Anchorman Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Hello everyone, This morning while watering the plants I've noticed hundreds of little bugs inside my soil, popping like popcorn while watter was settling, and then most went to hide back into the soil. I've got another 2-3 weeks left and not sure what to do - try to fight them, leave it alone or harvest the plants early (some hairs are still white). Could someone help to identify my new tenants please? Video here: https://streamable.com/fx3yq Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grooving Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Got a photo? Not keen on an external links here If they “pop” like you say might be springtails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchorman Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 3 minutes ago, grooving said: Got a photo? Not keen on an external links here If they “pop” like you say might be springtails? It's just a video streaming service, not very popular but requires no registration hence I've used it. No plants visible in my video, soil and bugs only. I found another video on youtube and I would say mine look exactly the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRTpE4-7XHo People say it's springtails. As I'm so late in my flowering that changing soil makes no sense, also really wish to give them another two-three weeks. One guy says to cover soil with sand, that should suffocate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grooving Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 If Springtails you won’t get rid but you can seriously control numbers with 1-2cm of horticultural sand on top of your medium. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchorman Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 1 minute ago, grooving said: If Springtails you won’t get rid but you can seriously control numbers with 1-2cm of horticultural sand on top of your medium. After watching some more videos I'm pretty confident they are springtails. Off to the store to get some sand now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Springtails are hexapods (not insects) that will feed on fungal structures and spores as well as decaying material. I wouldn't even try to control them in soil. If you're watering sensibly that should be all the control you need. If you were in coco, that might be a different story as they can start to eat plant material in the absence of plenty of fungus/detritus (same with gnats). Just leave them mate, they only tend to affect plants with weak root systems. If you do get sand however, give it a damn good wash before laying it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grooving Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Horticultural sand doesn’t need washing and IME helps reduce numbers in soil too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 27 minutes ago, grooving said: Horticultural sand doesn’t need washing and IME helps reduce numbers in soil too. It does, actually. Even the overpriced RHS horticultural sand has plenty of silt in it - silt basically just speeds up compaction of the medium and will almost certainly make the problem worse by retaining more moisture. Same reason you wash clay pebbles, pumice etc... That being said I'm not even sure what your suggestion of sand would achieve... they're not gnats and I'm not sure it would even disrupt their life cycle or kill them. Either way, springtails only really get to the point of becoming an issue if you're watering often. Can't be helped in coco but soil is a different matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anchorman Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 (edited) Just finished covering tops with sand, had to go to three garden centers until found the horticultural one. Didn't wash though as I though it won't have salts in it Hopefully shouldn't do too much damage as I'm only three weeks away from harvest. Thanks everyone Edited March 8, 2020 by Anchorman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now