Microscopic Critter in my Soil !! Anyone hazard a guess as to what they are ??

[silent leprechaun]

Anyone know what these little critters are ? I think I broke his little antennae ! Opps :)

I found them in my last grow too. It seems that when I water they rise to the surface and I can see them moving around. There are quite a lot of them in the soil.

Strange little fellas but I don't think they do any damage to the plants. Anyone know what they are ? They are tiny by the way.

The last 2 photos are taken with a 400x USB microscope focused on about 350x. That will tell how how small these guys are.

In the last 2 photos the different colour from the top left to the bottom right corner is a water bubble. The little critter is trying to get back into the water bubble.

http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r517/LEDLogger/frame1.jpg

http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r517/LEDLogger/frame2.jpg

http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r517/LEDLogger/bug1.jpg

http://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r517/LEDLogger/bug.jpg

[silent leprechaun]

Figured it out... I have lots of springtails ! But I hear that it is a good sign to have them. Means my soil is doing fine. They eat decaying plant material ... So they are good !

springtails - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpg_BYuu_h0)

[PhatJay]

I have had springtails. They are no problem at all. Kind of cute in a tiny, wriggly, jumpy kind of way. They will not leave the soil surface or bother your plant at all.

[silent leprechaun]

they are actually a really good sign that the soil is in good shape

Using insects to assess soil quality (http://www.organicagcentre.ca/NewspaperArticles/na_springtail_sh.asp)