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Post by Dennis Z on Aug 12, 2014 10:07:22 GMT -5
I recently discovered that there are quite a few small white, mite-like bugs living in the peat moss of some of my nep pots. I'm sure they don't harm the plant but I'm afraid that they might create too much nutrients for the plant over time. Should I be concerned.
Oh yes, and I had some sort of weird black insect wizz past me and immediately burrow into a nepenthes pot I was feeding.... Too much live sphagnum= missing insect.
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Post by shoggoths on Aug 12, 2014 11:00:01 GMT -5
Do the white bugs jumb when you open the light or touch the media ? If so, they are springtails. Safe and really good food for your plants.
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Post by Dennis Z on Aug 12, 2014 15:53:30 GMT -5
They don't jump, they crawl. I think they might be some sort of dirt mite, I would take a picture but they are too small for my phone to pick up clearly.
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Post by ng on Aug 12, 2014 16:33:28 GMT -5
If they are like little teeny tiny thin grains of rice they may be thrips. You would see light brown 'sucker' marks on the underside of your leaves. They are suuuuper small and tough to see. Those guys live in the substrate youtube 'thrips,' there's a pile of information out there on them as they are a very common bug. If they are fuzzy white 'tufts' I would look up mealybug. Doubt that's the one though.
If you dunk the plant the mites/bugs will scramble on the surface of the water for easier inspection/photography...
Hope this helps,
N
Funny thing about bugs is that sometimes certain pests can resemble others depending on where they are in their lifecycle.
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Post by lloyd on Aug 12, 2014 17:54:42 GMT -5
There's always something wandering around in the medium. Most aren't bad for the plants.
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Post by Dennis Z on Aug 12, 2014 18:24:03 GMT -5
If they are like little teeny tiny thin grains of rice they may be thrips. You would see light brown 'sucker' marks on the underside of your leaves. They are suuuuper small and tough to see. Those guys live in the substrate youtube 'thrips,' there's a pile of information out there on them as they are a very common bug. If they are fuzzy white 'tufts' I would look up mealybug. Doubt that's the one though. If you dunk the plant the mites/bugs will scramble on the surface of the water for easier inspection/photography... Hope this helps, N Funny thing about bugs is that sometimes certain pests can resemble others depending on where they are in their lifecycle. Thanks, my plants have been growing very fast,well and without noticeable damage so I doubt they are thrips. My venus flytraps outside have mealies so I would know what they look like. (Controlling the mealies with rubbing alcohol). I'll just hope it's what Lloyd said, and wait to see how my plants will do.
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Post by dvg on Aug 13, 2014 12:22:01 GMT -5
Dennis Z, those are just soil mites and will do no harm to your CPs, other than providing snacks to them.
My Darlingtonia pitchers have white mites that climb up to the top of the unopened pitchers in the spring time.
Used to remove them with water, but now they are left around to enter the pitchers or whatever it is they do.
dvg
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Post by Dennis Z on Aug 13, 2014 13:25:54 GMT -5
Dennis Z, those are just soil mites and will do no harm to your CPs, other than providing snacks to them. My Darlingtonia pitchers have white mites that climb up to the top of the unopened pitchers in the spring time. Used to remove them with water, but now they are left around to enter the pitchers or whatever it is they do. dvg Thanks! How much nutrients do they create in the soil? I'm just afraid that they might create too many nutrients over time ( in the form of feces).
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Post by dvg on Aug 13, 2014 17:10:26 GMT -5
They might be involved in composting the media, but if you top water your plants or repot in a reasonable space of time, there shouldn't be any issues with the soil mites.
dvg
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