What are these bugs?

8 years ago

Hello there,

I’ve been notincing some bugs in the soil of my Orange tree. Anyone know what they are? They are super tiny and seem to stay exclusively in the soil. I don’t see any crawling on the leaves or any webbing anywhere. Some new leaves seem a bit stressed (IMO) and there’s one yellow leaf (at least a year old) on the plant. I water about once a week to ten days or when my moisture meter reads between 2 and 3.

The tree is in 5-1-1 mix, but I am wondering if I should have rinsed the potting soil it came with out of the roots when I potted it up last spring because it seems to be staying moist for too long. I’ve been debating on repotting into gritty mix, but the tree has some flower buds that haven’t opened so I’m not sure if now is the best time.

Link to video:

https://youtu.be/d7GZ0cR3rrc

New Leaves:

Featured Answer

sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

May is fine, it can bounce back better from transplant shock in warm weather. After repotting keep it away from windy conditions, give it lots of sun, water as needed and don't feed right after repotting.

One correction: right after repotting you have to keep it in shaded area for few days to settle in the new pot, don't let it dry.

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Comments (8)

johnmerr
8 years ago
Probably fungus gnats or springtails; both are signs of too wet soil; but neither is particularly harmful to citrus.
adri16579
Original Author
8 years ago
That sounds consistent with what I’ve been wondering/worrying about. Should I let the soil get completely bone dry (even if it takes close to two weeks) between waterings? Or will this be too stressful for the tree?

Do you suppose I can wait to repot until closer to April/May?
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sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)
8 years ago
Completely bone dry will kill your tree. Don't go from one extreme to the other, I usually go by the weight of the pot and the top couple inches of soil being dry. As I understand from your post, your tree is growing in two types of growing media. You should have it in one uniform type of soil throughout the container. I would wait for repotting.
adri16579
Original Author
8 years ago
Okay thank you. I’ve been trying to find a moisture balance that is good for the tree but not inviting for pests. I think having two growing media is my main issue. (Facepalm) I was trying so hard not to disturb the roots when I first potted it and I had no idea rinsing the old growing media was even an option at the time. Live and learn, I suppose!

For repotting- is there a best time/worst time? Or just wait until it isn’t in an active growth phase? My plan is to try to wait until I can do the work outside. That will probably be late April-May where I live (Minnesota).

My tree would definitely be dead without people on this forum! Thanks again.
adri16579
Original Author
8 years ago
Sorry for the late reply, I’m just seeing this. Thank you for the help. The idea of removing all of the potting soil is unnerving for me, but I think it will really help keep the moisture level more even to just have one potting medium in there. Now I just have to wait patiently for warmer weather.

The main idea is to rinse the old soil out while not allowing the roots to dry out at any point during the process, right? (I have a more detailed tutorial bookmarked that seems pretty solid)
eSilviu
8 years ago
I would say that the bugs are hypoaspis miles. Search youtube and compare with what you have. If so, they are goid bugs, eating fungus gnats larvae.

I have tried at first to get rid of this mites, but then I have seed them on all my pots...
adri16579
Original Author
8 years ago
I think that is a possibility! Some look like springtails (they are tiny and jump). Others are tiny and just crawl. The ones in the videos I just watched look like they are tiny and white. Some of mine match that but others look tiny and brownish.

I have had a problem with a few fungus gnats in the past, but they seem to be gone now. Well, at least the adults appear to be gone.

The tree seems to just continue doing it’s thing, so I’m inclined to agree that the bugs are probably harmless. It would be great if they are helpful.