Help! I discovered a centipede in the soil when I was watering the plant this evening Saw a couple of tiny white worm things moving and while I was watching those, a larger brown centipede emerged! Fairly sure it was a centipede rather than a millipede. Apart from feeling like my skin's crawling, I'm wondering how it got into my house, why it's there and how I get rid of it! Thanks.

Here they are common and don't hurt anything. Its just the creep factor LOL. The ones we had in Texas were giant and poisonous though

You have to remember that millipedes are generally bad for plants in that they eat plant material. While centipedes are primarily predators preying upon anything that they get their jaws on!
No worries! Think of them as your helpers.
It does make you wonder what drew them to your soil in the first place.

It's that last sentence that worries me! I'm very close to getting rid of the plant...can't do bugs in the house! From searching online, it seems that the majority of houseplants in which people are finding centipedes, are palms. Must be something about them that attracts the crawlies.

Also, thank you to whoever started a new thread for me!

A centipede, and most bugs, is a rare thing in a potted houseplant. I've had many many plants for years and almost never had a bug of any kind.. But any bug can get lucky and find your dirt once in a blue moon, maybe it sat outside at some point. My mom's old house had house centipedes, probably not what you saw.

I'd probably ignore it.

What is the plant? I'd take it outside, gently pull the plant, poke off any loose soil and hope the centipede comes with it. put back in pot and refill with fresh good potting mix. Depending on the plant, this could be a shock.

Thanks, it's a Livistona palm. It's never been outside and it's in the original soil that the plant came in 18 months ago. It's not like houseplant soil, it's very dense and compacted, always has been. I'm not sure whether it's possible that it's lived in there for all this time without me noticing. I've been inspecting and haven't seen it again since. Do centipedes multiply rapidly?

They only multiply rapidly HERE in wet conditions

Thanks, Gina. Just reading that they can take 1 - 2 years to mature and can live for up to 6 years! So, its possible that the plant came with them. Still freaked out. Might try the whole soil change.

They definitely came with the soil it was potted in. Quality nurseries use sterile potting mixes that are pest-free. Of course, not all nurseries are good quality. Discounters tend to cut corners and using poor quality potting soil is one way they save money.

If the creep factor is a barrier for you, then you may have to pay more for really top quality plants in the future.

Funny thing is I posted this when I was looking to buy it and went for the more expensive option!

The thread "Ikea plants feedback" in Ask a Question forum

Perhaps the more expensive option was simply a larger plant. My experience with Ikea is that their quality is somewhat better than Big Box stores, but not overall as good as smaller specialized plant retailers. Unfortunately, many folks don't have that option.

I would think that any good sized potted palm sat in a big nursery in Florida for a while, with many others, on gravel or black fabric. Is that so, Gina? How would they prevent the occasional bug in the pot?I didn't recommend a total soil replacement, just seeing if you could discard some loose soil (and centipede) without tearing up the root ball.
I don't at all expect it to multiply. Potted plant indoors is not their preferred habitat.

No one can have a plant grown outdoors in Florida in a pot sitting on the ground and not get bugs in it. Sorry, just saying. Just be happy it was a harmless centipede and not an infestation of Carpenter Ants. Or worse yet a baby rattlesnake curled up in the pot LOL. It seems a couple people get bit every summer in FL nurseries from snakes in pots.

This is why they do not want people to be trading plants over state lines. Bugs hitch hike. In Florida, in order to be certified nematode free, all the plants have to be bench grown at least 4 feet above the ground, with soil components that are stored at least 4 feet above the ground, in containers that are also stored at least 4 feet above the ground. Then your stock has to pass random soil sampling...if one aggregate fails, everything fails.

Its silly to consider tossing a plant or replacing all the soil for one little centipede.

Quality nurseries don't keep their potted plants on the ground for the most part. They also use pesticides to treat any pest problems before they are shipped. Their businesses depend on repeat business and buggy plants are not good for business.

Big Box stores buy large quantities of plants grown on contract with nurseries and at low prices. That incentivizes the nurseries to cut some corners. That is why the Big Box plants tend to be more variable in quality as well as cheaper. As with most things, you get what you pay for.

Well Will, maybe 'quality' nurseries don't keep plants on the ground in New York, but its a common practice here. Because local nurseries don't SHIP. They sell LOCALLY.

Gina - I was referring to WHOLESALE nurseries in FL and CA that ship their plants to retailers in other parts of the country.

Ahhhh

aside from that aspect, how about if those palms sit on the floor or concrete lot at the big box store for a few days?
there are plenty of times a common bug can wander into a plant all along the chain before it goes to a home. But potted houseplants don't make very good homes for them so I'm gonna say it is rarely a problem.

When I used to own my tropical plant nursery, the Ag inspector who used to come around and inspect my place was this cool chick who liked to sit and have a glass of tea by the pool in the hot Florida sun.

We were discussing the possibility of my trying to get nematode certification one day. What she said has always really kind of floored me. The reason that nurseries here in Florida who ship plants over state lines have to adhere to these very strict 'up off the ground' rules is that nematodes and fire ants can get into a pot at any time. And you can;t see nematodes. There are many many different nematodes....some are actually beneficial, but some are extremely harmful. One affects tomato plants, and if you have it colonizing your soil, you never get rid of it. You never get rid of ny nematodes once you have them.

So we decided in the end that it might not be exactly cost effective for me to try for it because the plants that I propagated for sale were all planted in the ground here.

She told me that Arizona was so strict about the enforcement of the Federal Imported Red Fire Ant quarantine that they would stop EVERY truck that was transporting nursery stock from any state that was included in the quarantine and force them to stay overnight, and they would bait the trucks with containers of sugar solution to draw out any ants that might be hiding in the pots. If a single ant was found, the entire shipment was sent back to its point of origin.

You cannot expect any containerized plant that you buy to never have hitch hiker insects. Its just not feasible. Maybe we are used to all these bugs here in the South....Goddess knows we have a ton of them. They just don't faze me, sorry.