Problem With Soil

[mllr]

Hello, today i found those insects in my soil and i am not sure are they bad for it. Do you know what are they and what i am supposed to do and how to kill them?

 

[Ar.BsG]

Hello, today i found those insects in my soil and i am not sure are they bad for it. Do you know what are they and what i am supposed to do and how to kill them?

Hmm I'd say the worm is harmless . Have you seen them in action ... if so how do they harm your plant

 

[Ar.BsG]

Kinda looks like a centipede or something lol

 

[mllr]

Hmm I'd say the worm is harmless . Have you seen them in action ... if so how do they harm your plant

the plant is still in the very beginning, today i just remove the shell of the seed. i cant tell you if they eat the root or the leaves cause i still dont have them and the root is small. I also think that the warm is harmless but do you know something for the other insect?

 

[GT21]

Do some azamax or some straight neem or spinosad. All pretty harmless to humans. People are using botanical oils with great success so theres trifecta too. Worms are good and some bugs dont matter

 

[shadowseeds]

Centipede probably feeding on your pests. Sign of bad things to come. Or it stays in equilibrium. Good eating the bad as they reproduce. Either way would be good to get rid them all

 

[mllr]

Centipede probably feeding on your pests. Sign of bad things to come. Or it stays in equilibrium. Good eating the bad as they reproduce. Either way would be good to get rid them all

How to kill them all ?

Centipede probably feeding on your pests. Sign of bad things to come. Or it stays in equilibrium. Good eating the bad as they reproduce. Either way would be good to get rid them all

how to get rid of them ?

 

[GreatMilenko]

Is picture 2 a spidermite?

 

[mllr]

Is picture 2 a spidermite?

I dont know bro i saw this in soil .. and i take a picture with zoom on phone

 

[GreatMilenko]

I dont know bro i saw this in soil .. and i take a picture with zoom on phone

Buy some neem oil and spray everything!

 

[oldskol4evr]

Hello, today i found those insects in my soil and i am not sure are they bad for it. Do you know what are they and what i am supposed to do and how to kill them?

did you use a lot of compost for your soil mix?all these are active most in compost pile,,here a tip for you,when it frezze this coming season,take the compost your gonna use inside on your plants and pots,lay out a tarp and let that stuff frezze,and it kill the larvae,then put in a tote were they cant get back to it and store for your grow,as long as you go feed a little water to the compost during that stretch between the soil will continue to thrive,if your growing outside those all belong ,inside not ,the spider looks like a preditory mite the centipede looks like a silver fish they eat compost and shit like a dung bettle,the transparent worm,i dont like,not a red wiggler or earth worm

 

[mllr]

did you use a lot of compost for your soil mix?all these are active most in compost pile,,here a tip for you,when it frezze this coming season,take the compost your gonna use inside on your plants and pots,lay out a tarp and let that stuff frezze,and it kill the larvae,then put in a tote were they cant get back to it and store for your grow,as long as you go feed a little water to the compost during that stretch between the soil will continue to thrive,if your growing outside those all belong ,inside not ,the spider looks like a preditory mite the centipede looks like a silver fish they eat compost and shit like a dung bettle,the transparent worm,i dont like,not a red wiggler or earth worm

My soil mix is from the garden shop and fertiziler from california worm and coco i thought this is larve from fungus gnats coz i found fungus gnats in soil other insect are bad for it ?

 

[crimsonecho]

Just my opinion, but if you haven’t identified any pests i don’t think you should kill them, a living soil is good, if there are worms they will help with the breaking down of organic material in soil also they will aerate the soil naturally by digging little tunnels, centipedes or whatever those little bugs are probably natural pest predators if you get rid of them then you may get pests easily as there won’t be any bugs to eat the larvae. If this was my soil i would let them live and watch for any negative effects to the plant. They are easy to kill if they are hurting the plant but having them is kind of a natural defence mechanism in my opinion. Not an experienced grower by the way so don’t go solely by this reply and try to identify what they are first.
There is always many different paths to choose, using chemical or organic pesticides, insecticides, fungicides etc. to kill everything and getting your grow as sterile as can be is one way, but my problem with it is this, you will never be able to get it 100% sterile and without competition what stays there will multiply very fast and take over eventually. From what i read even in hydro, where you can keep things sterile much more easily, people get some bacterial and fungal infections eventually and opt for using some kind of beneficials. (Of course there are people who are doing a great job with sterile environments i am sure, but they usually need some pricey equipments to regulate everything)

 

[crimsonecho]

My soil mix is from the garden shop and fertiziler from california worm and coco i thought this is larve from fungus gnats coz i found fungus gnats in soil other insect are bad for it ?

Yeah looks like one, but i think your bugs will eat it. Do you have an infestation or just couple of them flying around?

 

[mllr]

Yeah looks like one, but i think your bugs will eat it. Do you have an infestation or just couple of them flying around?

thank you a lot for the advices they are really helpful for me. but i saw two or three fungus gnats when the soil is wet. What should i do?

 

[crimsonecho]

thank you a lot for the advices they are really helpful for me. but i saw two or three fungus gnats when the soil is wet. What should i do?

I am not sure i don’t have a big gnat problem and if you have seen 2-3 of them you probably don’t have one too. Usual advice is let the top of your soil dry between waterings, have good air circulation over the soil, i use yellow stickies they catch lots of them also heard you can leave a beer bottle with little bit of it still inside, gnats love the smell and fall into the beer and die, haven’t tested this one tho. Also there is the BTI, Neem is good too but may hurt the other insects and worms i am not sure about that, it interrupts the feeding process and it is systemic so eveything that feeds of your plant is going to die, also doing a soil drench would probably kill all the larvae. But i think fungus gnats will always be there if you are using compost and any other organic ammendments, at least a couple of them, making sure it doesn’t get out of control is the way that works for me, not erradicate them. Most things i would use for fungus gnats would hurt my soil biology too, i ammend my soil with neem seed cake so there is that line of defence, i also add little amounts to my teas, but i don’t have the insects and worms that you have there i am sure they can take care of 3 gnats with your help (beer bottle, yellow stickies, letting the top soil dry etc.). Again this is just my experience.

 

[vagiboy1987]

What you have there is an Enchytraeid (a pot worm) its a cousin to the earthworm they come from manure in compost. Leave them there they'll help your soil and provide castings that improve nitrogen. Their digging loosens the soil and helps is aerate. Very beneficial you don't want to kill them. The other is a type of centepede its a predator it will kill any insects that it can find on your plants. You could remove them but its no worse than lady bugs which I actually suggest using in your garden as the are veracious predators to other bugs. Both would be beneficial to your plants I wouldn't destroy them.

 

[vagiboy1987]

For knats you can buy a knat trap or just get a glue trap for mice and put sugar water on it or crushed banana. They'll be attracted to it and get stuck on the glue as will any flying insects. I suggest 1 per 2 plants

 

[crimsonecho]

For knats you can buy a knat trap or just get a glue trap for mice and put sugar water on it or crushed banana. They'll be attracted to it and get stuck on the glue as will any flying insects. I suggest 1 per 2 plants

Yeah there is no need to go nuclear just for couple of gnats.

 

[vagiboy1987]

The good thing about predator insects is that you can get them for soil and plant. Think of each potted plan as its own little ecosystem. The entire grow area as a forest. In nature you have insects that live all around, in soil and pretty much everywhere else. In a grow situation you have the benefit of tilting the population in your favor to suit your needs. The centipede is more of a ground and soil predator it will kill bugs and larvae in the soil. Ladybugs will kill on the canopy. The worms are beneath obviously they will eat fungus and break down nutrients for you, I'd suggest adding a few earthworms to each pot and a box of ladybugs to the grow area. It will also help.in my experience to false mulch the pot. Go buy one of those coco fiber bowls that go in hanging pots ( dollar store a 12" one is like $1 or less) cut a slit in one side and a hole in the middle for your plant and simply place it over your pot.this will help with water retention on your plant and with soil temperature. It also provides a better living environment for soil born insects. Hope that helps.