I have just discovered tiny (smaller than a pin head)white crawling bugs in the soil of all my houseplants (12 in all). At the same I discovered spider mites on 2 of the plants. So I bought some insecticide spray, took all the plants to the garage - no easy task LOL - and sprayed them all, including the soil. Two days later the spider mites seem to be under control - although I'll keep watching. However, the the tiny little bugs (don't know what they are) are still there. I have sprayed the soil twice more in the past three days, but it isn't working.

I also bought some of those sticky yellow things and which have caught some little black flies (knats I presume), but nothing else.

Can anyone tell me what the little white bugs are and how to get rid of them? Most of the plants are doing extremely well - new growth and healthy looking. The only one I'm having trouble with is the Hawaiian Schefflera. It's leaves have brown spots on them and every day a bunch more fall off. Are the brown spots on the schefflera related to the little white bugs or is that whole other problem? The spider mites weren't on the schefflera - they were on the croton and the Ficus.

All the plants have been bought within the last month - we just moved - and we repotted all of them. I'm guessing these bugs came with the soil we bought - since the plants were purchased from 4 different stores.

Thanks

I think what you have is white flies. I never had the problem until I moved to Las Vegas. I lost alot of plants trying different things. I also thought it was the soil I used to transplant my plants. I think they are already in the soil the plant comes in. After alot of research I found a solution. These white flies lay their eggs in the top to 1/2" of the soil. I would remove the first 1/2" of soil and then treat with pyrethrins. It is natural and can come in a spray or powder and use according to instructions. I saw other suggestions that might help but I don't think what you have is gnats.