Is this a spider mite?

Hi there. Need some help identifying this crawler. 2 spotted in soil, seed not sprouted yet.
very small, photo taken thru jewelers loupe.
No wings, think 6 legs with antlers.

Sure looks like a mite....

Red Eyed said:

Sure looks like a mite....

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Thanks!!!

Do harmful mites live in the soil?

Soil mites - rather common in soil. They help break down matter and fungi.

growslut said:

Do harmful mites live in the soil?

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I think fungus gnat. But my eyes suck. My spider mites are pure white and in the canopy. Smaller legs.LOL.

@xtsho care to add some organic pest control wisdom here? Thank you.

Like has been said already it's a soil mite. Won't hurt the plant. I wouldn't worry about soil mites. Now others like spider and broad which attack the foliage of the plant those need to be dealt with immediately. If someone just cant live with the fact that there are soil mites in their pots a neem oil or sesame oil drench will take care of them. Organocide Bee safe 3 in 1 is a sesame oil based product. I make my own organic pest control products that work as good as the commercially available products. You have to be careful with the strength and if I did a drench I would start with only 1 plant and wait a few days before doing any more to see if there were any adverse effects. I've never had any issues when I've used drenches for fungus gnats. But it would be reckless for me not to advise proceeding with caution.


Plant Dr. July 5, 2018 at 1:04 pm - Reply
David,
Thank you for using our product. The Organocide Bee Safe 3 in 1 Garden Spray is a horticultural oil (suffocate) with some fungicidal properties.
We do not recommend a direct drench of roots for hydroponic growth. The soil drench method is to control the pests in the soil.
Please begin with a single plant and proceed at your own risk. We would suggest rinsing off the film as it could interfere with nutrient uptake.
Thank you.

xtsho said:

Like has been said already it's a soil mite. Won't hurt the plant. I wouldn't worry about soil mites. Now others like spider and broad which attack the foliage of the plant those need to be dealt with immediately. If someone just cant live with the fact that there are soil mites in their pots a neem oil or sesame oil drench will take care of them. Organocide Bee safe 3 in 1 is a sesame oil based product. I make my own organic pest control products that work as good as the commercially available products. You have to be careful with the strength and if I did a drench I would start with only 1 plant and wait a few days before doing any more to see if there were any adverse effects. I've never had any issues when I've used drenches for fungus gnats. But it would be reckless for me not to advise proceeding with caution.


Plant Dr. July 5, 2018 at 1:04 pm - Reply
David,
Thank you for using our product. The Organocide Bee Safe 3 in 1 Garden Spray is a horticultural oil (suffocate) with some fungicidal properties.
We do not recommend a direct drench of roots for hydroponic growth. The soil drench method is to control the pests in the soil.
Please begin with a single plant and proceed at your own risk. We would suggest rinsing off the film as it could interfere with nutrient uptake.
Thank you.

Organocide® BEE SAFE 3-in-1 Garden Spray | Organic Labs®

Kill unwanted bugs, aphids, and other garden pests without harming beneficial bugs with this bee safe spray! It's time to let your garden flourish!

www.yourplantdoctor.com

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TY. Have a great day.

i also think its a hypoaspis miles. i had some appear in my promix when i had a mild fungus gnat infestation and they took care of it. nature is crazy.

xtsho said:

Like has been said already it's a soil mite. Won't hurt the plant. I wouldn't worry about soil mites. Now others like spider and broad which attack the foliage of the plant those need to be dealt with immediately. If someone just cant live with the fact that there are soil mites in their pots a neem oil or sesame oil drench will take care of them. Organocide Bee safe 3 in 1 is a sesame oil based product. I make my own organic pest control products that work as good as the commercially available products. You have to be careful with the strength and if I did a drench I would start with only 1 plant and wait a few days before doing any more to see if there were any adverse effects. I've never had any issues when I've used drenches for fungus gnats. But it would be reckless for me not to advise proceeding with caution.


Plant Dr. July 5, 2018 at 1:04 pm - Reply
David,
Thank you for using our product. The Organocide Bee Safe 3 in 1 Garden Spray is a horticultural oil (suffocate) with some fungicidal properties.
We do not recommend a direct drench of roots for hydroponic growth. The soil drench method is to control the pests in the soil.
Please begin with a single plant and proceed at your own risk. We would suggest rinsing off the film as it could interfere with nutrient uptake.
Thank you.

Organocide® BEE SAFE 3-in-1 Garden Spray | Organic Labs®

Kill unwanted bugs, aphids, and other garden pests without harming beneficial bugs with this bee safe spray! It's time to let your garden flourish!

www.yourplantdoctor.com

Click to expand...

Would BTI work as well?

I've seen a bunch of these in my catch trays at the end of a heavy feeding. I researched it, and it appears to be a predatory mite. They eat fungus gnat larvae.

Red Eyed said:

Would BTI work as well?

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That's an interesting question and one I don't have a definitive answer for. But thinking about the life cycle of soil mites and how they live in the soil , I doubt BTI would have any effect on them. Since BTI is a bacteria found in soil the soil mites are likely not affected by BTI. It works on fungus gnats and many other pests but since soil mites are basically part of the soil ecosystem they can probably live in harmony with that bacteria.

I'm not a soil microbiologist but I'm going to text my niece and ask.

OK, she responded right away. They are not bad for the plant. They assist with breaking down the soil in a similar fashion as earthworms on a smaller scale. BTI will not have any negative effect on them since they live in the soil where bacillus thuringiensis lives.

"They're presence is correlated with soil pH and vegetative cover. They scavenge organic matter, so they're important for decomposition. Probably means you have a good amount of organic matter in your soil."

That's almost verbatim. She's working on her PhD. and knows what she's talking about. Although she did say that they are intermediate hosts for tapeworms. I wouldn't worry about that at all. You won't get tapeworms from soil unless you eat it.

That's a soil mite

look up hypoaspis miles





they're harmless and they eat fungus gnat larvae

YES!... that's what is was called! ^^^^^^^^^^

Like some of the others have said. Hypoaspis miles. Awesome little critters. I think fungus gnats are their favorite food, but they'll eat other crap too.

Red Eyed said:

Sure looks like a mite....

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It mite be

DoubleAtotheRON said:

I've seen a bunch of these in my catch trays at the end of a heavy feeding. I researched it, and it appears to be a predatory mite. They eat fungus gnat larvae.

View attachment 4745176View attachment 4745177

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Those actually look more like minute pirate bugs. But those are good too. I've actually though about ordering some. @piratebug always raves about them.

As far as a BTI killing out your beneficial mites, yes it can. I've had a bout with fungus gnats before, so I put a mosquito dunk in a mesh bag, and tied it to a string at the top of my 55 gallon tank. The dunk constantly releases BTI as it sits in your rez water. Those are pics I took above (except that one Flicker pic),... after examining my catch tray, I would see a lot of these, and FG larvae... all dead. Maybe some slight wiggling, but were on their way out.

Here's what hypoaspis miles look like.

Here's a minute pirate bug.