a swarm tiny flying bugs in garden soil purchased from store

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uglymotherpluck st Thomas, Virgin Islands (USA) Mar 27, 2013

I opened a new bag of garden soil and there were these tiny flying bugs swarming out and when I planted seeds day after day they kept on comming- I zapped them as much as I could and sprayed the soapy water w/ hydrogen peroxide to no avail- had to put the plants outside. I looked at one under a microscope and it has pincers on its butt- very scary looking! can't get a pic -too small- they seem like no-see-ums. Any advice?

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JoParrott Richland, WA(Zone 7b) Mar 27, 2013

Sounds like Earwigs to me- Take the bag back to the store- FAST!

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Mar 28, 2013

Earwigs are attracted to moisture. Sounds like they migrated to damp potting soil. They can be beneficial, but they are omnivores, so they will munch on plants. Their redeeming quality is that they eat cockroaches. I would return the soil also. A few here and about are no real problem, but sounds like you brought home a whole colony of them.

http://www.commonpests.com/how-to-get-rid-of-earwigs

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1lisac Liberty Hill, TX(Zone 8a) Mar 30, 2013

Sounds like it could be fungus knats. I don't know if they have pinchers but I didn't know earwigs could fly.

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uglymotherpluck st Thomas, Virgin Islands (USA) Apr 03, 2013

Thanks for the advice I think they are fungus gnats cause earwigs ( baby) can't fly and I looked up photos of the fungus gnat and it looks a lot like what I saw. I also looked up how to get rid of them naturally.

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1lisac Liberty Hill, TX(Zone 8a) Apr 03, 2013

The larva of the fungal gnats are almost microscopic and live in the soil but they will feed on the roots of your plants. Their lifecycle is so fast I don't see how you possibly get rid of all of them and they will stunt your plants. I would take the stuff back. Once you get them around your plants and soil you may never get rid of them. Especially since they flew out of the garden soil.

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uglymotherpluck st Thomas, Virgin Islands (USA) Nov 28, 2014

I waited too long to take it back and now -infestation! I've been putting diatomaceous earth on the soil and I think it has really cut down on the numbers but a few still flying around- guess I have to reapply it.

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