Bugs in soil?

[Dibbsey]

alot of stores that sell soil sell clean soil thats supposed to be 100 percent bug free. thats what i buy. never had a problem with bugs. promix all the wayyy

 

[Velvet Elvis]

pro mix and all the big boys have bugs period. its from storage practices. whoever said happy frog doesnt have bugs is mistaken.

never buy the wet bags outside. try to get bags that seem dry from factory. most of soil companies get there peat from one spot. canada. they leave it sit outside all year and bag it up. facility would have to be the size of 5 football fields to keep it inside.

thrips, fungus gnats are just part of the game. spinosad wipes out thrips and mosquito dunks wipes out gnats. spider mites are the killer and do not come from bagged soil usually if ever.

 

[Chunky Stool]

Pearlite degrades into fine white sand, which may explain why bugs don't like it. Personally, I'm getting better results than ever using a specific type of kitty litter. @RM3 told me about calcined clay & it rocks! I like it so much, I mixed 100 lbs into my raised garden today. Heavier than pearlite & lighter than sand. It's perfect for soil.
Special Kitty all natural clay from wal mart. $4 for 25 lbs

 

[Comet79]

On that note..I went to pay my bill at Canadian tire yesterday..and upon paying..i received a scratch coupon thing and it got me 50% off lol..so since I have nothing else to buy from Canadian tire..i got the soil and perlite. I guess i'll give it a shot. This is the bag I got..along with perlite...had no worm castings or dolomite lime in powder form..will get it elsewhere..i'll give it a try.

 

[greasemonkeymann]

I have never grown anything in my life..so I have no evidence..nor do I know anyone who grows. Its just from what I read in some other forums from different people. Most explained that it was 'good' bugs..not predators. Some of them were bad. Either way..i really didn't know that its normal to have bugs in indoor growing with soil bought from a store. I was going to use 30% perlite as well. I actually only got the idea to grow weed indoors this march when I opted not to do a container garden (vegetables), on my balcony because of fear of ants coming in! lol (they crawl on the outside of the building walls for some reason) I understood if by my own errors, I would allow bugs to appear..like by overwatering, stagnant water, humidity..but the idea that they are part of the soil and its normal..i just didn't like that thought. Its the fact of how fast some of them were lol..I wouldn't be able to contain that without a 'real' setup.

you are over thinking it, the types of bugs and microbes that are essential to an organic soil are just that, essential.
the types of bugs in your soil don't typically attack your plants, with a few exceptions, being thrips and fungus gnats.
ants won't bother your soil unless you get aphids, and aphids inside are fairly uncommon.
perlite has no predication on bugs at all.
the "real" bugs ya gotta worry about are mites, the rest are cake to deal with

 

[greasemonkeymann]

Pearlite degrades into fine white sand, which may explain why bugs don't like it. Personally, I'm getting better results than ever using a specific type of kitty litter. @RM3 told me about calcined clay & it rocks! I like it so much, I mixed 100 lbs into my raised garden today. Heavier than pearlite & lighter than sand. It's perfect for soil.
Special Kitty all natural clay from wal mart. $4 for 25 lbs

yup, that stuff is good stuff, I just wonder if the aluminosilicates is ever bioavalible to the plant, like azomite
if you like that stuff check out the bonsai aeration stuff the expanded shale.
pumice is good shit too

 

[Chunky Stool]

You can also use it for traction in the winter. Good for soaking up spilled oil too.