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Unknown bugs

suzie15suzie15 Posts: 23
in Problem solving
Hi everyone, it seems every disgusting bug known to man is in our garden and I don't even know what they are.
One unknown bug is tiny, shiny and black and is in the soil of my seedlings and seems to be eating them. 
Another is again thin and black and it jumps, it has mostly been under pots etc. when I've moved them. Gardening is hard 😢😢😢

Posts

  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    It has been estimated that there are over 2000 different types of insects and spiders etc in the average suburban garden. So, only 1998 to go :)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Most of the bugs in our garden are useful ... necessary parts of the ecosystem :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • suzie15suzie15 Posts: 23
    Haha! I've definitely had a few more but managed to recognise most of them! Any ideas what they could be or what I can do about them eating my seedlings? 
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    The most obvious jumping insects I can think of are fleas and springtails. But without a picture ...
  • suzie15suzie15 Posts: 23
    It's pretty hard to get a picture as they are fast! I will look up those three options and let you know if I think it's any of those! Thanks! 
  • suzie15suzie15 Posts: 23
    I realised that they are the larvae of the gnats that have been around my seedlings. I have got the yellow sticky fly traps and this seems to be working, although I lost alot of my seedlings in some extra hot weather we had and they seemed to deteriorate at an extremely quick rate so I am wondering if the gnat larvae were to blame. I was growing some of my seedlings in old rice milk containers with holes punched in the bottom as I saw this on an eco friendly gardening site as a way of avoiding buying lots of plastic pots, but I wonder if this could have been partly to blame with the seedlings not having as good drainage as they would have in plastic pots, as I hear gnats love damp atmospheres :( 
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