Spider Mites?

[Rosebud]

Goodnight mindtrip.

 

[Sweetmansticky]

Yummy! Show us the good and the bad tomorrow? Everybody loves a trich or 2......... Thousand

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I second the "root aphids" thought

 

[mindtrip]

DGF, unfortunately those look like what I've got (best I can tell). I can't find my LED microscope, so who knows. And now that I look closely, I don't see them on the plants. Just the soil. If this is my issue, how do I get rid of them?

 

[WeedHopper]

http://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/root-aphid-control/

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I found tonight in my own garden, a new mite.. but it's a beneficial. Is this what yours looks like?

They are Hypoaspis Miles.

Hypoaspis mites feed on fungus gnats, springtails, thrips pupae, and other small insects in the soil. The mite is 0.5 mm (1/50 inch) long and light-brown in color. It inhabits the top 1/2 inch layer of soil. Females lay eggs in the soil which hatch into nymphs in 1 to 2 days. Nymphs develop into adults in 5 to 6 days. The lifecycle takes approximately 7 to 11 days

 

[mindtrip]

It's hard to say. They are definitely slightly round and look tick-like, kind of like in your pictures. Damned if I know what I did with my microscope.

I'm still seeing no sort of damage to my plants, so I'm hesitant to take any drastic actions.

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

I have a feeling you have Hypoaspis ... which should be fine. Do you have any fungus gnats? A.K.A. "Fruit Flies" ?

 

[mindtrip]

I hope you're right.

I have no fruit flies now...but I had several for the first week of this grow. Why?

 

[Dr. Green Fang]

Fungus Gnats eat dead root matter and other various things in your soil. If a fruit fly (fungus gnat) gets into your grow (very easy to happen) it can lay up to 200 eggs a week.. just one fly. The larvae eats the dead matter (and roots) and will mess with your root zone when you get over populated. Predatory mites eat these larvae.. I just found this out tonight as I just identified this bug in my room tonight. If it's in your root zone, I'm guessing either Root Aphid, or Hypoaspis.

Get that darn microscope! Or buy another one they are like $3.00 shipped... literally. hah :aok:

 

[mindtrip]

Thanks, Doc! I know, I know. I'll get one coming.

 

[Hushpuppy]

that is interesting information. If you had fungus gnats early on and now they are gone, and you now have these mites, it may be that these mites are the predatory mites and they are the reason that the fungus gnats are gone. The thing that concerns me more at this point is that you have had 2 different bugs getting into your grow. I know its hard to keep them out of almost any grow setup. If the mites are the predatory mites then that is a stroke of good luck.

 

[mindtrip]

Good thinking, hushpuppy. I honestly don't know what to think/do at this point. The girls look happy, so I'm just kinda letting it ride.