Just put my baby to sleep (12 hrs of darkness). Right before i flipped the switch I seen some kind of centipede, millipede or some little one inch long brown fucker slither around on the surface. By the time i got close enough to see what it was it was gone. My question, are centipedes a problem and what other soil dwelling pests should I look out for? Thanks
Just thinking about that sends shivers up my spine. *shudders* Then again, I've never been one for creepy crawlies! As for your Q, there's a few different categories of soil pest. The first are more like the ones you mention like grubs, nats, and centipedes. Oh, also spiders. Usually with any number of eyes / antenna / legs. Some others include: Broad Mites & Russet Mites Bud Rot or Mold Caterpillars & Inchworms Slugs / Snails Aphids Spider Mites Crickets Thrips Barnacles / Scale Insects Again, the actual list of ones you need to be looking out for depends on the actual area you live. If you throw up some more info, that should help us narrow the list down a bit! Otherwise, this site has a pretty good list. As for the other kind of soil pest, these are the nastier, less easily spotted kind. Like, the microscopic kind. You can find a pretty good list of some of the common soil pests here. This may be agriculturally focussed, but it's still pretty accurate. And they can still mess you up pretty bad. I've talked with a bunch of other guys in various forums, and the go-to seems to be keep an eye on the roots / leaves etc, and use sand if possible to help protect your soil. Hope that helps!