SPRINGTAILS?

madamimadam

madamimadam

New member
TO EVERYBODY:
I have a question about these microscopic insects that are wandering around in my outdoor pots right now. Done some research and they appear to be springtails, and there are a ton of them. My research indicates that during the dry times of summer they seek refuge inside homes for moisture. I believe they are in our pots because they are attracted to the moisture. I have read they don't do any root damage, but can anyone confirm or deny this claim? Do they do any other damage that we know of? I considered doing an avid drench, but I am not sure if that is a good call or not so if somebody has some answers on this, please chime in. I have read they are very resistant to many forms of insecticides, so I'm just scratching my head right now. This is high on my priority list so any info would be GREATLY GREATLY GREATLY APPRECIATED.
 
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I had them in my straight coco pots and they all went away with a neem oil drench,i have also been told they are harmless but I don't like bugs alive in my garden,avid scares me .........but I do spray with it............
 
Hey Greek thank you for the info. I hate using avid too, and I have only done one avid drench in my life (and that was for a dispensary, not my call)... I usually only spray with it too. Do you remember what the application rate of the neem oil was? I got a new bottle of Einstein oil just sitting on the shelf begging to be used.
 
most springtails are beneficial - from wiki:

Springtails are well known as pests of some agricultural crops. Sminthurus viridis, the 'lucerne flea', has been shown to cause severe damage to agricultural crops, and is considered as a pest in Australia. Also Onychiuridae are known to feed on tubers and to damage them to some extent. However, by their capacity to carry spores of mycorrhizal fungi and mycorrhiza-helper bacteria on their tegument, soil springtails play a positive role in the establishment of plant-fungal symbioses and thus are beneficial to agriculture. They also contribute to controlling plant fungal diseases through their active consumption of mycelia and spores of damping-off and pathogenic fungi. It has been suggested that they could be reared to be used for the control of pathogenic fungi in greenhouses and other indoor cultures.
 
Yeah, just keep an eye on them. I have identified springtails in my mix for sure as well.
They blew up to huge populations for a time, but then slowly i think the web of life balanced itself out.

I hate to spray for anything personally, watch that avid use brother. Shits nasty.
 
They love water, bathing in it constantly.. They spring into the air at astounding heights. Imagine the Eiffel Tower. Video specials are available all over the web and the tube covering these interesting little insects. Dry your media and they wont be as prevalent.
 
Hmmmm. ok, I guess I am stuck at an impasse at the moment. So on one hand, they are beneficial, right? On the other hand, some springtails are known pests to some agricultural crops, but is cannabis one of them? Are all soil Springtails beneficial to agricultural crops, or are some beneficial and some detrimental? I don't hear anyone saying that I need to stomp them out, but if they are in fact doing damage, I want them gone... sorry everyone for my indecisiveness, I cannot identify what type of springtail they are, and Rollin J, maybe you can chime in here, are all soil springtails beneficial? And you are right Shaka, we identified these little guys by their jumping ability, quite an impressive feat for such a small insect. While I wait for some definitive answers let's look at my neurotic post and :pointlaugh:
 
I get those and earwigs.
My solution is putting shredded newspaper in a 2L bottle. Add enough water to get the paper wet, not sopping wet. Lay the bottle sideways on the dirt.
The critters seek the moist environment of the newspaper. I don't use chemicals.
 
Budmiser said:
I get those and earwigs.
My solution is putting shredded newspaper in a 2L bottle. Add enough water to get the paper wet, not sopping wet. Lay the bottle sideways on the dirt.
The critters seek the moist environment of the newspaper. I don't use chemicals.
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While I await some further answers I am going upstairs to shred my Sunday Denver Post and put it in a couple 2L bottles. Thank you Budmeiser, great idea if I may say so myself!
 
avid is for mites and mites only...DON'T ever use avid for anything other than mites because improper use of miticides only makes for more resistant pests...you're a sharp cookie madam...do the research before creating a worse problem...good luck
 
Thank you very much Boo I feel you are sharp as a butcher knife my friend. Wish everyone in my life felt that way about me, hehe. Ok, so absolutely not going to do an avid drench... I know how dangerous of a product this is... my partner is the one who sprays it and a couple weeks ago he came inside with a golf ball sized welt on his head... NO BS! I mean this welt looked absolutely horrible and we almost took him to the ER it was that scary... it took days for it to completely go away. It happened because he kept itching at a spot by his goggles (he used a respirator too just by the bye) without changing his gloves. I have been the one to refill the spray and mix the new solution, but I changed my gloves after each use because I have always had a very healthy fear of abamectin. I have used avid on commercial dispensary crops as a preventative for the last couple years at the owner's request but never within 7 weeks of harvest (which I am beginning to think is too soon anyways) and never on my own indoor crops. This particular outdoor crop was my first time using it on any of my own crops, and had no intention of applying it within 7 weeks of harvest. I honestly didn't realize that any insect or mite could build a tolerance to avid (that sounds naïve as I write it), does everyone agree on this? Now I know and will only use it if I see mites, thrips, whiteflys, etc starting to make home (and still not within 7 weeks of harvest). Besides spinosad, does anyone have some suggestions of what I can spray the plants with as a preventative for insects and/or mites until I harvest?
 
i wouldnt spray your girls much after 3 weeks of flower - especially as a preventative - but you can use neem or azamax once a week with no ill effects for your plants until then - also outside you want to get safer BT spray for moths/caterpillars - BT is the exception to the 3 week rule - here we spray them every 2 weeks until mid october or the first cold snap

spectracide can be used to spray any other plants/grass surrounding your girls if you cant clear it all

i would let the springtails be personally I say its a sign of a healthy soil
 
TY Rollin

Thanks for getting back to me Rollin. I don't mean to turn r RJ into everyone's grow encyclopedia, but if you got questions, I just get the impression that this fellow has some great answers IMO. Those who know him (I don't, aside from here) are going to be better growers for it. Tragedy adverted and no frantic, desperate or unplanned measures taken! Springtails it is! Many thanks to everyone who took the time to help me avoid destroying my garden! We can be our own worse enemies when we're desperate :d1:
Best Regards- M
 
for a maintenance spray I use insecticidal soap,i use it up to the first three weeks of flower and it works out well for me........I have also used it as a drench
 
might depend on subspecies or whatever, but I've always known springtails to be beneficial for plants...in the vivarium/paludarium world of people who keep poison arrow frogs, springtails are often added to the substrate of a live planted terrarium because they act as janitors helping to break down dead plant matter and organic material thus making the nutrients available to plants...and serve doubly as a food source for the frogs...u could always get yourself a tank and start keeping dendrobates :)

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Besides spinosad, does anyone have some suggestions of what I can spray the plants with as a preventative for insects and/or mites until I harvest?
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tried diatomaceous earth? won't do much to control what's on the plants above ground, but can be an easy way to control pests in the containers
 
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thanks for the kind words sir - much appreciated

no shortage of helpful and knowledgeable heads around the island - thats what makes this community great
 
Have always loved D. Tinctorious, my favs are D. Leucomelas, D. Azuerus and Phyllobates terribilis.. Miss my mantella days!(end rant)

Loki said:
might depend on subspecies or whatever, but I've always known springtails to be beneficial for plants...in the vivarium/paludarium world of people who keep poison arrow frogs, springtails are often added to the substrate of a live planted terrarium because they act as janitors helping to break down dead plant matter and organic material thus making the nutrients available to plants...and serve doubly as a food source for the frogs...u could always get yourself a tank and start keeping dendrobates :)

[YOUTUBE]vqrhqwMg--0[/YOUTUBE]

tried diatomaceous earth? won't do much to control what's on the plants above ground, but can be an easy way to control pests in the containers
Click to expand...
 
In my experience springtails are totally harmless. They are also rather tolerant of a variety of pesticides. If you let the medium dry out a bit more between waterings they usually go away or decrease dramatically. Although I have never tried it, I would imagine predator nematodes would probably work on them as well. Even though they break down nutrients and are generally beneficial, I could see in some cases in unusually large numbers they could interfere with nutrient availability by gobbling up nutrients and holding it in their bodies until they die and decompose.
 
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