Tiny little white bugs

[NasaDan]

Quick question for the Phal gods and godesses. I gave Ursula her bath today and when I did I notice a bunch of very small white bugs moving around. I wrote in a few weeks back for a case of crown rot. I still have one leaf left that is somewhat hurting. I took the advice of using peroxide to stop the crown rot and it has seemed to work.
I started to water a little less frequent and that has seemed to help a little. The exposed roots look nice and health.
Should I treat for these bugs, I can't imagine them being benificial. What should I treat with?

Thanks again for all the help!

[greg_s]

Were the bugs moving on the plant or in the medium?

[mayres]

I'm going to guess that the bugs you are speaking of are living on the media rather than the plant - you can get little white bugs like this in places under your kitchen/bathroom sink where you have a slow leak and wet wood for long periods of time too. Probably not hurting your plant - but I'd want to get rid of them nonetheless. If your media is old this might be one of several indicators that it is time to replace. If not, spraying something like Bayer Rose and Flower Spray on the media should take care of them - it comes in a ready to use spray bottle and is also systemic. mike

[greg_s]

When I got woodlice in my onc. earlier this year my local greenhouse suggested something that worked very well. Cover the top of the pot with paper or plastic wrap (to keep the bark in the pot) and then submerge the plant in a bucket of water (leaves and all) for about 15 minutes. That will drown any bugs that might be living in the medium. It sounds a little...simple, but it worked like a charm for me.

[Tommyr]

My guess is they are either springtails or soil mites. They feed on organic matter in the soil and generally do no harm to the plant. Allow the top half of the mix to dry out. They don't like dry soils. Normal you notice them when watering when they scurry about. As far as I know chemical control is hardly ever recommend and I'm not sure which would work on them. Maybe a 1/4 chunk of a "Mosquito dunk" in your watering can will control them. It's used to control larvae in ponds and pools, etc. Harmless to humans and other animals,birds etc.

Tom


Tom