Annoying and hurting my baby!!!

neolight

Member
I have noticed these small white insects crawling in my soil. They are tiny and have been there for a few weeks now and it seems that they are causing my leaf tips to brown and yellow. At first I thought maybe fungus gnats but it has been a couple weeks and there is nothing flying. There are no insects above the soil or on my plant. Right now i mostly see what appear to be larvae or little eggs in the soil. Idk if they are any deeper than 2 inches cause that is where my root system begins and i didnt want to disturb it just yet. The ones that move almost appear to be tiny and white and almost look like miniature beetles (like really tiny versions). when i disturb the soil enough you can see them moving and then they just dig right back into the soil. there are these tiny granduals that look like sand scattered throughout the soil that i think might be eggs. they almost look like the soil has dandruft. i discovered the source to be this bag of scotts premium garden soil that i bought (they are in the bag too!!) I have been doing research for the past 2 days and i have thought about the possibility of them being either fungus gnats or spider mites but the problem is that i dont see anything above the soil. can anyone help??
 

spitsbuds

Well-Known Member
they miht be springtails,but there qiute beneficial as long as its not an infestation. they eat mold i get them in coco a lot towards then end. but its seems like what youre describing is them. just bare with me one in. just get u a good link to identify them
 

neolight

Member
that site is very useful. ill be scrolling through to see if i can identify what they are. but if springtails are usually beneficial then i dont think they are it because im 99% sure that what ever they are, they are causing the leaf tips to almost look like they are burning, but its no way that they are burning.
 

spitsbuds

Well-Known Member
ye thats what i thought. they will cause cupping if the leafs but that it and ye that site as saved me a few times.if its a pest like gnat try this. stick a lump of potato in youre soil. cut the skin of and cut a small lump square. place it 1/4 inch down in youre soil if u can and check it in a day or 2. see if there is any larva or young in there and just though it away. carnt hurt.. and place some brown sticky fly tape on the top of the soil for any adults.
 

neolight

Member
and doing that potatoe trick will tell me if there are any gnat larvae in the soil??
do you know anything about a sand trick to get rid of gnats? supposedly you put sand over the soil and it helps dry the soil and suffocate the gnats.
 

mipainpatient

Active Member
also some commercial prepared soil companies will add predator mites to their mixes, if you state the source of your soil it might add to the ease of identification. (I am thinking of hypoaspis miles in particular, they will eat fungus gnats before they mature to flying adults, so you won't see any, and the leaf tip browning is most likely something you are doing, like over feeding or over watering, hell even salt buildup in the soil from water softeners or local tap water etc might do that)
good luck!
MPP
 

neolight

Member
ok. i didnt even think about all of that. so do you think a good direction would be to transplant into new soil just to get an idea if i am over-feeding it? i use tap water but i let it sit open for a week at least before i use it.
 
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