[Zorloc]

Well got my culture from JF and heres what I got.
Ordered 1 32oz Trop. Spring.
First they were in charcoal (I was expectiong some sort of substrate)
I seen a few white chunks sort of looked like either rice or hard egg like cacoons.

Im not sure what to think as of right now... I looked but couldnt realy find any actual springtails.

I divided up the JF culture into 2 smaller ones.
I made my plastic shoe box like Pumilo's post.
We shall see what happens.
If in fact there are springtails how long b4 I should be able to see them crawling around?
Also should I worry that the shoe box tupperware isnt air tight will they dry out or will the escape?

Thanks for any help

 

[MichelleSG]

They won't escape, they need the air anyway. I found that springs in charcoal tend to not survive shipping as well as they do in wet coco peat. Give them 2 weeks, I'll bet they'll come back. The rice like stuff you see is probably rice, lots of people feed out rice. The springs are much smaller than a grain of rice.
I prefer mushrooms personally but everyone has their preference.

 

[MichelleSG]

And Lordy, you're local to me. I have TONS of springs and give them away, I only charge shipping for those I have to mail to. Since you're local you can easily come pick some up if you're in need of more. Mine grow like gangbusters...

 

[BlueRidge]

They're in there, trust me. I bought two cultures from Joshs too and I saw no springtails in the culture but I split the cultures into two shoboxes anyway. Anyway, drop in some sliced mushrooms and in a few days you will see tons.

 

[Azurel]

It will take time, I have ordered from said vendor as well and had the same question when I first got them. Like Michelle i prefer mushrooms for feeding and fine that causes an explosion of production of springs.....You also don't see eggs of the springs as well which will hatch out in due time....Good luck.

 

[JimO]

Many times they die in shipment but there are probably hundreds of eggs that are still viable. Make sure there is some water in the bottom. I find that the young, in particular, like to congregate in little pools and feed on the bioscum layer. I feed mine baker's yeast only. I used to feed mushrooms, but got the occasional invasion of mites. Apparently mites don't do well on a diet of yeast, but springs do. Good luck. If you don't see anything after a couple of weeks, contact Josh. He's a great guy and will make it right.

 

[azrickster]

+1 baker's yeast - cheap too, Costco has a bag that will last me a long time for like 4 dollars. It's not as messy either, I feed them every other day. I started with 1 culture in a small butter cup size container and now have 4 very large cultures in shoebox containers! These things are really easy to culture and fast.

 

[NVfrogger]

I received some from JF as well many of the adult springs were dead I dumped them into a bigger container I think a 6 or 7 qrt. container and added more charcoal. I waited and waited and hardly ever saw anything but about 10 days later I started seeing some spring tails. now a month later I have a bunch and I have actually made three more cultures from that one and they are doing well, so just be patient and you will see some springtails probably from eggs that were laid or the smaller springtails that where hiding in the charcoal.

 

[MichelleSG]

Mine were originally from JF, via someone else though. I keep a few charcoal cultures but all the rest (and I have a TON) are on coco peat. The OP lives close to me and he came over and picked up some from me. Now he knows what they look like and I'm sure his culture from JF will bloom proper for him in a few weeks. These things are like tanks, I suspect killing them outright would take more than the abuse the USPS has to offer.