(Please Help!) New bugs living in soil around plant.

[con422]

Hello,

I have recently notice these new light brown bugs living directly in my growing medium. I am using two different kinds of mediums; Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil, and Bushdoctor Coco Loco Potting Mix. I notice more of the bugs in the potting soil vs the cocoa coir. I have been doing a lot of research but have not been able to narrow down exactly what these bugs are. I believe they are either a root aphid or some type of soil mite. I am in the first week of flower and I am a relatively new grower so I feel like I need to get these little guys taken care of right away. They are specifically in the growing medium and on the rims of some of my pots but I can not find a single bug on any of the foliage or stems of the plants and I checked both sides of the leaves to be sure. Also, a side not i do not see any yellowing or any weird growth on any of the plants they all seem to be doing perfectly fine and look very green besides (I can post pictures of how my plants look if that will help to narrow down what these bugs are and if they are causing any damage.) Any help would be greatly appreciated this is my first decent sized grow and I am going to be very sad if everything dies 4-7 weeks before I am going to harvest. (Im sorry about the blurry pictures and videos it was very hard for my microscope to focus on these guys)

 

[Normski420]

First guess is spider mites and that’s just a guess. Get yourself some neem oil and spray away

 

[con422]

I don't see any webs and they aren't any where near the leaves or on the leaves. I thought spider mites where white or more clear looking. These bugs are tan or a light brown color and they only have 6 legs so I'm just really not sure. also do spider mites live only in the soil in the early larvae stages? because these bugs are strictly only in the soil and rim of the pots nowhere else.

 

[con422]

Also I purchased this to try and help because I saw some really good reviews:





Do you think I should get some neem oil as well?
https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Labo...afe+3+in+1+garden+spray&qid=1613994816&sr=8-5

 

[Homesteader]

They are beneficial. I assume your soil company puts eggs in the mix. They are predatory mites.

 

[con422]

Im not sure if the Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil has eggs in it or not, I believe it does because I have found a few people stating that it's a living soil that includes beneficials. That being said I have now seen a lot of people having issues with different kinds of bugs (spider mites, aphids, etc) with Fox Farm so I will definitely be switching mediums next time around. Thank you for all of the help, I will not apply any of the insecticide that I purchased and will save it incase I do run into some kind of bad bug infestation in the future. I was about to do a h202 drench with a pesticide drench after that to try and get rid of these things. So I will go with them being a good predatory bug and will not try and get rid of them. Any other opinions would be greatly appreciated because I definitely wanna get this right!

 

[Normski420]

I think homesteader has hit the nail on the head with that one dude Good luck on rest of run

 

[con422]

Thank you so much!

 

[1OneMarty]

Hello,

I have recently notice these new light brown bugs living directly in my growing medium. I am using two different kinds of mediums; Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil, and Bushdoctor Coco Loco Potting Mix. I notice more of the bugs in the potting soil vs the cocoa coir. I have been doing a lot of research but have not been able to narrow down exactly what these bugs are. I believe they are either a root aphid or some type of soil mite. I am in the first week of flower and I am a relatively new grower so I feel like I need to get these little guys taken care of right away. They are specifically in the growing medium and on the rims of some of my pots but I can not find a single bug on any of the foliage or stems of the plants and I checked both sides of the leaves to be sure. Also, a side not i do not see any yellowing or any weird growth on any of the plants they all seem to be doing perfectly fine and look very green besides (I can post pictures of how my plants look if that will help to narrow down what these bugs are and if they are causing any damage.) Any help would be greatly appreciated this is my first decent sized grow and I am going to be very sad if everything dies 4-7 weeks before I am going to harvest. (Im sorry about the blurry pictures and videos it was very hard for my microscope to focus on these guys)

Looks like Tics. Get some Neem Oil, you will need it.

 

[Homesteader]

Maybe not exact but perhaps something in that family?
A good rule of thumb is if its a fast mover, its probably not a plant eater.

Amblyseius swirskii

Ships via Overnight methods on Tuesdays Only. Minimum 7-day lead time prior to shipment. See Shipping Info for details. For Delivery Only. Not available in store. Amblyseius swirskii are an excellent beneficial mite for preventative control of thrips, whitefly and various mite species...

www.arbico-organics.com

 

[Wh1teScorp1on]

Nematodes are a good natural preventative cure as well.

 

[con422]

It seems like they are moving relatively fast. I wanted to include a picture of one of the plants that I noticed the most of them in the soil. This is after 1 week of flower. I am definitely leaning more towards these bugs being a predatory mite and am not going to treat the medium, because I don't want to kill off any microbules if I don't have too.

 

[Keymaker]

I’m 95% sure those are neoseiulus amblyseius califonicus (good bugs). If you don’t know what they are and someone asks for an identification don’t just assume they are bad and recommend something.
I have seen beneficials in bagged soil just as I’ve seen bad bugs. I would keep those little guys around I pay decent money to add good bugs every 2-3 weeks.

 

[HarryHood]

would it make a difference if you stored your unused bags of soil in a garage or shed during some of the winter months? would cooler temps kill any bugs living in the soil?

 

[con422]

Okay awesome I will definitely leave these little guys alone. Thank you so much for helping me in narrowing down what these bugs are so I can research them more myself.

 

[con422]

@HarryHood Im not sure if it will or not. I purchased about 8 bags of soil in November/December and stored them in my garage until I needed them. Temps can get as low as 30-40 degrees F (especially with all of the cold weather lately) but most of the time it stays between 55-70 degrees F in the garage. That is definitely a very interesting question on whether temps have any effect on (bad bugs) in soil.

 

[bighempn]

First guess is spider mites and that’s just a guess. Get yourself some neem oil and spray away

Bit of an old thread but, Diatomaceous earth works kick ass and it’s pretty cheap. Works awesome for soil born bugs just sift some over the top of your soil/medium and water it in. Little. ThT stuff will cut up their belly and suck them dry of water and it’s completely natural and inert.