Soil mites EVERYWHERE

[Lion-O]

I have these red crawling bitches everywhere in my grow room. Room is in basement, a few weeks into veg, using soil. The soil was a mix of some walmart stuff with happy frog. I thought they were spider mites, but no webbing or other plant problems from them. The bugs also crawl fast. I did some research and believe they are soil mites, NOT spider mites.

I ordered some diatomaceous earth from Amazon, food grade, 10 lbs. Read that should put on top of soil. Until it gets here, I've sprayed neem oil a few times on plants as well as the floor. Used RAID poison spray on the floor and around (not on) plants.

I plan on transplanting from 1 gal pots soon to the 5 gal, trying to brush off most of the existing soil and just use the happy frog, possibly doing that job outside, then back into the grow room.

Does anyone know the life cycle of these bastards? I don't want them in the rest of the house. What's the best way to keep them out of the rest of the house and kill them?

 

[Bugeye]

How do you know they are harmful? Maybe they are busy improving the quality of your soil?

 

[Lion-O]

How do you know they are harmful? Maybe they are busy improving the quality of your soil?

Never said they're harmful, soil mites aren't, I just don't want them elsewhere in the house. I want to keep them out of everything else.

 

[Dr. Who]

Soil mite?
Hmm. Set an open can of tuna fish on an open window sill and when the little sucker comes out of the box and starts to eat the tuna. Run at it screaming and it'll jump out the window. Now close it so it don't come back in....

BTW - the pic is a "cat"
I got Burmese and Blue point Siamese cats. It's like a Puurrmese home.....We have Rott's for dogs....They all get along fine....anyway -

Soil Mites are BENEFICIAL! DON'T kill them off!

 

[Orlando737]

Never said they're harmful, soil mites aren't, I just don't want them elsewhere in the house. I want to keep them out of everything else.

They will probably stay in or near the pot then, soil mites are specific to soil, so I don't think it will cause a general infestation to your living space.
I've got soil mites in some of my pots, they do a good job there.

 

[Tangerine_]

I believe FF had some issues with fungus gnats and many reported seeing the hypoaspis miles predatory mites. IMO, if they're present, they must be feeding on something. I agree with others to just leave them be...though the fungus gnats in FFOF and Roots Organics are the reason I switched back to Promix for my indoor grows.
If you do a board search here for hypoaspis miles you'll find a few good threads on the subject. Its actually what prompted me to join RIU

 

[Lion-O]

I understand they're beneficial guys, but please notice I state they're ALL OVER THAT ROOM. NOT just in the soil.

I'm waiting till these 4 white widows get a little larger, then transplant and hope they don't come over, dumping old soil outside. Planning on Hydro buckets (DIY) for the next one, to avoid these such things..

Got the diatemous (how ever you spell it) stuff today, sprinkled on soil and dusted with a combo of that and some ant killing powder around the edges of the room on the floor. I figure whatever comes by that stuff should be not long for this world. When all done, will probably bomb the room, wipe everything down, shampoo the carpet, and go hydro. Wish I had a mentor near me I could talk to in person. Trying stuff on your own is a little pricey.

 

[Orlando737]

I understand they're beneficial guys, but please notice I state they're ALL OVER THAT ROOM. NOT just in the soil.

I'm waiting till these 4 white widows get a little larger, then transplant and hope they don't come over, dumping old soil outside. Planning on Hydro buckets (DIY) for the next one, to avoid these such things..

Got the diatemous (how ever you spell it) stuff today, sprinkled on soil and dusted with a combo of that and some ant killing powder around the edges of the room on the floor. I figure whatever comes by that stuff should be not long for this world. When all done, will probably bomb the room, wipe everything down, shampoo the carpet, and go hydro. Wish I had a mentor near me I could talk to in person. Trying stuff on your own is a little pricey.

Yeah, take it as a lesson for your next grow. Had gnats once & bombed them with Pyrethrin, only to find it react with artificial light.
Totally wasted a promising crop. Learned something though.... !

 

[Tangerine_]

The diatomaceous earth is probably going to be a waste of time. If they are predatory mites, they'll stroll right thru it with a smile on their face.
Honestly, before you go treating everything you should try to positively identify them. You really need to make certain they're not RAs because if they are, you in for a battle. If they're hypoaspis miles they'll be gone as soon as you get rid of the soil as they seldom go anywhere else.
The first step is to find out what exactly is crawling around.
Again, I suggest doing a quick board search. The threads I read on the subject saved me tons of time, money, and stress.

 

[Dr. Who]

Microlift BMC for Gnats.....Fungus gnats are more of an annoyance then a problem, unless you allow them to get out of hand...

IF, you have root aphids.....You have real problems and MUST sanitize literally everything in that room to even begin to be thinking of using it for growing.....anything!

But Tangerine is correct - you NEED to figure out exactly WHAT they ARE.....