Tiny Worm Like Things In My Elm's Soil

BonsaiBen

I just noticed tiny yellowish white creatures sliding along the soil of my Chinese Elm. They are tiny, about a few mm long and just glide along the soil. Any idea of what they are and how I can get them out of the soil? Thanks.

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Moni

Well Ben, we could use just a tad more description of these critters. But off the top of my head, try soaking the plant for about 5 minutes in a pail. See if you can force them out that way. We need more info. Are they only on the surface or are they all through the soil? Do they have legs. About how long are they (the critters, not the legs)? Are they in the tree at all? Is the tree healthy or is it weakening? More info please.........
Moni

BonsaiBen

The tree is healthy, they dont seem to have legs, they are a couple of mm long and they seem to be going in and out of the soil. Might they be larvae for fungus gnats?

Moni

Sure, they could be fungus gnat larvae. Do you have the adult gnats flitting around your tree? There are a number of things you can do for fungus gnats. If you spray, Insecticidal Soap or Neem will work just fine. But you have to spray many times (follow the label directions) to get all of the potential generations. There is a BT that works on the larvae. You use it as a soil drench. Go to any local nursery and ask for it. They will know what you are talking about (at least they should) whether they have it or not. I use that and I use yellow sticky traps to trap the flying adults. It works pretty well and you are getting both the adults and the babies all at once.
Moni

BonsaiBen

Thanks Moni. I did have quite a few fungus gnats at the time I posted this but have since been keeping the soil much drier. I think they came from an organic soil ammendment I had been using from a company called Epsoma. I used the sticky yellow fly trap paper and some Schultz insect spray made with chrosanthemums.

What exactly is a BT?

Moni

Ben, BT is baccillus thuringiensis (or something like that). Because it is so hard to say, everyone just says BT. Your garden center will know exactly what you are talking about. It is a bacteria that specifically targets certain insects and kills them. That is the beauty of it. It is very specific. There are different varieties of BT but they all target certain caterpillars/larvae. The version used for fungus gnat larvae is I believe the same version that is used to kill mosquito larvae in ponds, etc. It's great stuff. There are not many things that can be used on larvae in soil so this is just what you need. But what you are doing will work, too. It will just take a little longer because you are only killing one stage of the insects growth (adult). You will have to repeat what you are doing a couple more times to get all of the generations that go from larva to fly.
Moni

BonsaiBen

Thanks again Moni. I will see if I can find that. Just to be sure, I know that I am not supposed to use systemics on Chinese Elms. This is not considered to be a systemic, right?