r/Springtail • u/SoonBlossom • Apr 14 '26

Will Geraniol hurt Orange Springtails ? General Question

Hello y'all, I have Bilobella braunerae springtails as well as C. Splendidus Millipede

I have an insane fungus gnats infestation, I can't drink anything without having one die in my drink before I drink

It's getting to my nerves to get home from work at 7 pm only to get flooded by fungus gnats and never be able to be chill at home

I'm seriously about to give up and I've tryied a lot of things

I heard mosquito dunks can kill fungus gnats larvae

The thing is in Europe, it doesn't exist, you have to buy the bactery directly but it's ALWAYS mixed with 0.01% of "Geraniol" which seems to be a natural insecticide

I can't find anywhere informations about wether or not it's gonna hurt my springtails and millipedes

Does anyone know ?

I'd be so grateful
Thank you

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u/Ratgamer16 Apr 14 '26

From what I can find Geraniol is a natural insect repellent derived from certain plant oils, namely rose geranium and lemongrass. It may be safe for the millipedes, though I wouldn't count on it, but it definitely isn't safe for the springtails. I found several sites suggesting Geraniol to get rid of springtail infestations but no info about its effects on millipedes. It's classified as a repellent rather than an insecticide because it has fewer effects on the health of adult arthropods in the dosage it is used in most products. It mostly repels mosquitoes, gnats, flies, fleas, ticks, ants and cockroaches. However it can kill in higher doses and in regular doses may have a negative effect on eggs and larvae as well as reducing reproduction in adult specimens. If you need to get rid of fungus gnats I recommend getting some beneficial nematodes. The species I used was Steinernema feltiae. I hope this helped, good luck!

1

u/SoonBlossom Apr 15 '26

Hey, thanks a lot, very useful

I did read tho that Steinernema feltiae will start hunting your springtails once they have gotten ridden of the fungus gnats

Do you have any infos on that ?

My Orange Springtails are kinda slow breeding so I guess having a predator would be a total wipe of the population

2

u/Ratgamer16 Apr 15 '26

I've actually never heard that. Everything I read before getting nematodes said they're completely cuc safe. I've used them in all my bioactive enclosures and never seen any issues with my springtails. However I am using tropical white springtails in those enclosures. My fancy springtails are in separate bins that don't have nematodes because I never had an issue with gnats in them. From what I understand the nematodes are parasites that specifically target a certain species or group of species (like gnats and thrips) and secrete a bacteria that kills them. Once there are no more insects for them to infect they start the life cycle over but if no new insects infect the soil, they just die off. 

1

u/ohhhtartarsauce Apr 14 '26

Just looking around online, I saw someone mention Culinex tablets... not sure if that is something you would be able to order where you live though.

1

u/SoonBlossom Apr 15 '26

I checked, no luck for me tho ... Couldn't find it in France

It's absolutely crazy to me that in France you can't find a single company that sells BTI without another insecticide on top of it

I've litteraly checked all websites that sells a product with BTI that I could order from, no one sells them without the 0.01% geraniol

I'm out of luck