Pest ? In my coco coir

[Rudedude]

hi all fairly new to this, and not sure if this is a problem or not.
Basically on my third grow so as with any new hobby still learning.
What my issue is I'm growing with coco coir professional and using a budmaster 675 xg LED light. I'm in my second week of 12/12 flower and was checking the coir with the first knuckle test and when pulling out my finger I noticed really tiny white pest burrowing back into the coir. When I stroked the coir again to make sure I wasn't seeing things he and his mates where definitely there.
What are they ?
Should I be worried ?
Is my grow ruined ?
The leaves don't look affected except some are curling not much, and of what I can see there is nothing nesting or living on or under leaves that I can see. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Rudedude.

[Green75]

Damn we need a pic.....coco is known for pretty much no bugs.....well I've learned recently that gnats can get into coco and lay eggs just like in soil....let the top 2-3 inches of medium completely dry out for awhile...don't want them getting to the roots

Gnat nix...
Sticky board...
DE...

YOU'LL get them

[Royal Nugs]

Tiny white pest burrowing sounds like a larvae. Probably gnats. Keep the media dry for as long as you can.

If I were you, I'd get something with bacillus thuringiensis like mosquito dunks and add it to your feeding.

If you can post a pic or 2, that'd be infinitely helpful.

[Rudedude]

Thanks guys. I'm trying to get a photo of the little shits to upload but they are fast buggers and they jump !
They are about a millimetre in size. And I haven't a macro lens. As soon as I get a decent picture I'll put it up.
Royal nugs the stuff you recommended is there a particular brand you would suggest?
Im getting worried they might have screwed all my hard work. I just can't figure how they got in there I'm very careful when visiting the ladies.

[Royal Nugs]

They jump? Literally? Springtails maybe. Look them up. I think they're decomposers, not vegetarians.

[Rudedude]

Hi Royal Nugs
Yeah jump !! I've just been researching on GWE pest and bugs and they are definitely not fungus gnat larve, (being of a maggot appearance with black head). They have legs and antennae. As said before I'm having a mare trying to get a photo.
I also saw those mosquito dunks, would these work for other pests ?
What do you mean by decomposers ?
Ill look up spring tails now, thanx.

[Royal Nugs]

They eat mold and fungus. They don't eat plants but they can be a nuisance if their population becomes too large.

[Rudedude]

I don't want to be accused of plagiarism,but that said here is what I found about these little guys.


Also I have seen in other posts that the general consensus is that they don't do damage to the ladies unless there is a massive population explosion.i hope this helps others



Tomocerus sp. from Germany
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,[27] and is considered as a pest in Australia.[28][29] Also Onychiuridae are known to feed on tubers and to damage them to some extent.[30] 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.[31] They also contribute to controlling plant fungal diseases through their active consumption of mycelia and spores of damping-off and pathogenic fungi.[32][33] It has been suggested that they could be reared to be used for the control of pathogenic fungi in greenhouses and other indoor cultures.[34][35]
Various sources and publications have suggested that some springtails may parasitize humans, but this is entirely inconsistent with their biology, and no such phenomenon has ever been scientifically confirmed, though it has been documented that the scales or hairs from collembolans can cause irritation when rubbed onto the skin.[36] They may sometimes be abundant indoors in damp places such as bathrooms and basements, and incidentally found on one's person.
More often, claims of persistent human skin infection by springtails may indicate a neurological problem, such as Morgellons Syndrome, or delusory parasitosis, a psychological rather than entomological problem. Researchers themselves may be subject to psychological phenomena. For example, a publication in 2004 claiming that springtails had been found in skin samples was later determined to be a case of pareidolia; that is, no springtail specimens were actually recovered, but the researchers had digitally enhanced photos of sample debris to create images resembling small arthropod heads, which then were claimed to be springtail remnants.[36][37] However, Hopkin reports one instance of an entomologist aspirating an Isotoma species and in the process accidentally inhaling some of their eggs, which hatched in his nasal cavity and made him quite ill until they were flushed out.[11]

Springtails and Houseplants
Springtails occasionally develop in the soil of houseplants. Most often they are noticed just after watering, when they may move temporarily from the saturated soil to the surface.
In houseplant soils springtails are functioning as they do outdoors—scavenging dead plant matter and feeding on soil microorganisms. They do very little, if any, damage to the houseplant. Problems can be limited if the soil is allowed to dry down a bit more between waterings, which discourages high soil moisture that allows them to survive and reproduce well.

Springtails within a home will not bite, feed on household items, nor cause any significant damage. They can be a temporary nuisance, but migrations usually last less than a week and springtails trapped indoors soon die out.

Life History and Habit
Habits of the springtails vary. The great majority develop in soil, feeding on fungi, algae, decaying plant matter and bacteria. Some are predators of small soil animals, and a few may damage tender plants. However, none of them can bite and they are harmless to humans and larger animals.

Springtail life cycles are completed rapidly when temperatures allow and springtails may produce periodic population explosions. In moist soils with high amounts of organic matter, tremendous numbers may be present—thousands per square foot. Overcrowding and soil drying may induce migrations. Sometimes springtails may be seen on the surface of puddled water, often in such numbers as to form a large raft of their floating bodies.

(comment by tomato pie)

The more predators visible at any time in your soil, the healthier it is. Predators can only flourish when their prey are flourishing.

[Rudedude]

Also I might add that from what I have researched there isn't much you can do to get rid of them. They came in the coco coir sneaky sods ! But as mentioned earlier they don't seem to be harmful if anything beneficial?

[Royal Nugs]

Sneaky sods is an English expression?

[Royal Nugs]

I would classify them as beneficial.

You did confirm that they are indeed springtails?

[NebulaHaze]

If they're in the soil at the very least they'll be stealing resources from your roots, so you want to get rid of them as soon as possible!

Have you seen any adult bugs around? Make sure to vacuum them up right away so they don't reproduce! Another good place to start even if you can't identify the bug is Diatomaceous Earth. You can find it in the garden section as well as the pet section of any big store (some people use it to deter pests on their dogs). It's sharp at the microscopic level and shreds larvae, but is not harmful to humans or animals. If you sprinkle it on top of the coco coir and all around the room, that can help deter them.

Any type of wormy larvae that lives in topsoil needs moist conditions to thrive, so making sure the top inch of coco dries out each time before watering can also help make things harder for them. You also might try blowing a fan over the top of the coco coir to help it stay dry at all times even right after you water. Always remove runoff water right away, and also make sure there's no other damp parts in the room - I've read springtails can even live in drains, bathtubs, in window sills, etc! Yuck!

[Green75]

DE is also used as a filtering agent in swimming pools...can buy at pool supply store as well

[Rudedude]

Royal Nugs, yes it is and yes they are definitely springtails. I've got some DE on order so just waiting until it arrives and letting top layer dry out for a bit.
Nebula Haze I grow in a sealed grow tent so no drains to worry about and I have an oscillating fan and two minis in the corners blowing constantly.
( your website is awesome and extremely helpful to a newbie like myself and I look forward to your newsletters each week BIG RESPECT!)
and again thanks for feed back and advice.