Mystery Mites -ID please

[Dro Smoe]

Hey guys and gals,

Looking for some help identifying these little buggers (lol no pun intended).. A little background - organic, no-till grow.. just finished building the soil a week or so ago - equal parts peat, compost (Bu's) and pumice.. amended with neem meal, crab meal, kelp meal, basalt, red wigglers and biochar - with crimson clover as a cover/companion crop.

I've been gardening organically and synthetically (outdoor and indoor) for 15++ years so I've been through my fair share of pests, although I haven't come across these guys before.. I'm wondering if they came with an ingredient, or if I introduced them when using some straw mulch that I had in the yard - still sealed in plastic from the manufacturer.

So far the closest ID I've made is either a biting mite or dust mite of some kind.. but I don't see why hundreds of them would be running around the rims of solo cups, and on the smart pots themselves.. The images are at 200x magnification. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Jhhnn]

Hey guys and gals,

Looking for some help identifying these little buggers (lol no pun intended).. A little background - organic, no-till grow.. just finished building the soil a week or so ago - equal parts peat, compost (Bu's) and pumice.. amended with neem meal, crab meal, kelp meal, basalt, red wigglers and biochar - with crimson clover as a cover/companion crop.

I've been gardening organically and synthetically (outdoor and indoor) for 15++ years so I've been through my fair share of pests, although I haven't come across these guys before.. I'm wondering if they came with an ingredient, or if I introduced them when using some straw mulch that I had in the yard - still sealed in plastic from the manufacturer.

So far the closest ID I've made is either a biting mite or dust mite of some kind.. but I don't see why hundreds of them would be running around the rims of solo cups, and on the smart pots themselves.. The images are at 200x magnification. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

You might PM Seaf0ur. He's good at that stuff.

Beyond that, how are the plants? Are they suffering, or are there just unexpected bugs?

Check your compost pile to see if you find 'em there. I say that because fungus gnats love my compost so I always end up hitting them with gnatrol at least once during a grow. I've also had batches of worm castings infested with them.

 

[Dro Smoe]

Thanks for the quick response Jhhnn! I'd hate to bother him, but if I can't identify them within the next few days I'll reach out, thanks.

The seedlings are only about 10 days old, but very happy and free from damage.. More of an unexpected bug, and on the radar due to the sheer number of them lol.. From the rims of the solo cups, to the outside of the smart pots..

I turned on the a/c to pull the rh down below 60%, if they're some type of dust mite that should slow them down.. We'll see..

I didn't use any of my own compost in this batch. I followed a recipe and went with Malibu Compost Bu's blend - I'm pretty impressed with it.

I've had the same issues with those little demons that go by the name of fungus gnats, lol.. I had good results with SNS-203..

Cheers

 

[Dro Smoe]

It resembles a harvest mite, "Trombicula autumnalis" ..I hope I'm wrong! Of course I just took a few dabs, and now I'm all itchy thinking about them lol..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombicula_autumnalis

Edit: looking more closely, I see that my
mites have two more legs and are more elongated .. woot woot lol

 

[Jhhnn]

Thanks for the quick response Jhhnn! I'd hate to bother him, but if I can't identify them within the next few days I'll reach out, thanks.

The seedlings are only about 10 days old, but very happy and free from damage.. More of an unexpected bug, and on the radar due to the sheer number of them lol.. From the rims of the solo cups, to the outside of the smart pots..

I turned on the a/c to pull the rh down below 60%, if they're some type of dust mite that should slow them down.. We'll see..

I didn't use any of my own compost in this batch. I followed a recipe and went with Malibu Compost Bu's blend - I'm pretty impressed with it.

I've had the same issues with those little demons that go by the name of fungus gnats, lol.. I had good results with SNS-203..

Cheers

I haven't used the stuff, probably never will. Gnatrol was specifically developed to control gnats in greenhouses. It's extremely effective at 1 tbsp/gal as a soil drench. Doing that just once when I see more than a handful of adults on the fly strip & I may not see any more adults for the duration. It really whups 'em.

 

[Whoscottgreen]

Following. Hope someone can identify these, I'm curious now as well.

 

[JVonChron]

you could release predator mites and watch and see if they eat those mites.

 

[issack]

OG bio war 24 hours brewed tea..4 day drench will kill any mite. I promise you..