# Bad luck with springtail cultures



## Frogmanjared (Jul 17, 2020)

I've tried both charcoal and clay cultures. The charcoal boom better, but its more difficult to harvest. The clay is easier to feed from, but don't seem to last as long. Maybe I'm feeding incorrectly, but there is a smell that starts to form, and I know the culture will start to crash, and before long, the culture is dead. No mite infestations. I'm thinking about starting a culture in a small critter keeper using some clay and leaf litter. I need an idiots guide to culturing springtails!


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## Imatreewaterme (May 19, 2021)

You might be feeding them too much at once. They will die if that is the case.

Ricky


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

Frogmanjared said:


> but its more difficult to harvest.


Buy or craft yourself a cheap device called a "pooter" or "insect aspirator" and you'll never look back. It makes harvesting springtails from a culture incredibly easy and simple.


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## Herpin Man (Apr 11, 2018)

I know it's a bit unorthodox, but I keep them in food saver containers with wet leaves. Yeast and mushrooms are good food sources, as is a squirt of Pangea (gecko food) if you have it. They grow and reproduce well, and harvest is easy- just remove a couple of leaves with springtails on them.


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## LerlaKoch (10 mo ago)

I just set up my springtail culture the same as my isopod cultures. Shoebox-size plastic bin with sphagnum on one end and nutrient-dense substrate with leaf litter. The easiest way I've found to transfer springtails is with magnolia pods. They swarm the pods, then I can just tap the pod over a new enclosure and repeat. I'm sure you could do the same with anything that has a lot of nooks and crannies.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Louis said:


> Buy or craft yourself a cheap device called a "pooter" or "insect aspirator" and you'll never look back. It makes harvesting springtails from a culture incredibly easy and simple.


This is the only one on that big online website. Is there a better or simpler example of this device, or is this a good one?

'Pooter' is a dead end search in such a sophisticated place as the USA, unless you're an 11 year old boy in which case it is great.


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## LerlaKoch (10 mo ago)

I'm sure that would work fine, but the reservoir is kind of small and I'm 99% sure that you could make a free one with stuff you already have.


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## IShouldGetSomeSleep (Sep 23, 2021)

I would get one from bioquip, they are a pretty good price there, although it will take longer for you to get it. "Bioquip is a little slow"


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

IShouldGetSomeSleep said:


> I would get one from bioquip, they are a pretty good price there, although it will take longer for you to get it. "Bioquip is a little slow"


They have the same unit for less than half the cost shipped. Good advice, thank you. 

Edit: $25 minimum order. What else do I need.


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## Drachenblut (10 mo ago)

LerlaKoch said:


> I'm sure that would work fine, but the reservoir is kind of small and I'm 99% sure that you could make a free one with stuff you already have.


Funny. Here in the backwoods of ol' Canuckland a "pooter" was another name for a high power potato gun. Fun times.

Love the idea.


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## Louis (Apr 23, 2014)

Socratic Monologue said:


> This is the only one on that big online website. Is there a better or simpler example of this device, or is this a good one?
> 
> 'Pooter' is a dead end search in such a sophisticated place as the USA, unless you're an 11 year old boy in which case it is great.


Mine is just a 150ml glass jar with two pieces of airline running through the lid and sealed with blu tac. A more sophisticated setup might involve some sort of filter to totally elliminate the possibility of breathing in any springtails but as long as your "in" tube extends much further into the jar than the "out" tube that you suck through the risk is pretty minimal. The only thing I add is a damp cotton pad which fits perfectly on the bottom of the jar as otherwise the impact on the glass can be enough to stun or kill some of the springtails.
Well worth having a trusty pooter to hand though as it really does make harvesting a dense quantity of springtails in a small container very easy, particularly if you want to try and get some nutrient powders onto them. I also use it a lot for the larger temperate springs that I find don't do so well on easy to harvest substrates like charcoal, you can just wait for them to congregate on some food and suck them all up.


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## athiker04 (Nov 15, 2013)

I've been making clay cultures for a while now - not sure exactly how many now, but well into the thousands. They will do very well with the right conditions and I can't imagine their being any other method that is easier for feeding out of - not to say other methods aren't effective but with clay cultures in 8 oz deli cups, you just tip the cup up and tap out the springtails. 

The key to good production and longevity seems to be getting the correct moisture level and feeding appropriately - specifically not feeding too much. Feeding too little will only result in fewer springtails but a perfectly healthy culture. Feeding too much can quickly kill a culture or allow it to be overtaken by mold. I only feed baker's yeast (active dry yeast). For moisture content, you're looking to keep the clay as moist as it can be without having standing water - if that makes sense. Like right to the saturation point, but not beyond it. (see a few posts down for some elaboration)

These are the conditions that have given me the best results. Hope it's helpful!


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

athiker04 said:


> Feeding too much can quickly kill a culture or allow it to be overtaken by mold. I only feed baker's yeast (active dry yeast).


I could just try this, and I might, but: can a culture that has been overfed and overtaken by mold be rinsed out or otherwise renewed for reseeding? I realize it isn't too tough to simply make up another cup, but it is a bit tedious and clay isn't cheap. 

Great advice on care; I know I've been overfeeding mine, but I didn't know I have probably been running them too dry. How often do you check/feed your clay cultures?


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## Frogmanjared (Jul 17, 2020)

Socratic Monologue said:


> I could just try this, and I might, but: can a culture that has been overfed and overtaken by mold be rinsed out or otherwise renewed for reseeding? I realize it isn't too tough to simply make up another cup, but it is a bit tedious and clay isn't cheap.


I’ve tried a few cultures with calcium bearing clay for koi ponds (bought a bucket for clay baths and have a TON left). With the dead ones I’ve tried scraping off the top layer of clay to expose the fresh colored stuff. There’s still a smell and the newly added springtails die in a few days. 

I will try feeding less, using only bakers yeast. I had cultures using that/or nutritional yeast as comparisons.


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## athiker04 (Nov 15, 2013)

Socratic Monologue said:


> I could just try this, and I might, but: can a culture that has been overfed and overtaken by mold be rinsed out or otherwise renewed for reseeding? I realize it isn't too tough to simply make up another cup, but it is a bit tedious and clay isn't cheap.


I have picked and scraped out mold to try to salvage cultures. It can be successful, but is tedious. It may be easier to just float all of your springtails out of the culture so that you can more aggressively scrape or wash out the mold without worrying about removing the springtails. At this point, I toss the occasional culture that I lose to mold since, in my opinion, it's much easier to make a new culture or two - and the cost for the clay that I use is about $1.40 per culture. So it just depends on where you come down on the effort/time vs money calculation.



Socratic Monologue said:


> Great advice on care; I know I've been overfeeding mine, but I didn't know I have probably been running them too dry. How often do you check/feed your clay cultures?


Thanks! As far as how often I check or feed, it varies a lot. Sometimes I will make cultures and (other than the initial pinch of yeast) not touch, check, or feed them for several months if I'm not needing them to be productive in the near future. Keep in mind these have solid deli cup lids with no ventilation, so they aren't losing moisture content over that time. Without feeding the springtails reach a low but stable population. Then, when I'm ready to ramp up production I start feeding about once per week - possibly a little more frequently if I'm needing them to be to peak production as soon as possible. The size of the pinch of yeast is based on the population of springtails at the time of feeding. Ideally I like for cultures to be able to have all of the yeast cleaned up within no more than 3 or 4 days after feeding. I mist on a culture by culture basis if the clay looks on the dry side.

There are no hard truths in any of that advice, lol. Just trying to describe some of what I've found to work well.


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## athiker04 (Nov 15, 2013)

I was thinking about my advice on how wet cultures should be kept and just wanted to update this.

TLDR: The surface of the clay in the cultures should stay very damp but not so wet that the clay loses it's solidity, shape, or the ability to hold fine texture. Inverting the culture should not result in water dripping out.

I said that they should be as wet as possible without standing water. This is what I've found to work best, but it needs a little more context. I actually do not initially mix my clay to be extremely wet. It will vary depending on what clay or clay mix you're using - but for example, I use 3 ounces of clay, and 1.7/1.8 ounces of water when starting cultures in 8 oz cups. So just a little more water than a 2:1 clay to water ratio by weight. This gives a clay that is easily spreadable but still has enough solidity to allow me to shape the clay up the sides of the cup. If you were to take the clay out of the cup at this point, you could easily form a soft clay ball. 

Once the culture is set up and getting established, I like to keep it misted to the point that I almost will start to see a film or puddle of water form in any lower depressions in the clay surface. This is what I meant by near saturation. I realized it could be misleading because you could certainly get the clay more saturated during the initial process of making the culture - but that would be too wet in my opinion. The most productive cultures seem to be at a moisture level where the clay is still solid enough to easily retain it's shape and even fine texture on the surface, but also have a sheen of dampness as opposed to a more flat/matte surface. Also, the cultures should not be so wet that they leak any water when inverted to remove springtails. 

I know this is a lot of nuance and it's difficult to describe exactly what I'm trying to get across. Maybe I should make a video at some point, lol. I just didn't want to give the impression that I keep cultures on extremely wet, like soupy wet, clay.


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## Do_Gon (Aug 18, 2018)

athiker04 said:


> Maybe I should make a video at some point, lol. I just didn't want to give the impression that I keep cultures on extremely wet, like soupy wet, clay.


I wouldn't mind a video of your process. I've been wanting to start clay cultures for a while now. 

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk


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## Lizzie (Mar 27, 2021)

Do_Gon said:


> I wouldn't mind a video of your process. I've been wanting to start clay cultures for a while now.
> 
> Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk


I’d love you to do a video too please. Have had some success with clay cultures but always willing to learn from others who are doing well 👍


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## gluedl (Oct 8, 2008)

A gamechanger for me was the switch from yeast to Orlux Lori as food for the springtails


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