When you see tiny white bugs in the soil around your lawn, flowers, and shrubs, you have soil mites! Here’s everything you need to know about these insects, including how to get rid of them.
Here’s How To Get Rid Of Tiny White Bugs In Soil.
One of the most hands-on hobbies, gardening requires constant attention to your plants, lawn, and soil.
The time has come to get rid of tiny white bugs in soil that you have disturbed or dug into. Find out how to deal with an infestation.
What Are These Little White Bugs In The Soil?
They are called soil mites. With the naked eye, you can’t see them, but if you look closely, you can see that they’re about the size of a pinhead and resemble tiny ticks or spiders.
There are many varieties of soil mites, but they are all harmless to humans and animals. Their feces provide useful nutrients to plants and help break down organic matter in the soil.
There are several types of soil mite, but the oribatid mite is the most common form. They live in wooded areas and feed on decaying wood, leaves, and compost.
What Causes Soil Mites?
It is not uncommon for soil mites to appear wherever there is a rich food source, including compost, topsoil, and potting soil.
Getting rid of their food source will make them leave if you are bothered by them. You can do this by removing compost and decaying organic matter.
What Is The Difference Between Soil Mites And Spider Mites?
The soil mite is very different from the spider mite. As opposed to soil mites, spider mites drink sap from live plants rather than decaying plant matter.
Spider mites can be spotted by looking at the leaves of your plant. Wipe the leaves of your orchid with a white paper towel to remove them. Red-brown streaks on the paper indicate an infestation.
While soil mites only live in the soil, spider mites live on leaves and stalks of plants. Their leaves are covered with a distinctive, soft, silky webbing. They are tiny, white, or yellowish insects.
A spider mite infestation will also cause the plant to wither and die, so treating it with a general-purpose insecticide for about 64 days will kill the adults and eggs.
Are soil mites harmful to plants?
In general, these insects are not considered garden pests. Instead, they are considered beneficial. Plants are not harmed by their presence, since they devour only decaying organic matter.
It is important to remove them if they are infesting a houseplant or a specific area of your garden, as they can reproduce rapidly.
Do Soil Mites Bite Humans?
There is no evidence that soil mites bite or are harmful to humans or animals.
These tiny insects resemble little spiders or ticks, but their diet consists only of decaying insects and plant matter.
Controlling Tiny White Bug Infestations In Soil
The key to preventing and controlling soil mite infestations and other types of insect and pest infestations is to maintain a balanced eco-system in your garden or yard. Here are some tips:
Maintaining the Health of Your Lawn
Keeping your lawn regularly mowed and aerated prevents the soil below from getting excessive shade, moisture, or decaying plant material, making it less appealing to soil mites.
Cleaning and maintaining your garden
Keeping your backyard free of old organic matter is the best way to prevent or eliminate soil mites.
Mites feed on leaves, old clippings, branches, and dead plants, so get rid of any leaves, old clippings, branches, and dead plants to keep them at bay.
Don’t forget to clean out your gutters as well!
Use a compost bin to do so.
If you compost at home, you are likely to have soil mites. A closed compost bin will prevent soil mites from invading your entire garden, however, and control the soil mite population.
Don’t Overwater Your Plants
If you overwater your lawn or garden, the soil will become waterlogged, killing your plants and increasing the volume of decaying plant matter.
Aerate the lawn, reduce the clay content of your flower beds, or build a rain garden to help your garden drain better. Water only when the top layer of your soil is dry.
Insecticide
It is possible to kill soil mites and get rid of tiny white bugs in soil with an all-purpose insecticide, but this should only be a last resort because insecticides kill without discrimination and harm the environment.
Make a solution that uses 1 gallon of water and 5 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid. Spray this on the soil and affected plants every day until the soil mites are gone.
How To Get Rid Of Tiny White Bugs In Houseplant Soil
In indoor and outdoor potted plants, soil mites can be an unpleasant visitor. Learn how to deal with them.
Get Rid Of Old Potting Soil
You don’t need to completely repot the affected plant since white soil mites live in the top layer of soil. Discard the top 2 inches of soil completely.
Take care not to harm your plant’s roots, and remove all dead leaves and decaying organic matter.
Replace The Soil With Fresh Soil.
When repotting a plant, use the new, fresh potting mix to ensure that soil mites will not be present.
You may end up infesting your plants yourself if you use potting soil that has been exposed to soil mites.
Spray your plant
There is always a chance that you may have missed some of these mites because they are so small and their eggs are invisible. You can try a few eco-friendly insecticide spray recipes in this article.
Insecticide Spray Recipes That Are Eco-Friendly And Plant-Friendly
Making these sprays at home is easy, and they’re safe for people, animals, and the environment!
Just use dishwashing soap!
In a spray bottle, combine 5 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid with 1 gallon of water. The soil around your plant can be sprayed with this solution daily until the mites are gone.
Garlic
About 4-5 cloves of garlic should be crushed lightly and left in 1 gallon of water for 72 hours. Spray this mixture on the soil until the soil mites are gone. Garlic is not recommended for indoor use unless you love the smell!
Cinnamon
Combine 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with 4 cups of water. Pour it twice a week into the soil of the affected plant after leaving it for about 24 hours. Cinnamon oil can also be used.
What Is The Effect Of Cinnamon On Dirt Mites?
Using cinnamon to kill soil mites and their eggs is an excellent organic insecticide. Two times a week, spray the soil with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder (or a few drops of cinnamon oil).
Soil Bugs Are Tiny White Bugs Now That You Know What to Do!
With this article, I hope you better understand what soil mites are, their role in the environment, and what you can do to deal with an infestation.
Maintaining and cleaning your garden and gutters is the best way to control soil mites.
There are plenty of effective and eco-friendly ways to get rid of tiny white bugs in the soil if they get out of control since these are harmless and beneficial insects that feed on dead plant matter and compost.