little white jumping insects in soil? read this first!

Discussion in 'Sick Plants and Problems' started by schmoookin, Apr 29, 2011.

  1. #1 schmoookin, Apr 29, 2011
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2018
    Hi there, i had this problem and it completely screwed my head up for days, however, with much research and stress i finally found the answer...
    If you have little white jumping insects that rise to the surface when watering, then these are springtails.
    This is caused by over-watering your plants and forcing your growing medium to decompose and encourage the reproduction of springtails...however...DONT BE ALARMED.
    They are vital to the microflora and need controlling and NOT ERADICATION.

    Not only are springtails harmless to the garden, but their presence
    indicates good soil health. Their diet consists of decaying matter,
    fungus, & bacteria, & their activity helps keep nitrogen in the soil. A
    radical explosion in their population might be an indicator that something
    in the organic balance is out of wack, though it probably only means that
    there are excesses of mushroom spores which can increase springtail
    populations since springtails go after the mushroom spores like kids after
    halloween candy, & a black springtail called "snowflea" even hops around
    after snowfall gathering up fungal spores from the surface of the snow. If
    springtails vanish that means the microflora is probably also missing or
    that soil is never sufficiently moist to support either springtails or
    microflora. In which case the plants will be at great risk too.

    Attempting to get rid of them by drying out the garden would be equally
    harmful to microflora, only the springtails would weather the drought

    Some springtails are so small they will never be seen by the even
    moderately farsighted. Tinier-than-average varieties are encountered in
    potted indoor plants, but they restrict their activity to the soil & don't
    spread elsewhere in the house, & are NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HOUSEPLANTS!

    So what you need to do if you have an explosive population is let your plants dry out and when you re-commence watering start with a known amount per day, if they start to droop and dry out further increase the amount until you find the RDA (recommended daily amount) for your environment and stick with that amount and increase slightly as your plant roots grow and require more.

    DO NOT attempt to remove them completely as they are a vital element of the micro-culture living in your soil

    Although springtails are a sign of good healthy soil & ideal plant
    conditions, many vendors of various pesticides recommend getting rid of
    them. Because chemical vendors don't care to distinguish between what is
    helpful & what is harmful, they just want to sell more of their products.

    I hope this clears this matter up once and for all for all the people world-wide that experience this problem.

    Love and peace and bless the internet

    Just Schmoookin
     
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  2. I like that, man.

    Good work on spreadin the love :hello:.
    + rep for u.

    Freak
    :smoke:
     
  3. #3 Freshfed, May 7, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 15, 2016
    I agree an btw great post!!! that they are helpful to an extent but in an enclosed environment with no natural predation the numbers will explode, Which can't be good!
     
  4. As long as you stop overwatering then the numbers will not increase as you are producing less bacteria/fungal spores.
    They will only multiply to unwanted levels when there is an abundance of food for them.

    They will happily live under the surface of your soil and you will never see them as long you STOP overwatering.

    Peace and love

    Just Scmoookin
     

  5. my issue is that I use coco professional plus... which is laced with beneficial bacteria, spores etc lol. I dont over water (2l/2-3 days in 11l pots). I'm considering elecrtic currents to kill insects and boost plant growth!
     
  6. great post! i just went through the same thing (finding springtails for the first time) and was pretty stressed out before figuring out what was going on, and yes i have been over watering my coco. being in week 6 of flower i'm so glad i didn't do anything stupid. thanks again, i feel much better now.
     
  7. I think you meant spores, but used the word "spoors" 3 times...

    [spoor]
    - noun 1. track or scent of a wild animal
     
  8. Are these white springtails by any chance?
     
    [​IMG]
     
  9. #9 gone4good, Dec 22, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2014
    they sure look like them

    Sent from my SM-N900V using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  10. Yes, those are springtails. They are a sign of a healthy medium. You have nothing to worry about, man. Keep doing what you're doing to your dirt. Good job!
     
  11. Thanks guys but I wish it was that easy. I'm in coco and having a big deficiency problem at the moment, thought these guys might be to blame but maybe not. It's good to know what there are at least. Cheers.
     
  12. Yep those are springtails, completely harmeless in my experience.

    A root aphid is as big as a soil mite, looks like a speck of dust moving. You usally notice them when theres thousands moving around the pot.
     
  13. Hey OSUB! :wave:

    Never see you much anymore but always super happy when i do buddy!
    ~ poke
     
  14. It's kind of a double edged sword cause now I'm back too what is my PH problem lol.
     
  15. I had springtails in hydro and my plants were sick as fuck. Truth be told, everyone said sprintails were harmless. I nuked them, my problem stopped.

    But keep in mind, i dont have the typical experience everyone else does, nor do i live where bugs are typical. Ours are super bugs.
    I said theyre completely harmless, because in soil they are, but in hydro i had problems, keep forgetting youre coco
     
  16. I think it's combination of a few things, over feeding, high heat and if I have a huge population of springtails in my medium it must mean my coco is decomposing which is probably what is messing my ph up.
     
    I'm just super glad it's not aphids, I can fix all that other stuff over time.
     
  17. Me too dude raphids suck, youll get it handled
     
  18. Hey bro, hope all is well! Im not as busy at work as I have been for the past few years, so I'll be sticking around some more  :bongin:
     
  19. Good to hear brother, hey, at least work is steady am i right?

    Please dont ever change your avatar, for the last,oh 5 or so years its how ive looked for you haha

    Happy holidays brother!
    ~ poke
     

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