Springtails Found In Houseplant Soil! | Should I Panic?

Welcome to Fun with Plants and Cats! On today's episode, I'm going to talk about Springtails, which are tiny soil dwelling mites.

I recently found some on my Fiddle Leaf Fig, and I go over whether these mites are harmful, beneficial, and ways you can get rid of them.

If you like this video and find it helpful, please like and subscribe!

00:00 Intro
00:17 My plant has springtails!
00:42 What are springtails?
00:59 Why they’re called springtails
01:06 How do you know you have them?
01:23 How to tell apart springtails from thrips
02:05 How do you get springtails
02:44 Are springtails harmful to your plants?
03:16 Beneficial insect designation
03:34 Cons of springtails in houseplants
04:04 How to control / remove springtails from houseplants
06:24 Can you use pesticide soil granules to remove springtails?

Image Sources:

[MichaelEugenio]

I love springtails . I did an experiment recently with similar setups . One with a colony of spring tails on purpose and one springtail free . The springtail one grew faster . I do believe the springtails fertilize the plants by eating the organic matter in the soil . Also the one without sprung tails got fungus gnats and the springtails did not . I don’t know but I bet springtails eat fungus gnat eggs or out compete them for food .

[panzerwolf]

Haven't had springtails. Did have gnats. I ordered some Spanish moss to hang over my plants to kind of conceal the light fixtures a bit, plus the stuff is neat. When the grower picked it, she accidentally packed an anole lizard with it. He got lose in the plants and my gnat problem has almost vanished

[reikiwithcary]

I have a vivarium with a grove snail... through my research I kept reading about introducing springtails to the environment to help keep the place clean. Voila! Today I am seeing them in the subsoil and in the soil as well... yay! Your video was very informative... so glad I found it!

[staceyhunt]

Ordered a bunch of potted herbs which arrived last night and found these tiny grey little cuties. After the adorable back-flip one did we quickly worked out they're springtails and just wanted to check in on them. The plants are in my kiddos room for now (Their room smells amazing with Oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary and lavender on their windowsill!), there was also a snail on the inside of the box (3 was delighted!) So staying well away from our edible flowers on kitchen windowsill and succulents on my indoor plant shelves!). Will be giving them a healthy dose of DE if we notice them go downhill or any snails besides the one. We know they were grown outside and intended to be planted outside but we're in an apartment so nah. 😅 We have consumable grade DE in the house anyway so easy fix.
Thanks for the video! :)

[dmitrimikrioukov]

Yes, from my experience they definitely spread to nearby plants. Also reducing watering controls them, but it doesn't kill them. And yes, you may kill your plant if you dry it too much trying to kill these things. I think they got into my home from keeping plants on the balcony.

[zoo]

Springtails aren’t bad, they help destroy fungal infections and can keep your plants safe, they don’t affect your plants (edit: they do affect seeds and younger plants)

[Kwak]

I have a very healthy avocado plant and it’s got a lot of springtails hanging out in the soil.

I kind of love having my little guys!

[nopenopeXOXO]

I've been looking, and researching and majorly stressing...😅
So, i kinda took-over care of some of our orchids (re-potting and such).
We have this one beautiful mini-phalaenopsis (deep-wine shade of red), couldn't be happier or healthier!
BAM!
Infestation!
I been vigilant for weeks but hesitant to use intense pesticides.
Did some sodium-bicarbonate/Neem oil treatment.
But the 'bugs' seem happier than ever...i was literally 'buggin' -just now i realized they're the good kind...😂😂😂
Hallelujah.
I feel bad now.
I've apologized several times.. Hope their not mad..😅

[davidmc]

You are very lucky to have the tails. They will clean up your muss, just be careful how much water you give to your plants. With that said, house plants don't really need them, and they just find their way to your garden indoor magically. You have great plants though.

[fromeveryting]

Seems to me they are actually beneficial to your soil and plant, possibly by fetrilizing your plant by pooping. BUT they might indicate your soil has been a little too much on the soggy side lately, so watch out how much you water :)

[kona]

I bought a blue bag of Miracle-Gro potting soil, complete with springtails, and now all of my plants have them. At least I'm pretty sure they are springtails. I just let them do their thing, they don't bother anything lol.

[jartotable]

I think they're a great warning signal for soggy pots.

[checkplease]

Springtails are honestly great for plants and I completely disagree that they pose any threat to plants or cuttings .

[Kiragacash]

As someone who has 50+ bio active reptile vivariums these insects are key to a healthy ecosystem, I've gained them in all of my houseplants and all they do is eat decaying matter, so realistically they are good for your plants

[lorijohnson]

I had some ancient elm dirt and when out to sprinkle in my raised garden. I could see the.only after I put it In the tubs. Will they damage my vegetable plants?

[vsen]

They suddenly appeared in my caudex plant soil. Which doesn't require lot of watering.
I let them as it is.
After a week all leaves stems of my caudex died. When I pulled out the caudex I saw them all over the root. I also found some worms and one two maggots. So my caudex was in fact decaying.

I did put compost in it a month ago. And wondered if that's why they appeared. As some say they appear when not properly composed compost is used.

I still don't know what actually happened.

I have noticed these usually appear when using saucers below pots.

Which I used none in my caudex plant.

I stopped using planter plates or saucers coz springtails were much frequently appearing there.

And when I do use plates I wash them once a week just by water. Dry them and put them back.

My friend who uses fungicides frequently in her plants never faces springtails issues.

[leschris]

Bring in the dryness, and here come the spider mites 😅

[peterrmariokitty]

So I have this bag of soil that I tried to plant lemon balm seeds in without realizing the soil had bugs. It’s taken me a while to figure out what they are exactly. I thought they were soil mites but then today I was examining this soil again, trying to figure out if I could save it and I noticed the bugs jumping.. So it’s lead me to think they are springtails..

On getting rid of them.. before today I had taken soil from this bag, put in it a small bin, sprayed the soil with a tiny bit of neem oil and mixed in diatomaceous earth and let it sit out in the hot Virginia sun for 3 or 4 days.. each day mixing it up to make sure it all got hit with the sun at some point. And after that and then sifting the soil I didn’t see any of these bugs. So I don’t know yet if I successfully got rid of them.. I used this soil I let sit in the sun to plant some echinacea seeds and so far things have been good and clear. I hope it stays that way. It is a pain and a process to do but I didn’t wanna waste this giant bag of soil. And since I’m starting seeds I didn’t wanna have these bugs in with my seeds and the first seeds I planted in this soil before realizing the soil had bugs- didn’t sprout. So I really wanna rid this soil of these bugs and be able to use it to start my seeds. I’m crossing my fingers hoping this works😅

[moros]

I like my scorched earth method to get rid of them. Place used coffee grounds on top of soil & wait a couple of hours until the springtails all surface to eat the coffee grounds (the longer you wait the more will surface). Use 70% alcohol in a misting spray bottle and a torch lighter to spray the soil 5 times in one spot then light it on fire and slowly continue spraying to gradually spread the fire around the pot to kill everything on the soil surface. Observe the soil after the initial application and treat any spots where you observe movement to another fireball or use the torch lighter directly.

[Le_Furret]

They are so usefull to plants that people buy them to add to vivarium and pallidarium. For best ecosystem