5 Methods to Free Your Garden of Soil Mites
Soil mites are very tiny just millimeters long, these mites are considered arthropods, soil mites have an exoskeleton and a segmented body, and their eight legs appear from the segments. Soil mites are foragers, their diet consists of organic matter found in garden soil, compost pile, leaf litter, and potted plants. The positive side of soil mites is that they help decompose broken-down organic matter into nutrients that benefit plant life.
If that is the case then why would you want to get rid of these mites that have a beneficial side, well despite this fact about soil mites some people believe that soil mites are a pest to garden plants, and their presence encourages poor soil condition and excessive or overwatering increase soil mite population where some species of these mites may use the roots of plants as a food source causing the plant’s health to decline.
Soil Mite Identification
Soil mites are tiny insects measuring between 0.2 and 1.5mm, their colors vary from white, to red, brown, and black. These insects have six legs, if your garden soil is dry soil mites might be seen crawling around on the soil’s surface.
What causes Soil Mites
Soil mite’s presence is encouraged by soils that are rich in organic matter, damp, warm lacking natural predators, and soils that are un-compressed.
How to Treat Soil Mites
If you discover that you have soil mites here is what you need to do not to completely get rid of them but to reduce their population to ensure your plants continue to grow healthy.
- Manage the amount of water your garden plants are receiving, allow the top few inches of soil to dry between watering.
- Improve your soil drainage by adding coarse sand or perlite to the potting mix, perlite greatly improves drainage and aeration reducing mite population.
- When repotting plants in fresh soil ensure that the plant’s roots are thoroughly cleaned will help to eliminate existing soil mites.
- Neem oil can be applied, simply mix 1 teaspoon neem oil with 1-quart water, apply the spray solution on the soil’s surface, and directly on the plant’s leaves. This will assist in disrupting the soil mite life cycle.
- Apply diatomaceous earth on the soil surface by sprinkling, diatomaceous earth will kill soil mites by causing dehydration.
- Diatomaceous earth must be reapplied after irrigation or rainfall.
How to Prevent Soil Mites
Taking precautionary steps can help to control soil mite population.
- Before bringing plants home and installing them they should be inspected first.
- Reduce the amount of organic matter your garden is receiving by the removal of debris and fallen leaves from around your plants.
- When potting container plants whether in or outdoors use fresh sterilized soil.
- Be careful not to overwater your plants.
- Soilness mix is a great solution that will discourage soil mites because these mixes do not contain as much decomposing organic material which soil mites use as a food source. Soilness mixture’s that contain coco coir, peat moss
Conclusion
Soil mites are not necessarily bad, they make a major contribution to soil and the health of garden plants issues only arise if there is a buildup or a great amount that can have a negative impact on plant life. Following this guide will help you to have success as you control the number of soil mites that inhabit your garden soil.
