Root aphid or soil mite
Finally managed to take a picture of it under magnifying glass, can someone please help me identify those ?
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@Alinaa so it is not dangerous? Should I do sth with it, I have lots of them in my calathea white fusion, crawling all over edges of the pots, sometimes appears on the bases of the leaves, the most visible after watering
Does it not look like root aphids? As I started comparing to the pictures online and freaked out
Does it not look like root aphids? As I started comparing to the pictures online and freaked out
If the stratiolaelaps or soil mites it’s not harmful, they can eat little pest organisms in the soil. Mine hang around a long time in humidity.
I don’t think it looks like root aphids, but it’s pretty hard to make out what is in the picture cause it’s blurry. The front part of it just reminds me more of the mite than the aphid. You need to try to compare the leg placement and body texture to ID it. Are you having symptoms of the plant showing damage/upset?
It’s probably wise to take the plant out of the pot and take a look what is going on in the soil, you may get a better sense what’s in there. Soil pests are a pain to deal with, and I’m not sure what kills root aphids unfortunately. I had root mealies a while ago and had good results soaking in purecrop1, and other methods didn’t fully work.
I don’t think it looks like root aphids, but it’s pretty hard to make out what is in the picture cause it’s blurry. The front part of it just reminds me more of the mite than the aphid. You need to try to compare the leg placement and body texture to ID it. Are you having symptoms of the plant showing damage/upset?
It’s probably wise to take the plant out of the pot and take a look what is going on in the soil, you may get a better sense what’s in there. Soil pests are a pain to deal with, and I’m not sure what kills root aphids unfortunately. I had root mealies a while ago and had good results soaking in purecrop1, and other methods didn’t fully work.
@Alinaa I managed to do more close up, idk if it helps, as they are moving quickly iy is not possible to take a better one, the plant seems to growing a lot of new healthy leaves, so I would say no. As I would assume that with aphids they would be damaged ?
@aprel_studio it really looks like the mites to me and they move pretty quick! I never see them sitting around.
If it is a bad pest they will be eating the roots and you should see the plant stop new growth and then starting having more serious symptoms like yellowing.
If it is a bad pest they will be eating the roots and you should see the plant stop new growth and then starting having more serious symptoms like yellowing.
@Alinaa okay thanks, yeah it does look really similar to me as well, but do you see them sometimes crawling on the leaves as well?
@aprel_studio they can if they are hungry, there’s high humidity, or they’re trying to get out of being waterlogged.
@Alinaa okay thank you, it does make sense seeing them out during watering then