I was going to recycle some potting soil and started dumping the soil out into a tub and noticed these little white bugs everywhere. Are these mites? Are they helpful or harmful…I’ve not put my plants in this soil yet and am holding off.
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That looks to be a termite.
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Probably just a spring tail. Though it could be a termite… unlikely in my opinion
This is a springtail
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I can say that it was in a pot that didn’t have drainage …no holes so the soil was soaking wet. The other pots around it had dry soil and I didn’t see any of these things.
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Springtails prefer moist spaces to break down organic matter. They aren’t a pest, just likely hanging in the wettest spot.
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I agree with @Orbitalnutria420. It looks like a termite to me, particularly the abdomen, legs and lack of the spring tail’s abundant antennae.
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That zoomed out picture has me really thinking termite too
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I downloaded one of those bug identifier apps, took a pic with it and it came back as a “eastern subterranean termite”. Shit, guess just dump the soil out in the woods. The pot was sitting out in the middle of the yard…out here in the country. Guess I need to put down some termite bait.
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Are you growing indoors or outdoors? I wouldn’t worry about it if your outdoor.
But outdoor soil never, ever, becomes indoor soil around here. I’m too scared about bringing something in.
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I’ve never in my days seen one termite. Did you dig around and see what else got in there?
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No sir, in my OP I did say I saw them everywhere in that one pot. I just found one, of several, that hadn’t went back down under the soil and took a picture. I emptied it out into a tub along with several other pots right beside it, I didn’t see anything in them but also didn’t look to hard. I only realized because that one pot had wet soil so it stood out I guess.
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New to the country life…but for those that have lived out in the sticks how common or uncommon is it to find stuff like this in the soil? I don’t recall seeing this often in the city. The property is heavily wooded but most of the trees are fairly far away from the house,50 feet or so, except a few oaks up a little closer.
I guess I’ll take that soil out to the woods and dump it.
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looks like a termite. do you have a lot of wood mulch chunks in your soil?
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I think you will find termites are simply a part of country life. And don’t forget, some termites fly, often in large swarms.
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There was some wood mulch and chunks in it …yes. I was going to use that soil in a hempy bucket out in the yard. Is that advisable or just discard it?
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I you gonna be using the soil outside…
I say let er buck!
What’s the worst that could happen? Dead plant?
Like we all ain’t done that before. 
Best of luck with your decision!
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Yes, outside…it;s those autos you commented on.
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I think termites are everywhere there’s woods really and those bugs are just a drop in the bucket.
I def would keep that outside before they destroy your house. They are already all over outdoors so they could do that anyway, but as long as you take the wood out of the soil they should not have much business in your plants. I’ve never heard of termites being a real concern for cannabis but I could be wrong.
Edit: A quick search for termites on here mentioned termites and housing issues most and not as much with plants, but there are some hits making me think it’s not impossible they’d stick around for your plants, but I think they would try and find more wood somewhere myself.
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