Pictures would be the best way to tell, they could be soil mealy bugs which are quite hard to eradicate. The best course of treatment would be a systemic insecticide that would be applied by way of a soil drench.

Holiday greetings to our young Canadian friend, Phil!

Josh gave you excellent advice for treating the insects you observed crawling in your soil. I just want to add a word on Cybisters in general.

Cybisters produce remarkable quantities of what I would call a sweet nectar, which can ooze and drip. This is probably nature's way of attracting pollinators. Thus, what you refer to as "bleeding" may be a natural characteristic. Touch your finger tip to the nectar and taste it.

Best,

Blanca

Phil..As Josh says, a systemic insecticide.. either a drench or the granular..I use the dry granular type and scratch it into the top 1/2" of the soil and then water it in and each time you water it gets another treatment..works for me. Make sure you eradicate the little pests or they will soon spread to all your plants.

And of course Dear Blanca is correct about the prestigious amounts of dripping nectar (did you read my thread on my Chico that just bloomed(?), I mentioned this..) Just think of how happy a humming bird would be at the sight of this nectar..but only before the insecticide was applied ;-)

Donna

{{gwi:452403}}

By the way, this nectar can drip on furniture and do a job on the finish of what ever it's sitting on..you might want to dab it off before it ruins your mother's windowsills ;-)

Since photosynthesis requires light and CO2...and plants emit O2, IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST, put the cap on at night when the lights are out...otherwise, why not just leave it cracked? If it's a narrow opening, I'd just leave it open.
K

What are you growing in the bottle?