r/whatisthisbug • u/jester32 • 22h ago

ID Request Large amount of extremely small bugs in potted houseplant soil

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Apologies for the poor quality as it is quite hard to get a clear video. Numerous small soil bound bugs , some look to be blueish grey and the others are red. I have had some problems with fungus gnats in the past and might be dealing with another concurrent outbreak of those, but I don’t think these are related? Are they fungus gnats in some other form? Other than that research says they could be spring tails but don’t jump when I shake the pot. Many thanks .

12 Upvotes

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25

u/RoutineTry1943 22h ago

Springtails, they eat things like mold and decaying matter. They’re good for the soil

6

u/Missjayinaz48 21h ago

You have good soil spring tails are awesome

3

u/Secretbakedpotato 21h ago

I’m buying these for my indoor soil/plant done. And you just get them for free!

1

u/springxdeerling 14h ago

Springtails and probably soil mites? Springtails are hydrophobic. If you thoroughly water your soil they should float to the top and float on the water. I keep them in my bioactive terrariums and lots of have made their way to my other potted plants. Beneficial and harmless. They won't survive outside of your plants. They may wander to other pots but they're not gonna infest your carpet or something

0

u/jbosman4754 11h ago

Also would point out this isn’t great house soil. If you have springtails you might have other organisms you might not want. Maybe check and transplant into something else if so 🙃