white worms in soil.

[trainspotting]

Hello everyone,
I was picking the moss out from around my vft when i noticed small white worms crawling through the soil. I took some pictures, does anyone know what they are, and if they are bad for the plants?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[glider14]

look like fungus gnat larva or maggots...probably the first. they arent harmfull unless your VFTs are babies. they are good food for Bladderworts
Alex

 

[Wesley]

Most likely gnat larva. They make exquisite bladderwort, sundew, and butterwort meals. And as noted, they don't cause harm unless you don't like the things messing up your pretty moss and the plants are really young.

 

[trainspotting]

Thanks guys, thats reassuring that they aren't messing anything up.

 

[Not a Number]

Many people consider fungus gnats to be harmless but the larvae are known to feed on roots hairs thus stunting growth.

See University of California Integrated Pest Managment Online and Minnesota Department of Agriculture website (among dozens) for information on these pests.

 

[joossa]

They might be harmless, but if your plant is in a small pot and/or if you have some extra growing medium, why not repot? Dormancy is coming to an end so a repotting would be perfect now…

 

[cockroach]

I had an outbreak of fungus gnats in one of my pots last summer. Though harmless, I found the little buggers zooming all over the place pretty annoying. Strategically placed sundews took care of the problem. Now I'm kinda hoping they come back, because they made my dews so happy.

 

[tommyr]

Fungus gnats SUCK, I've had them all winter. Pain in the butt. Sticky traps and BT take care of them.

Tom

 

[z5guy]

i agree with not a number, there not "harmless" they might not have bothered your plants in any visble way, but they eat roots and there fly form can go and lay eggs in your other pots. There fav. breeding spot is in algae and moss. Sticky cards are useful but are far from "takeing care of them". But if they dont seem to be bothering the plants then thats fine, but you need to keep an eye on the populations and make sure they dont spread to more vunerable plants or decide to start chewing your plants roots.