My Experience With Root Aphids And Ecosmart So Far...

  • Thread starter Noel Live
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Root Aphis?

  • Organic Pest Control

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • EcoSmart

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    1
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Noel Live

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I will spare you the detail of how I realized I had root aphids and just let you know I am infested... I started looking around the net for a good organic root aphid killer and came across EcoSmart. It is organic and best of all I could readily pick it up at the Home Depot right down the block form me. Score!!! Well, not so much. This product, although it is technically organic, it will potentially kill your weed plants. Not all but any new, delicate growth on adult plants will burn as if it was singed by fire. If it comes in direct contact with any seedlings, unrooted or recently rooted cuttings IT WILL KILL THEM WITHIN HOURS!!! In about 10 to 18 hours they will all be dead.

As far as the product, it seems to be working well. In the last day or two I have only seen a couple of flyers but nothing in the soil. I also added the stuff directly to the soil at about 2tbsp per gallon. At first, I though I really screwed up, nothing was looking good. Now things seem to be coming back, there is definitely an improvement but I will have to wait a bit to see real results.

I am not saying not to use this product, what I am saying is be careful. If you can, do not spray it directly on your plants, spray it more around the plants, in little crevices you think the flyers might hangout. Add small amounts directly to the soil but be sure to cover all the soil with the liquid. I've been spraying it around for a few days now while I wait for some GH Azamax. I will give the soil a drenching with the Azamax (just ordered it) and continue to spray the EcoSmart (very carefully) around the room just for maintenance and prevention.

I'll try to keep up with this thread, I tend to be horrible with that type of stuff. I welcome any comments, questions or concerns...
 
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Noel Live

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Update...

I did a soil drench Azamax and a light foliage spray. The soil solution was mixed to 1.5 Tbsp per gallon and the foliage spray was mixed at .75 per gallon. So far, so good. The younger, more delicate foliage took a shot but bounced back in a few hour. I drenched all the flowering plants, my two mothers, and all my house plants. I will do soil drenching for the cuttings when I transplant them and I will also do a drenching and spraying of the entire house (to get rid of any remaining critters and any that might have made it from the cutting to other places) and from here on I will use Met 52 as a prevention. I am relatively new to pest problem, so, I welcome any questions, comments or concerns.
 
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Noel Live

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Update...

EcoSmart seem to have fixed the RA problem but I quickly found out I was wrong. Azamax is not working either. I just ordered 16oz of Pyrethrin which I plan to apply twice followed by two applications of Botanigard
Seamaiden said:
Yes.
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Noel Live said:
That's interesting. Did you ever get rid of them all together?
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Noel Live said:
That's interesting. Did you ever get rid of them all together?
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Seamaiden said:
Yes.
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How?
 
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Noel Live

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I don't know what your intentions are, Seamaiden but my intentions are to get information on how to get rid of root aphids. Apparently you have had this problem before so it would be nice if you could share some of the solutions that worked for you. I mean it makes no sense to have a solution to my problem and continue to write one of two word replies. If you have a solution, share it.
 
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Noel Live

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I have, and so far, as you can see by my thread, nothing has worked. I actually searched around for about a month before I tried anything. I plan to try Pyrethrin followed by the Botanigard and see how that goes. What I was trying to get from you was a method that has definitely worked for you instead of having to try all the suggestions you find on these threads. It would also be nice if could direct me to a particular thread.
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
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Triazicide was what worked for me, and I had to do three flooding periods, leaving the pots flooded for about 3-4hrs each. I've posted that in so many threads I can't remember which one to direct you towards.

That said, triazicide (Spectracide) hasn't worked for a lot of people. I used it *after* using Merit75 (yep) and another imidacloprid solution, and I used those after trying Azamax.
 
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Noel Live

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Seamaiden said:
Triazicide was what worked for me, and I had to do three flooding periods, leaving the pots flooded for about 3-4hrs each. I've posted that in so many threads I can't remember which one to direct you towards.

That said, triazicide (Spectracide) hasn't worked for a lot of people. I used it *after* using Merit75 (yep) and another imidacloprid solution, and I used those after trying Azamax.
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Yep! It seems like everyone goes through the Azamax phase and thinks they solved the problem and then they start seeing those buggers again. Thank you!!!
 
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Noel Live

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Thanks a lot!!! This something more concrete to begin with. Now it's just a matter of persistence.
 
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Noel Live

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Update...

EcoSmart does kill root aphids... Will it get rid of your infestation? Absolutely not! Azamax will reduce the numbers, (a little) better than EcoSmart but you would have to apply the stuff so often and in such high doses that you might harm your plants. While reading some other threads on root aphids, I remember Seamaiden saying "you have to go nuclear on them". Seamaiden also mention triazicide, which I will try if the Pyrethrin and Botanigard do not work (Sorry, Seamaiden, I had already ordered the stuff when I got this info from you).

So, bottom line... I still have root aphids. The numbers have been significantly reduced but my sticky traps are still getting full of fliers, like, a lot! I believe this is due to the Azamax causing them to take wings to move on to greater pastures, but what do I know? Thank you for your patience, Seamaiden.
 
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Noel Live

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Just a note...

I am starting to realize there is no one root aphid killer. The reason people are having so much difficulty is because you have to use various insect killers over a period of time to totally get rid of them. With some research and some help from Seamaiden, I've realize that anyone who has gotten rid of root aphids has done so after trying numerous methods. I think it's because with one insect killer you can probably bring the numbers down 90% but that 10% that sticks around will be nipping at your roots and in no time you'll have hoards again. So when growers are saying "Ah! This crap did not work, use this crap!", what is really happening is that the combination of the insect killers is what is doing the trick. Some more effective than others, of course, but that is all very, very subjective. The idea is to use something that will kill of the majority and then keep applying something different before they have a chance to regroup. When you douse your roots put up lots of sticky traps to catch a lot of those flyers that take off to infest your other plants, that seems to break up the cycle a little bit. SPEND A LOT OF TIME CLEANING. Clean all of your pots, shelves, tools, lights, exhausts, filters, floors, window sills, crevice in the room. Spray everything down with and insect killer (be careful, some of them will stain). MOST OF ALL BE PERSISTENT!!! In fact, you should wear combat gear when you are batting these suckers... We're in a war! Take no prisoners!
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
23,596
638
Can I put bells on the cleaning thing? And, when you spray, spray EVERYWHERE. If you have to, open up electrical outlets and spray inside those. Spray your light fixtures, spray the floor, spray the ceiling, spray the corners and cubby holes and EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE.

It's gotta be done.

Tyvek suit, booties, respirator, chemical resistant gloves.
 
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Noel Live

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Seamaiden said:
Can I put bells on the cleaning thing? And, when you spray, spray EVERYWHERE. If you have to, open up electrical outlets and spray inside those. Spray your light fixtures, spray the floor, spray the ceiling, spray the corners and cubby holes and EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE.

It's gotta be done.

Tyvek suit, booties, respirator, chemical resistant gloves.
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Can I "like" this 5 times....

Yaaassssss!!! Protective gear.
 
soserthc1

soserthc1

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313
Man that Eco smart stuff set me back almost an entire cycle and cut the yield of almost every plant in half. It said on its label that it was 95% water and 5 % peppermint and rosemary oil but it killed every new growth spot on my plants and left a horride peppermint smell in my room.

Organic my ass ..... Eco smart is garbage
I'm just back harvesting plants now
 
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Noel Live

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soserthc1 said:
Man that Eco smart stuff set me back almost an entire cycle and cut the yield of almost every plant in half. It said on its label that it was 95% water and 5 % peppermint and rosemary oil but it killed every new growth spot on my plants and left a horride peppermint smell in my room.

Organic my ass ..... Eco smart is garbage
I'm just back harvesting plants now
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I'm totally with you on that, Sorser. I will never use EcoSmart again. I did not have such a horrible experience but the plants certainly did not like it. And Yes! The yeild! EcoSmart plus root aphids equals 1/3 of what I would normally end up with.
 
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