Spring Tail Coco Video, thought aphids.

[vanessavy]

I broke my first rule, never to bring a clone home. Even worse I did not quarantine it as it came from a trusted friend who didn't let me know he had a root aphid problem, until after I found bugs. The clones def had root aphids, brown and clustered, familiar with those. My farm hand (employee) shot this video when feeding this morning, and I was just so. disgusted with the situation I didn't really watch the video. Few hours later I looked at it and said those are different bugs. I believe they are springtails after looking into youtube videos and happened upon a springtail vide vs root aphid. Take a look

 

[Homesteader]

Can be a creepy sight! Conditions must be right for them but pretty sure they are mostly harmless. Root aphids can be depressing for sure.
Hope it all goes well

 

[TheMaverickFarmer]

Springtails are good in small quantities, are signs you're soil is healthy, are highly beneficial....but.. they reproduce very very fast so you want to control the population a little bit. I get an over population EVERY time when I use what's called Fish Foil mixed in with coco (15-20%soil, 80-85%coco/perlite) they love the constant wet environment.
I've tried everything on these little f-ers,... 6% peroxide root drench, Neem oil, different pest control products, only one thing works. Diatomaceous Earth
You want to top dress your soil with it but slowly or it will make a mess and use it dry first time. Loosen the top soil a little bit, sprinkle some of that diatomaceous earth around and gently mix it in with the top soil until you have uniform coverage but not completely saturated. I prefer to do this before lights out, leave it dry for a night and water slowly next morning. Do that a couple of times and you should see results in couple of days.
Diatomaceous earth is super fine natural "glass", the springtail exoskeleton shell is no match against it, they walk in it them they're shell breaks apart. I always recommend handling this stuff carefully, turn fans off, wear thin rubber gloves and don't breath this stuff
Good luck

 

[TheMaverickFarmer]

Here's some pics of plants with LOTS of springtails in the soil

 

[TheMaverickFarmer]

One last thing I'd like to add for those in the future reading this, IMO the primary cause of getting springtails in 'soil only' grows is over watering. The over watering creates root rot which the springtails love, they feed on dead/decaying matter. Root rot often causes other issues therefore creating an illusion that the springtail is the problem, letting your soil dry between waterings will reduce the population and keep them in check