For anyone who actually cares about their plants:
Springtails are mostly a nuisance pest, doing little damage to plants. They will chew roots in the soil where they're located, and can inhibit plant hardiness. But they seldom do major damage. These nearly invisible bugs do not bite or sting and are generally harmless to humans.
Mecopterans live mostly in cool, moist habitats, especially in shady forests near springs, streams, and rivers. Adults are usually found resting on leaves and other vegetation. The larvae usually live in the soil or leaf litter, although a few species are aquatic and live in streams. Adult snow scorpionflies are found on ice, snow, and stones near clumps of moss. Their larvae develop in moss.
Mecopterans eat both plant and animal tissues. The adults and larvae of scorpionflies scavenge mostly dead insects. The adults are known to steal insects trapped in spider webs. They also feed on pollen, nectar, and fruit juice. Adult hangingflies are predators (PREH-duh-ters) or hunters and seize aphids, caterpillars, flies, moths, and sometimes spiders with their hind feet. Their larvae eat mostly dead insects and some decaying parts of plants. Adults and larvae of snow scorpionflies eat mosses. Short-faced scorpionfly adults graze the surfaces of leaves, but it is not known what their larvae eat. Aquatic scorpionfly larvae feed on the aquatic larvae of flies (Diptera) known as midges, but the diet of the adults is unknown.
There is more, but this gives you an idea. You risk your plants health, your roots, and your leaf matter. Moreover you risk an all out infestation.
Regardless of who's telling you, do your research and inform yourself. One person's ignorance should not jeopardize your grow.
