House plants but soil contains loads of insects - AIBU?

[TwoShoess]

Bought some house plants the other day; delivery all fine and I was really pleased with how they looked.

However, since watering them a few times, I’ve seen loads of insects in the plant soil. I don’t want to be a diva about this, but I find it off-putting, as I bought the plants to keep in my room and would prefer the soil to be insect/bug-free.

Maybe naively, I thought the soil would be clear of bugs when I bought it. Not sure if that’s possible though! I really dislike bugs, but wanted to give house plants a go, and the plants look lovely and were quite pricey, so I’d prefer not to be drastic and throw them away.

I submerged 2 of my plants in water yesterday to get rid of the bugs, and it’s partly worked, but I’m pretty sure there are more insects still in the soil.

Has anyone had experiences where they’ve bought a bug-free house plant - can it be done??

Thanks!

I know absolutely nothing about gardening, but I expect the insects in the soil aren't habituated to living indoors; it will be too hot for them and they will die.
That's my guess anyway!

It will be the soil mixture. You can get soil that's for indoor plants that doesn't attract insects. I used to get lots of tiny little flies until I repotted all of mine.

You'll never get rid of them, and if you did your plant would die because the soil would be worthless. Bugs are a good sign and if you give them a chance you may just get used to them. I am speaking from experience here good luck. don't get rid!

It depends what kind of bugs they are, really. Some can be beneficial to a houseplant but others like thrips will just kill it eventually.

Try your best to google what they look like, you’d be better off taking as much as the soil off the plant as possible down to the roots and repotting, but contact the company you bought them from if they are dangerous bugs to the plant.

It could be a harmful pest like fungus gnats, they are more likely with over watered plants and live part of their life cycle in the damp soil. You need to ID them really. It could also be something harmless like springtails which will feed on decaying matter. I have a lot of indoor plants and only notice bugs when there are issues.

Depending how long you have had them you could contact the seller for advice. They shouldn't come in with pests but if it has been a while it might not be from there.

Make sure your plants are not staying waterlogged, aside from drawing some pests it will cause root rot and kill them. Overwatering can be as bad as under.

Are they fungus gnats? Tiny tiny flies. If so, you can get sticky things that catches them. Off eBay.

I imagine it’s those tiny flies. We get them too. I assume it’s eggs in the soil.

Thanks all! I feel a bit ashamed because they’re definitely not harmful - it’s worms and stuff (found the odd tiny slug and caterpillar, which was a bit annoying!) So they’re definitely beneficial for the soil but I’m just quite squeamish, especially as the plants are in my bedroom. I realise it’s a case of mind over matter, but any advice on how to manage them?

Just pick them out. Or, buy new soil and repot them.

My mum always talks about vine weevils in pots.

Thanks! Is there a chance the new soil might come with bugs/worms as well? I’m very new to gardening, so sorry if that’s a stupid question 😂 I always thought pre-packaged compost/soil was insect-free, but I saw a few posts on here where people said they bought packaged soil and it came with bugs.

We’ve had terrible problems with fungus gnats at work and home this year you need to bottom water the plants so that the soil at the top dries out and the eggs can’t hatch..

In the mean time buy some sticky insect catchers from Amazon and enjoy the massacre of the ones that have hatched..!

I’ve never had an issue with bags of houseplant compost. Not ones that are in proper sealed bags. We did get fungus gnats from bonsai soil but that was in a kind of plastic bag. Looked a bit budget, rather than something you might get from a shop. It was from eBay though.

If you get those fungus gnats I’ve found watering from the bottom and sprinkling some cinnamon on the top of the soil works.