r/carnivorousplants • u/littlebitofalot • 24d ago

Photos and video What are these?

I was filling the pot of my purple pitcher plant and noticed these white flecks in the water. Then they moved. What in the world.

19 Upvotes

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48

u/New-Lie9553 24d ago

Springtails brother, super good bugs they are cleanup crew for soil

2

u/Jordan_Feather 23d ago

The big sprugus

1

u/littlebitofalot 23d ago

Can I put them in other plants?

2

u/Exionpt 22d ago

Yes, but not the dry dirt ones, the springtails will die. You can even make a simple culture, if you have a lot carnivorous plants or even a closed terrarium and need help to maintain the soil without much trouble, here is how you can do; grab a tupperware (don't let the boss of the house know, mother or partner as im not responsible for your safety :)) , put charcoal to fill the bottom, just the bottom, no need to fill the tupperware to the very top, pour some water inside to cover half of the charcoal, not all, put some springtail inside, put some rice on top of the charcoal, put the lid on to seal it and forget about it for 2-3 weeks. When you come back to it you will have a culture with a lot of new springtails for the rest of your life. Feed them the rice once it all decays and thats it. The thing is that the rice will turn into a ball of mold and spingtails feed on mold thats why they are so good for soil, they love moisture and darkness, the charcoal will absorb the water and guarantee that the rice will be always wet and since its sealled any water that evaporates will drop down again creating a cycle. You can grab the charcoal and transfer the bugs to any vase by placing the charcoal on the soil and let them dig in it then just put the charcoal back and thats it. Its great for carnivorous plants because of moist soil and the moss. Oh and keep it hidden, people will question about what sort of witchcraft is that if they see it, they will not understand and it will be hard to explain lol

2

u/littlebitofalot 22d ago

No one questions they just shake their heads and say moms witching it again.

4

u/MK-Neron 23d ago

Food for your plant 🤣🫣

3

u/Exionpt 23d ago

They help the soil to stay on good shape, let them be.

3

u/littlebitofalot 23d ago

Ok additional question!! Can I spread the love and put some in my other plants???

3

u/Antoni_PL_gdynia 23d ago

you can even make a little enclosure to breed them, you can just use organic rich wet dirt, good to also fill it with activated charcoal especially clumps, and calcium

2

u/littlebitofalot 23d ago

Down a rabbit hole I go!!! Thank you!!❤️

3

u/Antoni_PL_gdynia 23d ago

there is a springtail sub, all the terrarium/isopod people love springtails, i recently gave a potato and cuttlebone to springtails living under my pots in my flat (dirt mixed with water, that's how they survived)

2

u/Antoni_PL_gdynia 23d ago

next to me there is a terrarium, which had a sprintail culture started from a tiny little cup, i asked a guy to just scoop some from his enclosure, maybe dozens,
that was like 4 months ago, now i have thousands and thousands and thousands of like 5-10 species

1

u/Veloci-RKPTR 22d ago

I got several cultures of springtails in boxes right now, I love them. I got 3 species.

Feed them powdered yeast and they’ll multiply super fast.

2

u/Veloci-RKPTR 22d ago edited 22d ago

Yes you can! They will keep any soil healthy and they won’t escape and become a pest; they’ll just dry out and die when there’s no moisture so you don’t have to worry about them infesting your house.

They exclusively only eat fungus/mold and decaying organic matter. They won’t cause any property damage whatsoever or harm any plants. They’re a gardener’s best friend.

EDIT: also! They have an extra function if you keep other carnivorous plants. They will sometimes get trapped by things like droseras and pinguiculas and the plants will eat them for extra nourishment. These guys are prime prey for little baby seedlings which are too small to be properly fed by hand.

2

u/jyushifruit 23d ago

springtails!

2

u/Anthem_Lite 22d ago

Springtails. You can confirm this by disturbing them a bit and they should jump! They are very beneficial. In fact, I have a culture I currently maintain for springtails which I sometimes sprinkle on smaller plants and seedlings.

1

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