Worm Castings

For my most recent grow I've started mixing worm castings into my soil and have begun using organic fertilizers to improve the growth and taste of my buds. After a couple weeks of vegetation I noticed insect larvae crawling all through my soil. The plants were thriving so I thought nothing of it. Now the plants are 5 weeks into flowering and there are tiny beetle like insects all over my grow room. The plants still look as healthy as ever, so I don't think the bugs are doing the plants any harm, but it makes me a bit squeemish. I live in a hot tropical place with high humidity, so maybe using the worm poop is a bad idea? I didn't have this problem using chemical fertilizers and straight soil. Also, could the little buggers actually be helping my plants by replenishing the soil with their own feces? Like I said, the plants are actually doing better than ever.

How small are they? Are you sure the larvae was from these insects that you see or have you noticed anything else (like flying insects)?

Worm castings are great. They impart nutrients, microbiology and organic matter. Where-ever there are microbes and organic matter other organisms will want to show up to live and feast, including pest insects and harmless arthropods. Virtually every organism in the outside world has a predator, including pest and harmless insects. Organisms which are harmless to plants might actually be predating on the organisms which would harm plants. Your grow room isn't much like the outside world, in the sense that an indoor environment most typically lacks the bio-diversity that we find in nature. This is of great advantage to any insect that finds a suitable environment like your grow room because there simply wouldn't be so much (if any) competition and no variety of predators (if any) to keep populations in check. As a result the populations of any organism which finds such suitable conditions will very likely explode.

So, there is a possibility that what you have is a pest insect but it is also possible that the bug is actually predating on pest insects or at least isn't doing any harm. You'd have to identify the bug in question. There are lots of resources that can help you with this, there are also lots of possibilities. It helps to narrow it down by getting a good description of your bug in question: size, color, general appearance, apparent behaviors, etc. If it has jointed limbs, a segmented body and an exoskeleton then it is some kind of arthropod. If it is less than a couple millimeters small it would be a microarthropod.

Some microarthropods (mites, springtails) are among the more desirable\tolerable insects to have in an indoor grow room; you usually don't notice them. Many soil mites are harmless (they are eating dead organic matter, microbes, or pest insects).

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/GardenInsects.htm

Keep in mind there are some really good bugs out there. These are my Hypo-defenders: shiny little orange saviors that hold a perimeter and eat fungus gnat eggs and larvae (other insects, too).

Very informative Nellis, Thanks. They definitely have an exoskeleton and appear to be some sort of tiny beetle. They burrow under the soil as I always see many scurrying to the surface after a good watering. I never use outdoor soil and I'm always careful to clean my pots before use. My guess is that the bag of worm castings I used must have contained the larvae and then with a little heat and moisture it was like an insect hatchery. Thankfully, they seem to be helping my plants rather than harming them so perhaps they are helpful little critters after all. Instead of crushing them I just might give one of those little buggers a hug. Perhaps their little tunnels help the roots breathe or their feces acts as minerals for the plants. Any chance insects release co2? I gotta say your little orange defenders are pretty cool too. Ingenious way to keep those unwanted spider mites at bay. rep+ to you

WOW! great explanation..as usual. Ive heard that predatory mites need 16 hours of light to reproduce. Can you tell me if thats true ? or is it only true of specific types ? I've been thinking of adding them as a preventative.No problems right now but I've had issues in the past with spider mites and fungus knats. Can you suggest a type or strain? sorry I don't know the terminology..... Thanks and ......J.L..

Did your dog eat your rats ? mine keeps flying away, doesn't come when I call him, chases cars etc.....LOL..

Heh. My other pets are mice... long story there, but a couple mice can turn into a dozen real quick.

These mites I am unsure of the exact species, but they must be something Hypoaspis (they fit the description well). They occurred naturally, not sure exactly what they came in on but I've had them come and go with the grows. I would always loose them when I got new soil of course. This time, several months ago I had quite a fungus gnat problem. I kind of treated it in a half-assed fashion because they aren't all that damning and I have other stuff to do; but then I realize it has been quite some time since I really did anything at all about the gnats... except by now as the harvest was approaching there barely were any gnats. I noticed one or two as opposed to dozens. I checked the soil and sure enough these little orange guys were all up in it.

To check their effectiveness I used a gnat-infested tomato plant I had in the bathroom... moved a soil sample with the mites into this soil I knew had plenty of gnat larvae. Then all I did was vacuum the adults I found flying in the bathroom, and I did this everyday to every other day as I witnessed their populations dwindle. In the beginning I could suck up tens of gnats, wake up the next morning and find a couple dozen more. In the end there was a gnat here or there sporadically, and the mite population had really boomed. Now I am making a point to transfer the mites into each new transplant.

The lights are on for just under 12 hours in the bloom room and mite populations have done nothing but explode. I also have them in a soil recycling bin which is in a hot, dark room and they managed to survive. Last I checked there are still some patrolling around in there. Because it is summer there is also an AC on where my flowering plants are, doesn't seem to adversely affect them. So it appears to me that they can withstand a variety of conditions. I've read that they will also subsist on dead vegetative matter, but they'll be very happy if they have other insect eggs\larvae to go after.

Oh yah and bugs would breath oxygen and expel carbon dioxide I would imagine, though it may be in negligible amounts. So long as they aren't a pest species micro-arthropods in general do contribute in other ways to the health of the soil.

As you can likely imagine, I was initially quite disturbed when I woke up one morning to find my prized ladies swimming in larvae. Not to mention my grow room smelled like rotting flesh for two weeks. Mother Nature in all her glory.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure they're not knats. As I recall, knats are about the size of a tick or flea. These particular bugs are larger. They're black with hard, thin, elongated bodies and more closely resemble a miniature roach. They rise to the surface when I water, but only for a fraction of a second, before disappearing again beneath the soil.

thc&me said:

As you can likely imagine, I was initially quite disturbed when I woke up one morning to find my prized ladies swimming in larvae. Not to mention my grow room smelled like rotting flesh for two weeks. Mother Nature in all her glory.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure they're not knats. As I recall, knats are about the size of a tick or flea. These particular bugs are larger. They're black with hard, thin, elongated bodies and more closely resemble a miniature roach. They rise to the surface when I water, but only for a fraction of a second, before disappearing again beneath the soil.

Click to expand...

Do they have wings? (any pics?) are they just in the soil or are they also on buds\foliage? how many body segments do they have ?

Unfortunately I haven't been able to capture any of these little guys to get a good picture or give a proper description. I suppose they're shy. I'll definitely take a soil sample after I harvest, to see if I can capture a few and get a closer look. I haven't noticed any wings on them. In fact, I previously had hung some yellow fly tape in the grow area. I left the tape in the room for several weeks and caught very little. Also, I inspect the plants daily and have never seen them on the stems or leaves of the plants. They seem to live only in the soil. As for how many body segments they have, well, I have no idea. I'll have to get my magnifying glass out the next time I water and see if I can get a look at them as they make a dash for the surface.

Well put Nullis. The adults probally would not be sticking around if there was not a food source present. And beings the food source does not seem to be the plants then let them be happy little campers in your garden......

Great info above . My first move is always to check run off with dope scope for larve or eggs if none then I dig a little an check soil/ feeder roots for activity . Outdoors I have had similar pests witch turned out to be helpers so try to identify thru other means. Or that's my two cents