Bugs In My Geranium Planter

[JazzLady]

I<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='font-family:Arial'><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'> have a hanging basket of geraniums on my screened in patio which recently has small bugs emerge from the earth when I water. they are not there when the earth is dry and don't climb up the plant, just crawl around the soil. They are small, sort of eliptical and seem to have no head or tail . Anyone know what they are and how to get rid of them? will they eventually harm the geraniums?</span></span></span>

[MaryG]

Welcome.

They sound like woodbugs or sowbugs. They can eventually harm the plant. You could get a spray from the garden centre but if you want an organic solution try this:

Put down something on top of the soil like say some squares of newspaper. The bugs will crawl under the paper for protection (they don't like the light). Lift the papers every so often and pick up the bugs with your fingers and squish them or drop them in a container of water. Wear rubber gloves if you're squeamish.

[TransplantShock]

If you have access to wood ashes, mix a bit with water and water the bugs...should do the trick (works for cabage worms, aphids and beatles too...)

[lord_fungi]

I suggest you leave a bug spray on the plants to stop them from eating away at the plants that always help when looking after plants seriously....

[MrSeedy]

There are any number of bugs that live in soils in container, and the most frequent are thrips , fungus gnats, and as mentioned sow bugs sometimes, though the sow bugs are the bigger of the group and have overlapping scales or segments that are easy to see. The other two are very tiny, but the fungus gnats do grow into flying insects and most often will fly away from the plants when disturbed. I guess however after some research , that the thrips are usually not in the soil but usually on the above ground protions of the plants. At any rate they can do the most damage to young seedlings and very small plants, when they're more fragile.