Based on my experience, most tiny silver bugs in houseplant soil are springtails, root aphids, root mealybugs, soil mites, isopods or even silverfish. If you are shocked by a hundred tiny silver bugs in your potted soil and are searching for a way to get rid of them, I’m here to help you. My academic major is plant protection, I work as a horticultural consultant. In this post, I want to answer the frequent questions people often ask me about silver bugs in soil.
One morning, when I was watering my beautiful Monstera plant many years ago, I saw tiny white bugs huddled together in the soil! Unlike you, I was surprised because, at that time, I was a student of Agriculture science (the field of Plant Protection) at the university and seeking various plant pests. I’ve started to search for them to increase my knowledge. keep reading to tell you all the things you should know about them.
What Are Silver Bugs in Soil?
The silver tiny bugs in houseplant soil are often one of the below culprits. please note that the numbers 1-3 are more often in the soil and 4 and 5 are more common on your indoor plant and rare in the soil. The number 6 (the silverfish in plant soil) is indeed a small silver bug not tiny.
- Springtails
- Isopods (Pill Bug)
- Mealy Bugs
- Thrips
- Spider Mites (Mite Silver Bug)
- Silverfish
They are 6 of the common tiny bugs on houseplants. Some of them are trouble Pests for plants but others may be beneficial. If you think they are strange, don’t worry. We will get more familiar with them in the following if you keep reading. Here, I’m ready to help you to:
- Identify these silver bugs in your houseplant soil by speaking about their appearance and behaviour through clear and expressive pictures.
- Show you the best easy ways to get rid of them.
Please note that I’m walking with you through this way and you can ask me your questions. So, if you are ready, let’s get going to spot and identify these tiny culprits for drawing a sound plan for eradication. (Grab your magnifying glass, too).
Reference Guide of Tiny Silver Bugs in Houseplant Soil to Troubleshoot and Find a Quick Solution.
If you are busy and don’t have time to read this article, please check out the following infographic for a quick solution. However, please notice you have to identify the small silver bugs in the soil first, before getting rid of them.
Hence, if you have any problem identifying these tiny bugs, you can take a close-up picture and send me. I do it and then inform you about the identity of your annoying guests.
OK! Don’t worry about anything. let’s get going.
The First Step: Who Are These Tiny Silver Bugs in My Houseplant Soil?
As mentioned earlier, the 6 groups of silver bugs in the soil may be your annoying guests. I know you want to get rid of them quickly but to succeed, the first step is identifying these tiny bugs.
Hence, we must speak about their appearance and behaviour. Trust me! I never explain them tediously long as my professor of entomology! Please keep reading, grab your magnifying glass and let’s get going.
It is hard to spot some of these tiny bugs in the soil of your indoor plants with the naked eye. Hence, you will need a magnifying glass.
1- Springtails in Houseplant Soil:
The colour of springtails: may vary from brown-black to grey-silver or even white.
The body shape: they have long spring-like legs, long antennae and segregated shells along their body (look at the picture).
The behaviour of springtails: they behave like fleas and love to jump quickly, especially when they feel threatened. Hence you may think they can disappear suddenly. They can jump up with their spring-like legs which helps them to do it nearly 20 times their size.
Springtails eat from mould, bacteria and decomposed organic matter. They love moist environments; hence their favourite hangout is the soil of your houseplant.
The symptoms of an infested plant: after watering you may see a lot of springtails that are crawling (jumping and dancing!) on the surface of the moist soil of your indoor plant. Don’t worry, they are not only harmless but are also beneficial for your plant.
They eat from decayed substances and moulds and provide useable nutrients for your houseplant. In addition, they can help you to eradicate moulds in hummed environments.
In some countries, springtails are fostered for the Terrariums. So, they are your friends and try to be kind to them.
2- Tiny Isopods (Pill Bugs) in Houseplant Soil:
The colour of the Isopods: they are usually, grey, silver or brown.
The body shape: these small silver bugs in soil have a flat segmented body with 7 pairs of legs. So, you will find them with an ancient look. To see their legs, you have to turn them onto their back (hurry up! When you turn them onto their back, they’ll quickly curl into a ball). Read ” Isopods in houseplant soil“.
The symptoms of infested plants: it is rare to see them on the leaves or stems of your indoor plants because your houseplants are of no interest to pill bugs. Against their harsh appearance, they are not only harmless but are also useful for your houseplant. Hence don’t fear them, they are kind insects.
The behaviour of the pill bugs (Isopods): you can find them around in the soil of your indoor plant while are crawling. They aid your plant growth by:
- Digging the soil. it will help more aerate which aids roots to gain more oxygen.
- Providing usable nutrients for growing your houseplant by decaying the organic matter of the soil.
3- Tiny Mealy Bugs in Houseplant Soil:
The colour of Mealy bugs: They are white bugs in the soil and on plants that sometimes may be considered as little silver bugs in the soil.
The body shape: they are oval-shaped scaly bugs with tiny legs that are protruded out. They look like ancient bugs.
The behaviour of the mealy bugs: they love to congregate around the stems and roots or hang out on the back of the leaves to suck out the sap and all nutrient of your indoor plant.
Mealybugs produce a white fluffy cover on the plant’s foliage or roots in the soil to protect their eggs. These tiny silver bugs in houseplant soil also exude a sticky substance behind the leaves that attracts ants and moulds to your houseplant. Read my article about “Root Mealybugs” to gain more detail about these white bugs in soil.
The symptoms of infested plants: From afar, first you may think your houseplant is infested with white mould. It looks like someone spread talcum powder on it. But if you spot closer you can see hundreds of Mealy bugs congregating around the stem or hanging out behind the leaves.
The leaves of your infested houseplant are wilt and yellow with a sticky substance behind them. Finally, the leaves will fall off. You may see a line of ants that are going up off the stems. They are going to eat the sticky matter behind the leaves. Ants and Mealy bugs are close friends!
4- Thrips on Houseplants:
The colour of Thrips on houseplants: is dependent on the stage of their life cycle. Hence you may see them from Silver, grey, black to cream, and translucent brown.
The body shape: they are long, thin insects with short antennae. You may see them with or without wings.
The behaviour of the Thrips: However, they spend a part of their life in the soil but they usually love to hang out on or under the leaves of your house plant and even into the followers. You often will find them inside their colony on your indoor plant.
Because they are very tiny, you will notice their damage on your indoor plant leaves first. But if you look close enough, you can see them to the naked eye while they are crawling.
The symptoms of an infested plant: you can easily identify the damage of thrips on the leaves of your houseplant. The leaves seem lifeless and inert. It is to be expected because thrips dig holes into the leaves and suck out the sap of your indoor plant. When thrips cause extensive damage to your houseplant, you will see a silvery sheen on the leaves.
people often ask me “What are the ways thrips come into my house?” and ” Can Thrips bite my pet or me?” I discussed them in my other posts and you can find the answers there.
5- Tiny Spider Mite Bugs in Houseplant Soil (Mite Silver Bug)
The colour of the spider mites: they are silver or white or even red or brown.
The body shape of mite silver bug: they are very tiny spiders. Just this! (We are not passing the entomology course; we want just you can identify them.)
The behaviour of the Spider mites: however, they may spend time inside the soil in the cold weather but you often find them on the leaves and stems of your houseplant. They suck out the sap of the plant and if you don’t control them, they will spread quickly and kill your indoor plants. Please keep your eyes on them.
The symptoms of an infested plant: it is hard to see the spider mites on your indoor plant, it looks like hundreds of white dots spread on it. Turn leaves behind, you can see white web-like cocoons that insects live inside them.
In an extensive attack, the green leaves of your houseplant turn brown and tawny. They will become fragile with tears between veins. Finally, the leaves will fall off.
If you are worried about biting with plant mite silver bugs, I discussed it in one of my posts.
6- Silverfish Bugs in Houseplant Soil
I mention them here just because you usually ask me about them, Although, silverfishes are small silver bugs in the soil, they don’t common tiny silver bugs in houseplant soils. Hence you can jump over this part.
The colour of the silverfishes: they are Silver to light grey with a metallic shine.
The body shape: they have a flat oval body with soft scales (look like a fish). They are not tiny against the above bugs and are 13 to 25 mm long.
The symptom of an infested plant: indeed, no things. You can find them inside your house especially around the kitchen and bathroom (everywhere that is moist and humid). Hence if you leave your house plant, they may hit it however it is rare.
The behaviour of the silverfish in soil: they love moist environments and eat fabrics, wood, paper, clothing, vegetables, and about anything. They are harmful to your house but not very dangerous for your houseplants.
The Second Step: Get Rid of the Tiny Silver Bugs in the Soil of your Houseplant
If you identifyed the tiny silver bugs in the soil of your indoor plant, now, it is your turn to do the best practice for getting rid of your annoying guests. Let’s get going to turn our attention to the eradication of silver bugs in soil.
Because every tiny bug has its unique behaviour, you have to choose its specific remedy. Hence, we will present separate treatments for every bug.
Get Ris of Tiny Springtail Bugs in Houseplant Soil:
As mentioned earlier, they are our friends! However, if you want to dislodge them from your houseplant soil, you must:
💡 keep the topsoil of your plant as dry as possible. Because they love moist environments, you will get rid of springtails in the soil of your indoor plant. Very easy.
For this purpose, we suggest you get help from the bottom watering methods to improve the healthy root system of your house plant and get away springtails.
Get Rid of Tiny Isopods (Pill Bugs) in Houseplant Soil:
As mentioned earlier, Isopods are beneficial little silver bugs in soil. However, if you think they have to leave the soil of your houseplant, it is easy.
💡 You must spread Diatomaceous Earth on the surface of the soil. You can buy it from supermarkets.
➡ Notice to buy a “Food Grade” type, it is appropriate for horticulture. Avoid buying the usual types that are usually used as a filter of pools.
Before Applying them you must:
- Use an appropriate mask during the spreading of Diatomaceous Earth.
- Get children and pets away from there while spreading it. This powder can be harmful to their breathing. However, when Diatomaceous Earth settles on the soil, it is safe.
If there are only a few numbers of Isopods in the soil of your indoor plans, you can pick these silver bugs in the soil out by hand and place them on the soil of your outdoor garden.
Get Rid of Mealy Bugs on Roots (White Bugs in Soil):
Let’s get going to dislodge another invader on our houseplant through four ways. They are trouble pests for your indoor plant. you may find them on foliage to roots.
- Wetting cotton into alcohol (isopropanol 70%) and rubbing it on each mealy bug. However, it is an efficient policy but it would be tedious in an expensive infestation.
- In a large infestation, spray your indoor plant with a horticultural soap (pesticide soap). You can buy it from a supermarket or make your pesticide soap yourself at home.
- Notice to spray all of the houseplants, especially the behind of leaves.
- Check the stem and leaf nodes and seek the hidden pests.
Warning: cover the surface of the soil with nylon to prevent penetrating the insecticide soap into the soil. It may cause root poisoning.
- The other way is Spraying the colonies of mealy bugs with natural insecticides such as Neem oil. Neem oil is extracted from the neem tree and has pesticide and fungicide effects. if you want to find more homemade remedies for natural control of Mealybugs on indoor plants, I especially discussed it in one of my posts. you can read it too.
- Finally, you can get help from chemical control methods. Malathion and Confidor are perfect for contorting the mealy bugs in houseplants that are outdoors.
➡ Please take note of the following tips:
- Again, I recommend using pesticides for houseplants that are outdoors. They are toxic for humans and animals.
- Read and notice the guidelines of every pesticide, you must use every pesticide in its specific dose or even at specific times (for example in the morning or afternoon).
- Some pesticides may cause phytotoxicity on special plants, hence read their brochures or confer with a plant pathologist.
I discussed how to get rid of Mealybugs on houseplants, especially in a specific post. You can also read it to gain more pro tips.
Thrips: Tiny Silver Bugs on Houseplant
As mentioned earlier, thrips are very dangerous for your houseplant, hence when you spot them, you should get rid of these silver bugs as soon as possible. The following guidelines will help you in this issue:
Natural treatments to get rid of Thrips on houseplants:
- Take out your indoor plant.
- Wash your houseplant by spraying it with water or a “horticultural soap”. You can buy a “horticultural soap” from a supermarket or make it in your house. There are several tips about production and using it, please click here to know more.
- Use a good pressurized spray. We suggest a medium setting.
- Make sure you wash the whole plant, especially the behind of the leaves.
- Check the stem and leaf nodes. Some thrips may hide in clefts.
- Repeat the above process each week.
- You can use blue and yellow sticky cards too.
Chemical treatments to get rid of Thrips on houseplants:
I prefer to suggest healthy treatments for controlling the hostplant’s pests, however, if you insist on performing the chemical ways (pesticides), you can use Spinosad, Cyfluthrin, acetamiprid, Deltamethrin, Imidacloprid, and lambda-cyhalothrin to control thrips.
Please read again the tips that are mentioned for using chemical pesticides on mealy bugs.
💡 As I told you before, Monstra is one of my favourite indoor plants, hence I especially consider the Thrips on Mostra in another post. I recommend reading it to gain other pro tips.
Get Rid of Tiny Spider Mite Bugs in Houseplant Soil (Mite Silver Bug):
They are another serious pest of your houseplant. Try to get rid of them as soon as possible. My natural suggested remedy is like the treatment for Thrips (please see above).
Silverfish in Soil: Silver Bugs in the House
I hate them:-? ! They love dark moist environments, I strongly suggest you spread the Food grade Diatomaceous Earth on top of the soil. It can easily kill silverfish in soil without any harm to your family and your houseplant.
Conclusion
Now you are familiar with the tiny silver bugs in the soil of your houseplant. They may be springtails, isopods (pill bugs), mealy bugs, Thrips, spider mites or silverfish.
We helped you to identify and get rid of them easily. As mentioned earlier, if you have any problem identifying or controlling these bugs, I’m ready to help you. Please ask your question at the bottom, or send your picture to my email ([email protected]). I will answer them as soon as possible.
Have you ever had any unique experience with getting rid of the tiny silver bugs in the soil of your house plant? Do you think my suggested remedies can work well? Did you see a new bug that I didn’t mention above? Please share your experience and ideas with my readers and me at the bottom. Thank you!
Elahe Rabiei
Hi, I’m Elaheh. My Academic major is plant protection, and houseplants are my expertise. As a houseplant lover, my house is full of indoor plants and it is my passion to take care of them. Hence, I’m here to share my knowledge and experience about growing healthy houseplants. I am also a plant protection advisor, so feel free to ask me any questions you may have.