Mites in my soil??

Raspberrykiwi

Raspberrykiwi

Well-Known Member
Hey guys. I’m very new to organic growing (first grow). My plants are growing insanely fast and there are no issues with my plant. I throw all of my leaves I cut off my plant back into the pot. Earlier I got curious about how the leaves were decomposing and I pulled out my microscope and found clear mites eating the decomposing leaves. Is this a good thing or bad thing??

below is a pic of the mites and how my lowest leaves and soil look. Please provide any feedback. Should I worry?
 

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coolaidyoulove

coolaidyoulove

Well-Known Member
Those look like mold mites. Their real name is typh***** something I can’t remember but should be good. They can get up in high numbers with right conditions. I get them in most mediums. Could be another kind. There are like 80k different soil dwelling mites. Most are beneficial, predatory and a few are bad.
 
Raspberrykiwi

Raspberrykiwi

Well-Known Member
coolaidyoulove said:
Those look like mold mites. Their real name is typh***** something I can’t remember but should be good. They can get up in high numbers with right conditions. I get them in most mediums. Could be another kind. There are like 80k different soil dwelling mites. Most are beneficial, predatory and a few are bad.
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So should I continue feeding them with my clippings? Or toss them. I asked on a different forum and they’re telling me to use pesticides and all the horrible stuff I don’t want to do.
 
coolaidyoulove

coolaidyoulove

Well-Known Member
Yeah people are going to freak you out. They freak me out sometimes but really haven’t had issue and if you hit up an entomologist they would say don’t worry unless you’re having issues. Having said that I’d maybe back off on feeding clippings and watering a bit for a while. They basically are part of the natural decomposing process. Things rot, form bacteria and fungi and these eat the fungi and bacteria and turn it into usable food source. if you want to kill them you can apply neem or some soil drench just don’t go buying avid or something crazy. If you scope some soil outside or in your potted plants. Hell most stuff you will find them. They’re on veggies that have turned a bit etc etc. we have mites on us eating dead skin etc.
 
Raspberrykiwi

Raspberrykiwi

Well-Known Member
coolaidyoulove said:
Yeah people are going to freak you out. They freak me out sometimes but really haven’t had issue and if you hit up an entomologist they would say don’t worry unless you’re having issues. Having said that I’d maybe back off on feeding clippings and watering a bit for a while. They basically are part of the natural decomposing process. Things rot, form bacteria and fungi and these eat the fungi and bacteria and turn it into usable food source. if you want to kill them you can apply neem or some soil drench just don’t go buying avid or something crazy. If you scope some soil outside or in your potted plants. Hell most stuff you will find them. They’re on veggies that have turned a bit etc etc. we have mites on us eating dead skin etc.
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Well I like the idea of the nutrients returning to the soil lol I might just leave it honestly.. because I have compost in my soil anyways, if they aren’t eating the leaves, they’ll be eating the stuff in the compost. Why not give them a variety of food? Lol
 
W

waktoo

Well-Known Member
1599054861410.png


"The 200 species of mites in this microscope view were extracted from one square foot of the top two inches of forest litter and soil. Mites are poorly studied, but enormously significant for nutrient release in the soil. "


Soil

Learn more about Soil with University of Illinois Extension
web.extension.illinois.edu web.extension.illinois.edu
 
Rickypsimer

Rickypsimer

Well-Known Member
I'm growing gelato also! In organic soil also. 3 pots are mixed organic soil and worms in the pot. And 3 pots with build a soil. How's it going for you so far
 
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