Hey! I know this isnt the best photo, but does anyone know if this is a harmful or beneficial bug? I don’t see any damage on my plant (it’s a variegated heuschkelina propagating in perlite) and I see roots and new growth but just found these bugs crawling on the surface of the perlite and under leaves. The bug moves quite quickly
looks like it could be a type of springtail, they’re a beneficial isopod type creature that eats detritus, fungi, and/or algae. some species will actually eat anything they can find like rotting meat or heavy metals. they’re easily identifiable by their impressive jump for their size. some species can propel themselves over 6 feet.
1 me gusta they are arthropods technically, and will typically only eat readily available food sources like the algae on your media rather than the plant itself which is a little tougher for such small creatures. i’m hoping for you that they are jumpy !
1 me gusta I thought it looked like a springtail but didn’t know they could be so small! I was holding it in my hand for a while to take a picture but then it disappeared. Maybe it jumped! I will monitor to make sure there’s no damage but this makes me feel better. Thanks! :)
1 me gusta Almost all of them were on the substrate, and I only saw two on the underside of leaves, so that makes me hopeful too that they’re just eating the algae 🤞😅
1 me gusta I have heard horror stories of thrips so I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t those 😭 should I treat my plant with a neem oil / Castille soap sollution anyways or do you think I should only do that if I see signs of damage or slowing growth? Thanks in advance for the advice 😊
1 me gusta if you start noticing damage and growth slows, i would definitely recommend a soapy water treatment. it’s effective against every soft-bodied pest i know of, as long as it’s applied regularly, and will benefit your plants by cleaning the leaves even if there are no pests present. i’ve eradicated spider mites and aphids relatively easily by spraying affected plants every day or every few days with a spray that’s about one drop of castile soap per cup of water. for now though, i think you should be okay. springtails can be as small as 2mm long and i’ve noticed they tend to disappear when they jump since they can launch themselves so far.
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