Tiny white bugs in soil

[rane]

Hello everyone

I picked up a Chinese Elm from a nursery that's still in a black plastic pot - I believe that's what you call a pre-bonsai, my intention is to leave it in there for a couple years to help grow it out. Anyway, I put some fertiliser the other day and when I inspected the plant today I saw maybe 10 little tiny white bugs crawling over the top of the soil, most of them were inside or under the fertiliser. I can't really make out what they are because they're about the size of a pinhead, maybe 1mm or less, they are very bright white.

I'm very new to garden work in general so I'm curious as to whether these critters are a friend or foe. I hope they aren't asphids, if it's any relevance some of the leaves had lots of white spots on them - I assumed it was a fungus so I removed them.

I can't see any bugs on the plant itself - it's a few a years old, the trunk which was cut by the nursery is about as thick as a 20c coin across.

Any help would be appreciated

[shibui]

There are a number of possible white bugs that may be crawling around in pots so it is a bit hard to make a guess as to which you have.
I would not worry too much at this stage as very few white crawling soil bugs will damage your bonsai. Most of them are just helping to release the nutrients in the fertiliser. I assume you have applied some sort of organic pelletised manure fertiliser?

At this stage just keep an eye on them. If the white bugs are wormlike and you start to see tiny flying bugs around the pot it will be time to do something. Otherwise just enjoy growing your Chinese elm.

BTW. Much of what we do with bonsai is seasonal so tasks often depend on the local climate. It helps us help you if you update your profile with a general location so we can allow for living in Hobart or Cairns or somewhere else completely different.

[rane]

Hi again Shibui!

Thanks for responding to both my posts.

I'll take note and keep an eye on it for now. Yes it seems to be manure pellets, they are cylindrical with a dried texture.

Good point on the location, I'll update my profile now - I'm based in Melbourne

[dansai]

It is often helpful when asking questions like this, or about your trees, to upload some photos. Like shibui said, probably fine