Tiny little insects in my plant soil.?

Question

I have 3 identical house plants which I bought a couple of weeks ago. I just lifted the pots up from the trays to water them and found miniscule white insects that looked like skinny maggots but much smaller... maybe 1mm in legth.

Does anyone know what they are and whether this is normal?

Answer 1

Do you also have tiny little flying insects around your plants? What you are describing sound like fungus gnat larvea to me. They are most common in pots that are kept too wet, but can occur anyway.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2114.html

Answer 2

These sound like sciarid fly.

If you find on the surface of the soil what look like the mucus from a slug and by moving the surface of the soil you see the skinny maggots, you have got this dreaded green house pest.

You need to get a soil baised compost with extra grit or shap sand, wash all the compost off your plants and repot into the soil baised compost, these pests do not like a free draining compost.

Answer 3

These are young vine weevil larvae which are nasty little creatures that will chomp their way through your plant roots causing enormous damage and in most cases death of the plant.

You can control them with a chemical that you water onto the soil - Provado Vine Weevil Killer 2.

It is unlikely that there are any adults on the plant but look out for them in the early evening, they look like long dark dusty beetles and will eat the edges of the leaves.

This link will take you to the RHS advice Page for vine weevil.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/vineweevil.asp

Answer 4

your in trouble,take them out of pots and throw all the soil away,get new compost shake away all remaining soil on plants and wash in cool water the roots of all the plants,wash containers and replant.there little bugs that eat the roots,do no end of damage

Answer 5

they are called gnats , they live off the fresh soil and dead roots of household plants, If you dry your plants for a week , or if you put them outside in the morning sun to dry out quicker ,the gnats will leave

Answer 6

It cant be much good whatever it is..get them out. Watch out for insects that look like baby grasshoppers

Answer 7

I think the guys who are saying fungus gnats/ sclarid fly are correct.

Answer 8

Sound like ant eggs.