Fungus gnats / Aphids / Spider mites? | Need help! (indoor / soil)

Troubleshooting Pests
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Hi there guys!

Found some creatures today on the pot’ soil surface - small (<1mm) light-yellow (or transparent) dots.
They are running on the soil surface, rather fast compared to their size. None of them found on stems or leaves / buds.

From what I’ve read they look like?:

  • Fungus gnats
  • Aphids
  • Spider mites

What actions made:

  • catched with a toothstick all of them I managed to investigate
  • sprayed a Wood Ash water concentrate on the soil surface
  • removed all the “dead” matter from the soil surface making it look clean
  • put yellow / lime papers on surface to check whether they gather there, as they say spider mites love this color

Looking for you help, big thanks in advance! :open_hands:t3: :green_heart:

Here are the pics of one I’ve managed to put into the plastic wrap (like 100-150x):

pests
pests594×840 113 KB

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Looks a bit like mites. Im not the pest detective tho. Any webbing?

@garrigan62 @Niala are two good ones too

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thanks for your prompt reply, dude!

No, no any webbing there, everything looks clean.
I don’t even see any more after about 1 hour spent to catch em and clean the surface.

P.S.: catched about 20-30 of them…

Here are some biger rez pics of the same:

2018-11-12%2012-54-00
2018-11-12%2012-54-001000×1000 143 KB

2018-11-12%2012-57-57
2018-11-12%2012-57-571000×999 115 KB

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Usually crude yet effective. Im so ocd i try to eradicate the effere when i see anything. Spent hours on bug duty this year. A dusting of food grade de (after soil dries a bit) is uner helpful to stop anything laying eggs in your soil. Sorry nothing specific.

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what is crude yet?

“a dusting of food grade” - you mean using a plastic wrap to cover the soil after is dries?

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Pickin em off by hand is crude.

The DE i dust the soil after the soil has dried. If it gets wet it gets clunky af

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@whopee

Sorry to rain on your paraide but you don’t have them all. Not even close by any means.

Go to the Dollar Store or any shopping Center and get some 50% alcohol and lightly spray your plants. Mostly unde the leafs. But VERY LIGHTLY AND DO THIS EVERY OTHER DAY till tjere gone.

Chck this out…

lcohol sprays sometimes are recommended as insecticides, especially for the elimination of mealybugs, which can prove resistant to other treatments. Contact with alcohol also kills many other insects, including scales, spider mites and whiteflies. Unfortunately, it can burn – or chill – sensitive plant leaves. So take precautions to keep alcohol from killing plants on which you use it to kill bugs. An alcohol treatment is used most often on indoor plants with mealybugs because those pests have many natural predators that can control them outdoors.

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Being happy to get this reply of yours!

I’ll keep on looking for these creatures and use the Tip you advised if any one of them seen again. Thank you very much!

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Oh trust me and i’m sorry for saying so, but their there

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@garrigan62 @whopee

I don’t want to step on your toes, my dear friend Will and your advice for treatment is adequate as usual :+1::ok_hand::grinning: These look to be in the mites family, however, probably in the “good guys” one …

They’re most probably predatory mites, more specifically Hypoaspis miles a.k.a. Stratiolaelaps scimitus… They’re native species of soil-dwelling mites to the North America which feed on small insects and mites. Adults are tan and translucide in color and less than 1 mm long. They’re introduce in most organic soil by company who made them, to fight against fungus gnat larvae, immature thrips, bulb mites,various mites, sciarid flies, shore flies, root aphids, and springtails. And look like this :

IMG_20181112_130915

Other predatory mites look very similar to this one…

I could be wrong, but usually, I am fairly accurate… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::v::frog:

If they have nothing to feed on, they will eventually move or\and die…

Soil have plenty of other living organisms and this one is part of a natural ecosystems of a healthy soil…

It’s your choice is to get rid of them , it’s at the risk to found other pests in the future… Remember that If they’re present, it’s because they have a food sources…

Anyway, it’s just my opinion…

Truly yours…

~Al :v::innocent:

Thanks for the tag @PurpNGold74

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De nada @Niala @garrigan62 Thanks for the swift replies fellas. Sorry to tag you both n get confliction. Just usually get one or the other. :+1:t5::+1:t5: Thanks again

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Wow, Niala, thank you for your experience shared!

I’ve read the wiki on Stratiolaelaps scimitus and it’s very close to what I got there! With about 20 minutes spent with a microscope looking at my Guest I would say it’s def the one :+1:

When I said I’ve “cleaned” my upper soil layer, what do you think I cleaned it from? The algae! And they say that Stratiolaelaps scimitus can survive eating it without any other meal…
Seems like I could kill some helpers this way :grimacing::flushed:

I’ll keep on checking whether they appear anywhere apart from soil but being close to finish I check the Girl with attention several times a day and still didn’t see any invaders on stems and upper…

I started to see algae not far ago forming usually after waterings even my RH at the top (buds level) is very low nowadays - like 25-35% (28-31C). I’ll check RH at the soil level tomorrow and update!

There were not too much algae btw, some spots here and there (1-2 cm dia) of 3 different types:

I should make some pics of them FYI… If it appears next time - I’ll def do that.

What do you think on Algae? Should it be left in soil or cleaned from time to time?

@PurpNGold74 you are my guardian angel, friend! Thanks for making shouts within your gold connections :green_heart::handshake:

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Haha. Say no more.

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I hope you are wright. I’m going to keep an eye on this one. Because you may very well be wright.
I have seen these critters and you can buy them off Amazon for control of Mite and other critters and your not steping on my toes. Any info is good info. 1

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