Runoff bug battle royale!

[Coconutz]

At first I noticed I had some spring tails coming out of my runoff in my coco & EWC mix. Then I noticed some smaller white bugs that jump and some tiny worms that look like grey hairs, at different times.
Tonight I noticed that the tiny worms are kicking the shit out of the little white bugs in my runoff.
They cant both be beneficial to the rootzone?
These are the best shots I could get. The big ones in the shot look tiny to the naked eye... I couldnt even see the smaller ones without a microscope.
I dont know what type of bugs Im dealing with.
You cant really see the bugs they are destroying, but where they are all spinning they are ripping them to shit.
Theres a longer one, about 1/4", that has a split tail type thingy. wtf?

 

[Coconutz]

Yo! Wake up homies!

 

[Granger2]

I don't know either, but the worms could be nematodes. I can't tell from pic, but todes are supposed to visible to a real good naked eye. If you can determine that they are todes, I'd let them do my fighting for me. BTW, your 2nd post was at 7:23 am. I couldn't respond as I was in R.E.M. land. Good luck. -granger

 

[Coconutz]

I thought I wasnt supposed to be able to see todes with my naked eye, but I was hoping thats what they were with the EWC.
What does it sound like they could be eating?

 

[HidingInTheHaze]

Those are white worms and Im pretty sure they are harmless.

Scientific name: Enchytaeus buchholzi

 

[Canniwhatsis]

Nematodes are my guess, I notice that nematodes, and little red predator mites will blow up about a week after an explosion of springtails.

If your really worried about them try running just a little dryer.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

spring tails and fungus gnats.. sprign tails are harmless fungus gnats eat your roots.

 

[Coconutz]

There are no gnats or larvae. Ive battled them before at another place.
These things are ripping apart the other bugs.
The springtails I had looked different. I could see their heads with my eyes.
The little white bugs are just a spec compared to the springtails. Maybe they are babies... I dont see any of the larger ones around anymore.

 

[Coconutz]

Those are white worms and Im pretty sure they are harmless.

Scientific name: Enchytaeus buchholzi

I hope you are right, but these look a little bigger than mine. They are too small for me to see when I look into the rootball. I only see them in the water.
They seek out and attack the other bugs in a furry! Its kinda cool to watch except it makes me dizzy to squint and stare at the reflective water under the lights

 

[Coconutz]

Today there were a billion more of the jumping specs than there were the worms. Before the worms were eating all the jumpers but now they are way outnumbered.
I think the jumpers are some sort of springtail though

 

[papaduc]

If you've got billions of the jumpers in your run off and your plants are showing no signs of damage whatsoever, it's probably springtails. If that's what they are, they're harmless. They actually keep the medium clean. What the other wildlife is though, I couldn't say.

 

[Canniwhatsis]

There's several kinds of springtails.



These guys are the springtails I've got,...

 

[Canniwhatsis]

Second pic is predator soil mite, springtail is just under him on dark piece of dirt.

 

[EclipseFour20]

Hmmm, Symphylan?

I had them many years ago and the goal is discover their source. My source was pumice that was "dirty" and sterilization was my answer. I tried many of the "usual suspects"...and no pesticide/chem worked. Your yield will suffer...down 10-20% and they do migrate from container to container the share the same runoff (table). I use saucers to capture plant/container runoff and isolated all infected plants...culled all those that were infested. About 3 months later, they all disappeared...and have not seen them since.

About 2 years later I discontinued using pumice and I no longer sterilize my custom soil components.

Here are some docs that might help--
http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/symphcycle.htm
http://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/ipm/garden-symphylan
http://www.agrisave.com/biblioteca/agricola/symphylans%20SIMPHILIDOS.pdf

Not an easy critter to get rid of--as BTi, pyrethrin, acephate, neem oil, and a few other chems did zero.

Cheers!

 

[Coconutz]

Luckily mine dont have all those legs!
Im certain the larger bugs I saw were springtails.
Do these symphylans jump?
I found a side by side pic of the two. Hopefully I can rule these out! They look scarey!

 

[EclipseFour20]

If you found worms, baby ones and mediums sized ones, and all sized white little scamper critters--then I would look closer, as those were my "indicators". Found them in the saucers (especially in the runoff) and carcasses on the floor (circling the plant).

As I watched them in action, they move kinda like centipedes but faster but in spurts. They also move slow when munching away. They are visible with the naked eye and verifiable under 15x glass. Never saw eggs, but saw plenty of worms/nymphs and lots of critters.

Finding the source was key...what I did was place some of each component in a mason jar, added some compost and water...then inspected the jar--it took a few weeks before I discovered/confirmed pumice was my source.

Think contamination and where did they come from? Any new item/source? They need water and organic material to thrive...I discovered the pumice I bought was bulk delivered to the farm supply, stored outside and when needed they bagged it.

Did not find them in Promix, bark, compost, perlite, vermiculite, calcined clay, EWC or around my house. Glad my encounter with them was brief.

Cheers!

 

[Coconutz]

Oh you meant they could be the worm things Im seeing...
The worms dont have the antennas on their heads like the symphylans.
I could make out the springtails heads with just my eye and they looked identical to pics.
The jumping specs are too small for me to make out if they have the antennas on their heads though.
Ill try and get a better shot of them tonight.

 

[EclipseFour20]

See the first link/doc in my earlier post for info regarding their life cycle...they do not hatch from eggs as "critters", rather it is: egg...worm (nymph)...then critter.

Hope you don't have em...

 

[FRIENDinDEED]

a couple years ago I swore by organic soilless mix . . . with this thread? most I can say is that im kinda glad im doing hydro now, may be a lil tricky at first but . . . yeah man, im good

 

[Coconutz]

If you found worms, baby ones and mediums sized ones, and all sized white little scamper critters--then I would look closer, as those were my "indicators". Found them in the saucers (especially in the runoff) and carcasses on the floor (circling the plant).

As I watched them in action, they move kinda like centipedes but faster but in spurts. They also move slow when munching away. They are visible with the naked eye and verifiable under 15x glass. Never saw eggs, but saw plenty of worms/nymphs and lots of critters.

Finding the source was key...what I did was place some of each component in a mason jar, added some compost and water...then inspected the jar--it took a few weeks before I discovered/confirmed pumice was my source.

Think contamination and where did they come from? Any new item/source? They need water and organic material to thrive...I discovered the pumice I bought was bulk delivered to the farm supply, stored outside and when needed they bagged it.

Did not find them in Promix, bark, compost, perlite, vermiculite, calcined clay, EWC or around my house. Glad my encounter with them was brief.

Cheers!

When these things eat they spin around in circles ripping the white specs up. It looks vicious! They just wipe out entire populations.
Im cautious of getting them on my hands and into my drinks or near my mouth & nose. Nasty looking shit!
I found them in my veg runoff where I have new clones that I gave a dose of imid. Doubt Id be able to kill them even if I tried!