Root Aphids... The Silent Killers

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Sinner D

Sinner D

150
43
I've used this GnatMix crap to no avail for a month or so. I'm in my right mind to do as you guys and gals say and get the triazicide and Merit. I HAVE done nothing but piss the little twats off using Azamax as a root drench. Thank goodness I bought the grow store out of yellow sticky traps or my youngest child might have been carried away by RA's. I'll find the triazicide and Merit pronto and get back to ya's. Thanks for the tips Seamaiden, SHIRDABZALOT.
 
G

Gnarlz

2
1
Hello all, for one I am new to this site. I have some questions about Root aphids. My first grow went superb. Fatbuds. Potent as hell. Just not as many as I would have liked to grow...Im a stoner and a half my self and go through it quick. Next grow I got fungus gnats...they were lame but I just washed the buds with H202 water. Bugs were everywhere. I used masquito dunks, Neem, DE,you name it. Next few grows Ive been struck with some fucked up luck. These root aphids. I want to nuke em. HOWEVER I WILL NOT USE ANY SORT OF EVEN SEMI HARSH PESTICIDES. I am sticktly organic. Which can be a pain. Ive used everything. My last grow sucked balls yeild wise thank to those bastards. Ive used so many items. Neem oil, h202, sm90, takedown garden spray, caliclean spray, spinosad, pyrithrin, byrithrin, and more. Ive recently started using OG Bio War, Root Pack, Nute Pack and Foliar Pack, used to be called Caps Bennies I guess. Ive also recently gotten into teas. Im very picky. I love this brand Dragonfly Earth Medicine. Its got a lot of beneficial bacterica and microbes as well. All natural real good shit. In fact it smells good when it brews...lol...so heres my question. Will the root aphids actually perish and keep my girls from getting sick (more bugs or WPM)? Thank you.

I'm usually the last person to go nuclear on pests (for instance Ill freeze my rooms out, dunk with ice water, and literally blast spider mites off fan leaves with ice water; successfully), but dealing with RA's twice now I dont even try to stay "organic" .The first time trying EVERY SINGLE THING but the nuclear option and lost the whole crop. The second time were genetics I was not willing to lose. I luckily caught them crawling around a few tops of the pots on moms so I said f it, went and got a $20 bottle of imid from home depot and one and done.

I've used Evergreen, Azamax, Botanigard, Neemix, Azidaracticin(sp?) Valencia...basically EVERY option I could legally use in the Colorado industry. IMO do NOT waste your money on any of those products besides Botanigard. This was the only product that I was able to mix up a 10ML/gal mix in a 5 gal bucket and did root ball drenches on 2 different strains half of each getting dunked. ALL of the plants that got dunked had visible dead aphids the next day; but that's not to say they're all gone and how much stress do you want to give your production plants in veg doing concentrated dunks when all you see is the outside of the root ball. How many are still alive inside the root system?

IMO if you get root aphids in veg, hack everything, clean clean clean clean, and start over. If you get them in flower; I did get them in week 3 of flower in a tray of Star Dawgs and an aggressive botanigard drench (500ML/40gal) every water/feed with a weekly clear water flush got them all the way to the end. Theywere under dual endeds, in tupur, and still got 1.9/light and hit over 20%. The plants looked deathly hah but it worked.

At the end of the day if someone could PLEASE explain theyre super secret to how to get rid of root aphids for good (besides Imid (Promi-s, Mallet, Merit etc..) PLEEEASE. Ill take spider mites over these bugs from the devil himself any day of the week.

One last thing, if you do decide to use any "safe" products make sure to use a wetting agent since aphids are soft bodied this aids in the penetration of the active ingredient. Also, if you do see a root aphid unless its a cut you just cant let go of or its a genetic NO one has, just kill it. The root aphid battle is not worth it if you are not willing to go the Imid route.

HTH

Edit: IMO gnatnix is not worth it. I top dress my moms with it just for fungus gnats and it "works" but after about 3-4 months of moms dropping dead foliage that has fallen is just creating a perfect environment for gnats and soil predators so even gnatnix isn't really worth it IMO. Its best function is really acting as a mulch to help keep moisture in your pots longer.
 
Last edited:
Hempry

Hempry

35
18
maybe after all that, look into importing some Lacewing larva..? They'll eat all emerged stages of RAs like candy
 
G

Gnarlz

2
1
maybe after all that, look into importing some Lacewing larva..? They'll eat all emerged stages of RAs like candy

Could you elaborate a little more on what you mean? If I ever do get RAs again im spending the money on heavy weekly nematode applications.
 
Homesteader

Homesteader

3,473
263
Soil mites small
 
Hempry

Hempry

35
18
Could you elaborate a little more on what you mean? If I ever do get RAs again im spending the money on heavy weekly nematode applications.
Like I say they only control emerged aphid stages so more like a preventitive or to help contain an outbreak. Here's the write up from the the bug factory in BC Canada. They are about $50 for 500
Chrysopa
, better known as green lacewing, is a predator that often spontaneously occurs in greenhouses and open fields. The larvae are extremely greedy and efficient against aphids. The adults are fragile, light green insects with long, transparent, fine-veined wings and golden eyes. The adult green lacewing is no predator but feeds with nectar, honeydew and pollen.

Larvae are cannibalistic. If they don’t have an adequate supply of aphids they will eat each other. Because of this they are preferably used to control aphid outbreaks and not greatly beneficial as a preventative agent. They are really effective on short crops such as strawberry.

Advantages:

  • The activity of Chrysopa carnea hardly depends on temperature and does not depend on relative humidity. The larvae work from 12°C to 35°C and can therefore also be introduced in open fields.
  • As they are rather primitive insects, there is a fairly good resistance against different pesticides.
  • The larvae are very agressive and very efficient in hot spots. One larva can eat up to 50 aphids per day.
  • Chrysopa carnea is a predator that does not only eat different kinds of aphids, but also other insects like red spider mites, thrips, white flies, etc.
 
K

Kayamon

11
1
See ive tried all these were talking about here. Not Met 52 Though. Im like a growshop myself. I have practically every product most grow shops in my 50 surrounding miles has. To battle bugs to the death. Sea maiden talked about Biowar. Has anyone else. I have all 3 packs the seem to be working. But I want more knowledge about folks that have actually used it as well.


check this feed br0sef, https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/root-aphid-annhiliation-pics.54240/
 
firemanelaflare

firemanelaflare

98
33
I'm usually the last person to go nuclear on pests (for instance Ill freeze my rooms out, dunk with ice water, and literally blast spider mites off fan leaves with ice water; successfully), but dealing with RA's twice now I dont even try to stay "organic" .The first time trying EVERY SINGLE THING but the nuclear option and lost the whole crop. The second time were genetics I was not willing to lose. I luckily caught them crawling around a few tops of the pots on moms so I said f it, went and got a $20 bottle of imid from home depot and one and done.

I've used Evergreen, Azamax, Botanigard, Neemix, Azidaracticin(sp?) Valencia...basically EVERY option I could legally use in the Colorado industry. IMO do NOT waste your money on any of those products besides Botanigard. This was the only product that I was able to mix up a 10ML/gal mix in a 5 gal bucket and did root ball drenches on 2 different strains half of each getting dunked. ALL of the plants that got dunked had visible dead aphids the next day; but that's not to say they're all gone and how much stress do you want to give your production plants in veg doing concentrated dunks when all you see is the outside of the root ball. How many are still alive inside the root system?

IMO if you get root aphids in veg, hack everything, clean clean clean clean, and start over. If you get them in flower; I did get them in week 3 of flower in a tray of Star Dawgs and an aggressive botanigard drench (500ML/40gal) every water/feed with a weekly clear water flush got them all the way to the end. Theywere under dual endeds, in tupur, and still got 1.9/light and hit over 20%. The plants looked deathly hah but it worked.

At the end of the day if someone could PLEASE explain theyre super secret to how to get rid of root aphids for good (besides Imid (Promi-s, Mallet, Merit etc..) PLEEEASE. Ill take spider mites over these bugs from the devil himself any day of the week.

One last thing, if you do decide to use any "safe" products make sure to use a wetting agent since aphids are soft bodied this aids in the penetration of the active ingredient. Also, if you do see a root aphid unless its a cut you just cant let go of or its a genetic NO one has, just kill it. The root aphid battle is not worth it if you are not willing to go the Imid route.

HTH

Edit: IMO gnatnix is not worth it. I top dress my moms with it just for fungus gnats and it "works" but after about 3-4 months of moms dropping dead foliage that has fallen is just creating a perfect environment for gnats and soil predators so even gnatnix isn't really worth it IMO. Its best function is really acting as a mulch to help keep moisture in your pots longer.
I've used merit 75 with botainigard and yes the shit works and you are right you can't see what goes on inside the root ball but I think if you keep your microbe activity high the aphids won't be able to take up residence im using og biowar now and it just seems like root aphids and mites are just a part of growing just spray and root Drench as a preventive
 
firemanelaflare

firemanelaflare

98
33
None of those are going to work against RAs. You can try some BioWar, or Met52. But the other products will, in my experience, literally piss off the female flyers into an epic population explosion.
Why not predatory nematodes
 

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