Springtails

Anyone else have them in their soil? They are a common resident in worm bins, and as a result have ended up in my soil. The adults don't seem to bother with the plants. Not sure if the larvae pose any risk to the roots? I've read conflicting reports.

Any thoughts?

springtails are beneficial, but i don't like them. a couple doses of h2o2 gets rid of them, but you'll have to re-apply any bennies.

Diatomacious earth? Its also loaded with silica so win win. Spread around the base of the plants. As far as i know can also be used for aphids and other pests. Use it for our chickens for red mite

My understanding is, if they have space and there's nothing going on with your roots, they're not a problem. They eat decaying matter and provide aeration and beneficial waste. If you have a large infestation in a small pot and root rot or something, they can turn their attention to the dying roots and be problematic. I know I have them in my compost/soil outside. No problems from them that I know of.

Thanks for the replies.

I'm gonna just keep an eye on them for now. I think they belong in a healthy soil food web, and there's plenty of organic goodies in my soil for them to munch on, so hopefully they leave the roots alone.

I use spring tails for my vivarium, thry clean out excessive frog waste and dead matter. Benefical

I had spring tails in my soil, not sure where they went, but I don't see much of them anymore. I always considered them beneficial. The amount of bugs in my soil is staggering lol.

I see them in my soil now and then. They've never caused a problem and usually move on/die off after a week or so.

The great majority are not harmful and they are very common. People usually can't see them or don't notice because most of them 'jump'. I'd still recommend predators like Hypoaspis, they'll eat collembola and most other little soil-dwelling pests, so they'll control the springtails as well as fungus gnats, root aphids, oribatid mites, etc.

The other benefits to having them are that they spread microbes around, shred organic matter, aerate the soil surface and of course their waste is beneficial.