I guess the thing that worries me most about their presence - and that of ANY bug in the pot - is
that they are a potential indicator of problems happening in the medium.

Clean, fresh medium does not support extraneous wildlife like one that's older and has begun to
break down.

If the fact that the medium is "going south" doesn't concern you, consider other ramifications: I'm
not suggesting that springtail larvae are a problem, I don't have the knowledge one way or another
on that, but if we look at fungus gnats as an example, you can see where I'm going with this: the
gnats themselves are nothing more than a nuisance, and letting the pot dry out more between
waterings (not always acceptable from the plant's perspective) does control them to a certain
degree. BUT...their larvae - the creatures living mostly off of the fungus growing in the
decomposing medium - have a remarkable tendency to eat roots, too.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!

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"Tom Randy" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 17:29:37 +0000, GaWd wrote:

Sounds like a Springtail.


Yup and they do no harm to plants, same with soil mites. Both feed on the
organic matter in the potting mix. I'll bet nearly everyone has them.
Noticable most of the time when watering. Letting the soil dry out a bit
helps a lot.