ANTS, CENTIPEDES, AND ROLLIE POLLIES IN SOIL GOOD OR BAD?

[Massgrower98]

I poked holes through the bottom of my smart pots so the roots could grow through the pot and the plant can get bigger well turns out all types of insects found there way into my pots as well I've already added worms to my pot but now theres ants , centipedes, potatoe bugs, and other insects I couldn't identify in there are any of these good bugs ? I know ants aren't welcome so I put down some diatomatious earth put on pretty sure everything is crawling from the bottom up... WHAT DO I DO?

 

[waterproof808]

youll be fine most likely, the worst thing about ants is that they can potentially farm aphids or mealybugs but ants are not too difficult to control.
FYI, no need to poke holes in smart pots...cannabis roots have no problem penetrating the bottoms of fabric pots.

 

[T macc]

Dont poke holes in your fabric pots. Roots grow through the surface anyway. Cant help with the bugs tho, sorry

 

[Massgrower98]

Dont poke holes in your fabric pots. Roots grow through the surface anyway. Cant help with the bugs tho, sorry

Do you think I should transfer my plants into separate new pots with new soil like am I that fucked rn? Or will it really be that big of a deal?

 

[Massgrower98]

youll be fine most likely, the worst thing about ants is that they can potentially farm aphids or mealybugs but ants are not too difficult to control.
FYI, no need to poke holes in smart pots...cannabis roots have no problem penetrating the bottoms of fabric pots.

Ok yeah I spread some diatomaceous earth on all my pots but they also can be coming from underneath so I'm trying to battle them organically maybe cinnamon could help to?

 

[SteelheadFishin]

just watch your plants shouldn't be to big of a deal. This is exactly why I plant in-ground or have my pots raised up to where no bugs can bug them. I'd suggest getting something to raise them off the ground a bit. Pallets work wonders

 

[Massgrower98]

just watch your plants shouldn't be to big of a deal. This is exactly why I plant in-ground or have my pots raised up to where no bugs can bug them. I'd suggest getting something to raise them off the ground a bit. Pallets work wonders

Well I cut holes in the bottom of my pots so they possibly could be traveling from underneath into the pots but there's def some crawling on the sides so I spread diatomaceous earth on the sides of my pots and on top hoping they will go away .... if shit hits the fan I'm gonna add nematodes to my soil

 

[Massgrower98]

just watch your plants shouldn't be to big of a deal. This is exactly why I plant in-ground or have my pots raised up to where no bugs can bug them. I'd suggest getting something to raise them off the ground a bit. Pallets work wonders

Well that's the thing if your growing straight in the ground your most definitely going to get ants in your soil right? Its not like theres any barrier to protect the ants from getting in ...

 

[ganga gurl420]

Just order some benificial nematodes and they will take care of all the bad insects living in the soil.

 

[SteelheadFishin]

Well that's the thing if your growing straight in the ground your most definitely going to get ants in your soil right? Its not like theres any barrier to protect the ants from getting in ...

I grow in ground and don't have any issues with ants. i'm in the pacific northwest and we have big black carpenter ants and small fire ants which ive only seen the latter effect my plants by farming aphids. If I do find any ants farming aphids literally one spray with neem oil they are history.

 

[Massgrower98]

Just order some benificial nematodes and they will take care of all the bad insects living in the soil.

How long does it take until they wipe out all the bugs? So far it's been 20 hours and I've seen alittle difference in the amount of bugs in my soil... good news I dont any more ants at all the nematodes and DE took care of them quick, the bad news is I think the pill bugs or SOW bugs are to big for the nematodes maybe? Because theres still a few in my soil... can the nematodes kill the rolly polly bugs even though there much bigger ?

 

[Funkentelechy]

Rolly polly bugs won't hurt your plants.

 

[Massgrower98]

How long does it take until they wipe out all the bugs? So far it's been 20 hours and I've seen alittle difference in the amount of bugs in my soil... good news I dont any more ants at all the nematodes and DE took care of them quick, the bad news is I think the pill bugs or SOW bugs are to big for the nematodes maybe? Because theres still a few in my soil... can the nematodes kill the rolly polly bugs even though there much bigger ?

Rolly polly bugs won't hurt your plants.

You sure ? I've heard alot of mixed reviews people saying they eat live plant matter and I've also heard ppl say they just eat dead plant matter I'll take your word on it man hope they dont eat my shit lol

 

[Funkentelechy]

Some people say that they can occasionally eat sprouts, most people say that they only eat dead stuff. I have never seen any damage to my plants from them and all reports I've read of them eating living plant material were assumptive and after the fact(not eye witness).
Where I live we have the rolly polly/pill bugs not the sow bugs, I can't comment on sow bugs, but I consider Rolly pollies beneficial.

If your plants take damage from them, please post it, but I honestly don't believe you have anything to worry about. I see them in my garden under the mulch layer sometimes, mostly in the compost pile(they love compost), so they are in there every year and I've never had issues with bug damage to my plants.

 

[Massgrower98]

Some people say that they can occasionally eat sprouts, most people say that they only eat dead stuff. I have never seen any damage to my plants from them and all reports I've read of them eating living plant material were assumptive and after the fact(not eye witness).
Where I live we have the rolly polly/pill bugs not the sow bugs, I can't comment on sow bugs, but I consider Rolly pollies beneficial.

If your plants take damage from them, please post it, but I honestly don't believe you have anything to worry about. I see them in my garden under the mulch layer sometimes, mostly in the compost pile(they love compost), so they are in there every year and I've never had issues with bug damage to my plants.

Awesome thanks for the info much appreciated!!! I wasn't sure if they were bad or good after all like you said the beneficial bugs are suppose to find there way to the soil ... I also had a few ants in my soil buy the diatomaceous earth, and the nematodes took care of them pretty fast ... I def will take pictures if my plant starts to show something thank you for your time...

 

[Morae]

You sure ? I've heard alot of mixed reviews people saying they eat live plant matter and I've also heard ppl say they just eat dead plant matter I'll take your word on it man hope they dont eat my shit lol

Read up on your situation and I agree with the others, probably nothing worth worrying about, but indoors pill bugs can make a home in an organic soil garden, and I think that's where the main problem with them comes from. I have an infestation currently kicking my ass. Mostly they'll just eat the mulch (I use leaf trimmings and whatnot for mulch) but they breed quickly and when there's competition for the easy-access mulch, they go straight for the seedlings. Transplanted clones seem to be fine, but I've lost three hell's og x huckleberry kush seedlings and no less than five pineapple fields seedlings to the little bastards. There are no other major critters around, and the seedlings get either chewed down to a little stump or cleanly sliced into two or three pieces I find lying dead on top of the soil. Just finished the second round of spinosad soil drench, very marginal improvement after the first one so I'm not getting my hopes up that they'll be gone anytime soon. Got DE on top in every container, hasn't slowed them down at all.

It takes a specific set of circumstances for them to cause trouble, but when they do they really go hard.