springtail problem in worm bin

Hi, I have a springtail infestation in my red worm compost bin.  (At least I think they're springtails.  They look like translucent white lice or mites, very tiny and crawly).  Can I kill the springtails without hurting my worms?

Thanks!

Having raised worms myself, there were always two problems I encountered. 1) PH. It seemed as though the PH would always get low and very acidic over time. Undoubtedly this is related to the constant decomposition of organic matter and because it was such a small area, the PH was affected more rapidly compared to the surrounding dirt. 2) Insects. Again, most likely due to the moisture and organic matter ever present, it seemed as though my worm bin would attract all kinds of pests. To deal with these two problems, I rotated my soil as needed. I basically kept a trash can full of ready to use dirt which was both insect free and ph balanced and would replace my bin dirt when a change was due.

How often did I do this? That varied depending on the season. I commonly had to change the dirt once or twice during the summer months and rarely over the winter. All told, 1-2 a year. The dirt I removed was usually so rich in nutrients even though it had a PH problem and insect infestations, I knew I had to come up with some way to save it. Here's what I did.

First, I would kill off all the active insects. For obvious reasons I removed my worms prior to spraying. Next, I would lay out the old dirt on a tarp and then spray INSECT SOAP all over it making sure to get it well covered and damp. This would pretty much kill all the insects. The Soap I linked to above is organic and basically has no residual. This means that within a few hours of spraying it, all the spray will have broken down and been rendered harmless so it won't pose a hazard to the worms when I went to use the dirt again. In other words, there was no residual like you normally have with any pesticide. Soap is great for garden pests and anything sensitive you need to treat like worm bin soil.

Second, for the PH, I would use some LIQUID LIME and spray the dirt again. This would raise the PH pretty quickly and within a day I would measure it using my PH SOIL TESTER. Once the PH was up to at least 7.0 I would store the dirt in a trash can and keep it till I needed it again. More information can be found at our SOIL PH CONTROL site.

I definitely don't recommend spraying anything onto the soil with the worms present and though a few insects aren't a major problem, springtails, mealybugs, roaches, ants and others are just not good to let live. They tend to get out of control population wise and if your worms are close to your house or some other structure, these insects will almost certainly start migrating into living areas. If you keep these pests in check by rotating the soil periodically and with a little treating, you should be able to both keep the insects under control and your worms safe, happy and healthy. If you have further questions or concerns, give us a call on our toll free 1-800-877-7290.