I am new to caring for house plants and I have noticed a couple of my plants have what looks like white/yellow mold on the soil. I was looking closer at this 'mold' and saw very tiny bugs but I can't identify them. There seems to be no signs of bugs on the plants themselves.

Any ideas of they are or how to get rid of them?

Chae

hi chae welcome to the garden helper. the only two things i can think of are either spider mites or fungas gnat larva. if it is spider mites, you will eventually see them on the plants. soap water will kill them. if it is fungus gnats, you will see them flying soon enough. for those, after verification, i'd put aquarium peebles for "mulch" on the top of the soil.

now, remember, i am just an amature, and guessing. we do have others who are more experienced than i who will be around in the next few days. keep checking around, and i hope you enjoy it here as much as we do!

chae, i got rid of mine with one very thourough soaking/washing. but they were only on one plant (i bought the plant with them on it but couldn't resist the plant). the plant is fine and the infestation is gone. however, i isolated the affected plant until it was clear. plant is fine now.

I used Schultz insecticide on a Dieffenbachia 'Camille' and the spider mites were eliminated, but the effect on the existing leaves was traumatic. Someone in this forum (Will the guru) recomended using an insecticide soap on spider mites, but i didn't wait long enough before spraying to listen to his advice. So I think you are on the right track.

Most of the leaves yellowed slightly and curled up a bunch. the overall health of the plant was not affected though, as new growth is plentiful just one month later. I sprayed a heavy dose of the spray all over the plant, underside of leaves and everything.... If they are spider mites, you should see little webs around the joints of the leaves with their stems. and you will be able to see them just sitting there on the underside of the leaves if you look carefully enough.

my advice is to test a few leaves of the affected area with the soap spray that you want to use, before washing the whole plant. keep it isolated from your other plants, as Jiffy said, but those little buggers don't reproduce too fast (i don't think you absolutely HAVE to do something about it right away.... you could probably spare a few days for testing, right?)

and remember, the sap from the dieffenbachia is toxic, so wash your hands after handeling the leaves. (I didn't know that for 3 years with my camille....lucky i guess)

Hmmmm? Maybe springtails? Where is Will when you need him? I have seen a plant with lots of green tiny soil critter before and here's what I did! Since I was spraying the plant for scale at the time with alchol I also gave them a pretty good spray (alchol 2part to 10 part water) and the next week when I returned to the business to water there were no more green bugs!

I am under that understanding that if they are springtails then they are very much like fungus gnats and love wet organic matter! Let the top of the soil dry out between watering and alway use good quality potting soil.

The method that I use with fungus gnat is to cover the soil with a course sand. The gnats lay there larva in the soil and once the soil is covered the sand cuts up the larva before they can get to the surface and breaks the cycle!

Hope that this helps!

I really appreciate everyones help. In case you haven't notice I do have a bit of a bug fear.

The history of my aloe. I bought it last summer and found it had fungus gnates. They drove me cazy buzzing all over the place. So at the advice of a friend, I removed it from the pot and completely washed it off with mild soapy water, then repotted it in good quality cactus soil. I have had no trouble with it until now.

A few weeks ago I noticed what kind of looked like rainbow sprinkles (like on cakes) but a creamy white/yellow color. It was only a couple of small (size of a dime)patches on the soil and in between the aloe stem and the soil. Can you tell I am new to gardening yet? A friend told me that it was probably just mold so I scooped it out and assumed I had been over watering so I slowed down. Last night I was trying to get it to straighten, it always leans over. And as I did this I noticed the mold inbetween the stem and soil again. So I took a flash light and looked closer and saw a couple little bug that seemed to be black in color and fast, I couldn't get a good look.

I examined the plant today in good light and couldn't see any bugs on it or on the soil. I didn't notice any webbing. There were some healed over cuts on it but I can't be sure if they are new because it did have some when I bought it. I washed it off any way and removed it from any other plants.

Thanks again for the help, with my bug issues this is a big deal for me.

Chae

Read what Liz and Bug Lady have written. They know what they are talking about!

Spider mites do NOT live in the soil, so treating spider mites should not be under consideration.

I suspect the bug or bugs that you saw are harmless and do not require treatment. Your obsession with bugs has caused you to overlook the real problem, which is the mold.

The presenxce of mold suggests that your soil is contaminated with mold spores and that you may be keeping the soil too moist. Scrape off the mold whenever it appears, including a bit of the surrounding soil. Let the soil dry out more in between waterings.