Bugs pop up after watering?

[Teag]

If you use spinosad like the other guy was saying it will weaken the exoskeletons.. then combined with the DE should shred them up good

I haven't had to combat these though, and maybe there is a deeper issue here like moisture infrequency if they feast on decaying organic material.. the roots get to die from underwatering then rot from watering then carry on.. the fix IMO would be to figure out why your watering infrequency is happening be it too much air flow, not enough water, too much heat, low humidity and so on

So I did some research and springtails are at worst an annoyance and can be considered beneficial. There's no reason to do anything except maybe water a little less.

As far as linking decaying matter to the roots being bad I'm not sure about that either. The top dress fertilizer is organic material. Couldn't they just be breaking that down? I dunno.

 

[Nizza]

that would make sense if the fertilizer isn't broken down they are decomposing it

 

[Just Be]

Once wet, it won't damage the exoskeleton anymore even after it dries.

I'm pretty sure that's false based on the number of websites that suggest adding it to a bottle of water and then spraying it on your plants. Of course, I've got no first-hand experience spraying it myself. Just sharing what I've seen to be true.

I've actually thought about adding it to my soil mix before potting. Just as a preventative measure.

 

[Catpotwoman]

I'm pretty sure that's false based on the number of websites that suggest adding it to a bottle of water and then spraying it on your plants. Of course, I've got no first-hand experience spraying it myself. Just sharing what I've seen to be true.

I've actually thought about adding it to my soil mix before potting. Just as a preventative measure.

Thanks, I took a look and you're right. I'll edit. Looks like the consensus is that it will work again after it dries but is ineffective when wet.

It definitely has a different consistency after drying and can be a real pain to get off surfaces.

 

[Just Be]

Thanks, I took a look and you're right. I'll edit. Looks like the consensus is that it will work again after it dries but is ineffective when wet.

It definitely has a different consistency after drying and can be a real pain to get off surfaces.

Based on the number of people that drink DE for doing parasite cleanses etc, I'd have to say that it works when it's wet as well. I think it just might be harder for an exoskeleton to completely dry up in a totally saturated environment. The microscopic jagged edges of DE are still jagged even when it's wet and can still damage an exoskeleton.