Some research I've done suggests they could be some sort of Soil Mites. I've read some people say that they might be fungus gnats but I doubt it (I think fungus gnat larva look more wormlike). I did have a fungus gnat problem before but I think I solved it completly by watering with a BTi solution (used a mosquito dunk in a gallon of water). See my links below, I posted a couple videos of them. Its hard to focus in on these things so please excuse the quality:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvVXmD3oRvw

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejAuzd9-bHo

I suspect they came from the Miracle Grow Organic potting mix I used. Im dumping it all out tomorrow, washing the roots out and switching to Fox Farms. Good or Bad idea?

THANKS!

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Comments (2)

jean001
14 years ago
As I posted in your other thread, not a problem.

In general, rapidly moving isn't a plant pest whereas slow moving may be.
jean001
14 years ago
As I posted in your other thread, a general guide is that fast moving isn't a plant pest whereas slow moving may be.

Beyond that, allow the potting mix to dry off a tad more.
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