I opened a new bag of garden soil and there were these tiny flying bugs swarming out and when I planted seeds day after day they kept on comming- I zapped them as much as I could and sprayed the soapy water w/ hydrogen peroxide to no avail- had to put the plants outside. I looked at one under a microscope and it has pincers on its butt- very scary looking! can't get a pic -too small- they seem like no-see-ums. Any advice?
a swarm tiny flying bugs in garden soil purchased from store
Sounds like Earwigs to me- Take the bag back to the store- FAST!
Earwigs are attracted to moisture. Sounds like they migrated to damp potting soil. They can be beneficial, but they are omnivores, so they will munch on plants. Their redeeming quality is that they eat cockroaches. I would return the soil also. A few here and about are no real problem, but sounds like you brought home a whole colony of them.
http://www.commonpests.com/how-to-get-rid-of-earwigs
Sounds like it could be fungus knats. I don't know if they have pinchers but I didn't know earwigs could fly.
Thanks for the advice I think they are fungus gnats cause earwigs ( baby) can't fly and I looked up photos of the fungus gnat and it looks a lot like what I saw. I also looked up how to get rid of them naturally.
The larva of the fungal gnats are almost microscopic and live in the soil but they will feed on the roots of your plants. Their lifecycle is so fast I don't see how you possibly get rid of all of them and they will stunt your plants. I would take the stuff back. Once you get them around your plants and soil you may never get rid of them. Especially since they flew out of the garden soil.
I waited too long to take it back and now -infestation! I've been putting diatomaceous earth on the soil and I think it has really cut down on the numbers but a few still flying around- guess I have to reapply it.
Post a Reply to this Thread
More Garden Pests and Diseases Threads
-
Disease Identiciation on Red Twig Dogwood
started by roberca1
last post by roberca1Mar 09, 20242Mar 09, 2024 -
Something eating my bougainvillea
started by Duegen
last post by DuegenJan 04, 20240Jan 04, 2024 -
Something wrong with by Broccoli!
started by TGardener17
last post by TGardener17Apr 19, 20242Apr 19, 2024 -
Something eating my bougainvillea
started by Duegen
last post by DuegenMar 09, 20241Mar 09, 2024 -
Salvaging a fir tree from armillaria
started by kellogs
last post by kellogsMar 16, 20240Mar 16, 2024