Comments on: Springtails – Helpful? Harmful? No impact?

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 15:37:30 +0000

Hey Paul – we had an exchange about this I’m quite sure, but for the benefit of others, my suggestion is to A) make sure the castings have had ample time to sit (once all food sources exhausted the springtails should really drop in number), B) maybe try various food “lures” – eg melon slices laid over the surface should draw lots of them up – remove when coating and rinse off before putting back in the bin.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 07:07:08 +0000

Bentley, what do I do or rather how do I get rid of or do I need to remove springtails with harvesting?? Not sure I’d want to sell or give away castings with them in there.
TY

By: Rowin

Rowin — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 07:00:21 +0000

Hi all, very interesting to read all this. I have some worm hotels that have many springtale larvae. Usually it will be a worm hotel that is more wet. The composting does not seem to be harmed by it and the worms seem to be happy. Worms seem to join in groups in some parts and the larvae move around.

I posted a foto of a look at one of these wormhotels inside (seen through the window on the side). You can see the foto on my instagramm account here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrMpGpSFgJY/

By: Jules

Jules — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 17:50:04 +0000

Oh springtails, what a bugger…. I have found that they flock towards banana peels. I have 3 bins and occasionally I take a banana, separate the peel in 3 pieces and put one the top layer in each bin. After 24 hrs I remove the heavily infested peels and throw them out in the yard. Literally hundreds or thousands of these are taken out per session. They seem to multiply rather quickly. Hopefully this helps.

By: Terri

Terri — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 19:44:57 +0000

Hi all,
After I posted my questions here, I finished my research on springtails.
First, springtails are older then worms.
Second, most springtails are vegetarians or scavengers. Very few are carnivores.
Third, most earthworms in the U.S. and Canada are invasive species from Europe.
Fourth, no springtail that I came across is a parasite.

Springtails are a natural part of our ecosystem. They aren’t harmful. Even those that are predatory eat nematodes, not larger worms.

Terri

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 17 May 2015 21:08:21 +0000

I have been composting for about a year now and I don’t even worry about Springtails anymore. My original concern was that they were bothering my worms but they’re not they’re just sharing the worms food. I’m with you Bentley, I too think they are a helpful member of the compost ecosystem. I don’t think they interfere with the quality of the end produce, the castings.

By: Katy

Katy — Tue, 12 May 2015 18:26:45 +0000

Bentley,

I built my own worm farm. I have approximately 45-50 bins that have 1 – 2 lbs of worms in each of them. I recently noticed some of my oldest bins are starting to have springtails in them. My concern is they are attack what seems to be my weaker worms & also can they cause harm to humans? I would hate to be infested with them. It also says here at the link: http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2009/11/whats-in-your-worm-bin.html They come around when the compost is nearly ready or done if you will. Just want to make sure they wont harm me or my worms.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Mon, 11 May 2015 16:53:17 +0000

Hi Terri
It’s all a bit of a blur now (lol) but I know there were definitely updates after this one. The long and the short of it is that I still consider springtails to be a helpful member of compost ecosystem (whether worms are involved or not).

By: Terri

Terri — Fri, 08 May 2015 00:03:14 +0000

Hi there,

I’m doing a horticulture course, and I need to do a small paper on a soil organism. I was searching for information on springtails, and came across this page.
I already know that there are few earth worms native to the pacific northwest, which is where I am from. Most of what we have here were introduced with the early settlers. Springtails, however, are native, so I thought I’d look into them.
I’m curious, how did the experiment go? I don’t see any follow up after 2014.
Thanks, Terri

By: Stephen Pennlowe

Stephen Pennlowe — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 21:11:16 +0000

Before I forget, all of the food scraps are processed in a blender, less the egg shell power, after which the firm liquid food sits in covered plastic containers. Egg shell powder is mixed in to each container with the lid slightly open to aid in decomposition. The food is ready for use when an odor develops.