Areca and Lady Finger indoor palms

[jcya]

Hello there! I recently just became a plant mom and purchased areca palms and the lady finger palm as indoor house plants. One of the areca palms came with a millipede infestation in the soil, so I tossed it. The areca palm I have now had one mealy bug and these little black flies that I think are gnats (not sure though). I also pulled what I think was an earwig out of the soil.

My lady palm I think has soil mites (really REALLY tiny translucent red/brown bugs with legs - they look like specs). I see them crawling in the soil and around the pot.

I'm hoping to get clarity on which pests to kill and which to keep. I read online that mealy bugs are bad and that I should spray the leaves with either rubbing alcohol or neem oil + water. Is this correct?

I bought some yellow sticky tape for the gnats. I read online that soil mites eat gnats. Does anyone know if this is true? I was going to try and kill the soil mites with cinnamon and water, but now I'm thinking maybe I should leave them be?

I don't mind beneficial bugs as long as they stay in the pot. I'm worried about them infesting my apartment. I also have 2 cats and don't want to cause them any trouble either! Such as ingesting soil mites and getting tapeworms

Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated! as I'm completely new to palms and house plants in general. Thanks so much!!!

[Steve Mac]

Hi jc, welcome to the forum.

It would be great if you could post a couple of pics of those bugs and the palms. We have a few Canadians on here who I am sure can help you.

If the palm that you tossed isn't too long gone you could just repot it in new potting mix, less the millipedes.