Hi all, I have recently discovered that there are heaps of centipedes in my lemon tree soil. My lemon tree is in a pot on my balcony. I have had the tree for a couple of months. It's only recently when I watered the tree I saw little centipede like bugs crawling around in the soil. They are about 1 cm in length. How did they get in there? I have never seen it before. I am really worried that they will come inside the apartment. What should I do? Thanks in advance, Jason
they're just the basic centipede or millipede. if you bring the plant inside, then, they'll come along with it - and may even manage to get inside on their own. other than repotting with sterile soil and keeping the plant inside, don't know what to tell you. they shouldn't hurt the plant, so, i wouldn't worry about that.
Try spraying with rubbing alcohol on the centipedes. Pluck as you go....or just let them work on your soil plagued pests.
The spheres could be osmocote or some similar slow-release fertilizer. I wouldn't worry about the centipedes if there're only a few of them.
The yellow spherical things are slow release fertilizer. As for the centipedes, so far I have seen about 10 of them. The only thing I am really worried is they will proliferate just as what happen to fungus gnats in my another plant. It gives me goose-bumps just by thinking about it.
Don't worry about the centipedes. They are probably the best thing you could have for the fungus gnat problem. They are carnivores and predators. They survive by munching on goodies like your gnat larvae. Many of the species that crawl around never get very big so they can't bite us very well. Unless they suddenly grow huge they are no danger to you or anyone else. I am careful of the larger ones since they can pack a nasty punch. Millipedes on the other hand are normally vegetarian. We entomologists often call them the garbage disposers of the forest floor. Hope that makes you feel better about seeing them.
