Root mite

T

tea

• May 31, 2011

• #1

hello

i've seen huge masses of root mites in my coco. but the plants looking fantastic as never. no signs of stress or something else.

can it be that the mites are good for the plants like a symbiont organism?

as feeding (most organic) i give my plants powhumus, Ascophyllum nodosum , some strains of trichoderma and bacillus amyloliquefaciens and a little bit of ionic coco.

can it be that the mites only eat what the shrooms and bacillus produce (like the plants) and that they are all together in a symbiose?

i don't want to use something against the mites when the plants look so fantastic. never had such good looking plants like this time

 

SumDumGuy

"easy growing type"

Veteran

• May 31, 2011

• #2

tea said:

hello

i've seen huge masses of root mites in my coco. but the plants looking fantastic as never. no signs of stress or something else.

can it be that the mites are good for the plants like a symbiont organism?

as feeding (most organic) i give my plants powhumus, Ascophyllum nodosum , some strains of trichoderma and bacillus amyloliquefaciens and a little bit of ionic coco.

can it be that the mites only eat what the shrooms and bacillus produce (like the plants) and that they are all together in a symbiose?

i don't want to use something against the mites when the plants look so fantastic. never had such good looking plants like this time

Click to expand...

I like where you're going with this.. Very interesting stand-point and it gets you thinking about what we cannot see happening in the ground with natures outdoors..

But brother Tea when having an organism literally feed on your root zone I can only assume that it would be a matter of time before they go from such good looking plants to very deficient or very dead plants.

 

MIway

Registered User

Veteran

• May 31, 2011

• #3

I believe they eat beneficials & certain additives... along w part of the coir... but not the roots.


Check out http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/soil_mite.htm


Lookin at the oribitid & gamasid mites in particular... esp breeding large numbers.

 

SumDumGuy

"easy growing type"

Veteran

• May 31, 2011

• #4

WOW!!!

WOW!!!

I always thought this was the worms job..

(C&P from link)
Without Oribatid Mites and other soil mites to "recycle" old material on the ground, plants and animals could not survive. That includes us!

Maybe I've been living under a rock in Kathmandu but I've honestly never heard of this until now.. Thank you for this information MIway!

Tea thank you as well for starting this thread.

 

Last edited: May 31, 2011

T

tea

• May 31, 2011

• #5

hey thanks for answer mates

soil mites...oooh yeah...this sounds good
after i inject last week nematodes against fungus gnats and after this great link from you MIway...now this sound for me that i've feed the soilmites really good eh eh... i'm a mites farmer

i will let the mites in peace...better for my karma and it looks like for the plants,too

love organic in my garden

 

Hazeo

Well-known member

Veteran

• Jun 1, 2011

• #6

Hey Tea,

you said you gave nematodes against the fungus gnats, and now the soil mites eat the nematodes... but, does the fungus gnats population go down as well? or do the soil mites only eat the nematodes and dont like gnats larves?

greets
Hazeo

 

T

tea

• Jun 1, 2011

• #7

hey hazeo mate

i think the mites like fungus gnats larves,too.
i've no more gnats...it's all under biological controll from the soil mites i think.

today i've feed the plants and mites with new powhumus, algae and bacillus...

 

Bobo Bolinsky

Member

• Jun 2, 2011

• #8

Thats wild. Obviously not root aphids or the gals wouldn't be smiling. I've use Scan Mask predator nematodes for fungus gnats and by the list of critters they'll gobble I'm surprised anything can outlast em.