My Soil Is Infested with something

do they literally jump?

Try searching google for springtails, probably these harmless soil dwelling critters, i always have them in my soil and they do nothing bad. They love coco and multiply like crazy in it. When you water they rise to the surface and hop around. I would be sure they are spingtails and harmless, mine are. Hope that this is what you got and not anything more serious.

Yer defo springtails, mine are whiteish in colour and float on the water at the bottom of the pot, they spring or jump to escape predators, i see em running through the soil if i look for long enough, they also spread good fungi for the plant and many gardeners reguard them as good for the soil. Google it. Rep me on this if im right dude!

Right on with king grow would be my guess. If its a Fox Farms Soil they have had bad gnat and root aphids in soil. Hope this helps..

Stay Green

I think the fact they appear to jump is a give away their springtails, i always was told if it moves slow in the soil its bad, if it moves fast its good, springtails can certainly get around wheras root gnats etc are slow moving. Im sure im right, there are lots of types of springtails, even in the sea of all places, if they are they are harmless, even good for the soil. Good watering practices seem to keep the population under control. Thanks mind bender.

Your welcome king. Wish there was more folks with manners around. Hope all the best for your greenworks. Keep posted m8!

Stay Green

I believe i have springtails also thought they were knats at 1st covered my soil with sand put honey in dish too catch what was there till i could afford a true cure but it looks like i have springtails cause i put that honey down and they just come a jumpin in and when there in water they group up and you can see them flinch like there trying too jump. BUT WOULD STILL LIKE THEM GONE IF POSSSIBLE! Sorry i like a bug FREEEE crop when it comes down too it. Any simple fixs too rid of these things????

MixedMelodyMindBender said:

Right on with king grow would be my guess. If its a Fox Farms Soil they have had bad gnat and root aphids in soil. Hope this helps..

Stay Green

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Gnats yes, but i havent heard of anyone getting RA from FF soil.

But i have heard and experieced getting RA from Roots Organic coco and soil.

Funny avatar

Try putting a couple drops of mild (like ivory) dish soap in your water. Like 2-3 drops per gallon. Won't hurt anything and does get rid of an assortment of bugs, including gnats. Doesn't hurt your girls to spray them with a mild mix now and again either as a preventative.....been doing it for years with success.

Appreciate the help ty

I would say you should keep them if they are springtails, probably only way to eliminate spring tails is to steralise soil before you use it. Better to keep the springtail population down by good watering practises, they dont like damp soil i think and they multiply fast using coco so dont add that. Honestly dude if it is root aphids you got a problem but what you described is springtails too me and they are good for the soil and desirable, obviously the best option is to learn how to keep the poulation under control rather than eliminating them. I have had them in my soil for years but keep the population down and they hardly ever bother me neither do i see em much. When they get bad though and i would water the soil 100's and 1000's would jump outa the pot and leave a ring of dead bodies around the pot dish as well as lots of them swimming in the runoff water in the saucer. My advice is change soil company if you want to get rid of them because otherwise it would be a massive task to sterilise soil etc etc etc. Root aphids will be present on the roots upon inspection and harvest so a chance to see if you have these as well or rule it out as a possible pest. Google springtails as they are a pretty researched little bug that gardeners have used for years to fix and make present nutrients in the soil.

Thought they would be, leave em but look to reduce their numbers with the waterings, temp etc etc they can start to infest the soil given the chance but i have only seen this in coco. Anyway they are harmless, my springtails at the moment are so damn big i can't tell them from the thrip larvae on my leaves, gardening has taught me not to kill a single living thing, always pains me to use pest control products. Think the stuff that kills springtails also kills all the good fauna and flora in your soil so not good, change soil brand or avoid buying soil that has spent time outside or near growing plants in the garden centre etc etc.