Symphalans in Houseplant - help!!

[TheBadGerman]

Hi - I have a fairly healthy Monstera growing in my front room - a couple of years ago, I noticed tiny white bugs crawling in the soil whenever I watered - so I washed the roots and repotted the plant - this solved the problem.....or so I thought.

Today, around 2 years and 1 repotting later, I have noticed the return of these pests, which I beleive to be Symphylans - tiny white bugs, with antennae crawling in the soil. The don't fly or hop, so I don;t think that they're fungus gnats or thrips. They tend to come to the surface when I water.

I've really become attached to this plant, and don't want to lose it - what can I do? I can't seem to find any chemical or systemic insecticides targetted at Symphylans. Has anyone got any handy advice?

Thanks in advance, Mike.

[TheBadGerman]

Update....... Today, being sunday, I decided to take the plant out the pot, rinse of all the soil from the roots, and replace with fresh postting soil. Turns out that the rootball was too tight to do that - I can't beleive how quickly the plant's become rootbound! Again! Anyway - obviously the plant is healthy, and these bugs don''t *seem* to be doing too much famage. But there were 2 or 3 what looked like earthworms in there. Hmmm..... mystery. I've put the plant in a bigger pot and replaced as much of the old soil as I can but there is still quite a bit of the old soil right in the middle of the rootball. Do you think I should be worried? Mystery......

Thanks, Mike

[june]

We’re they earthworms or snake worms?