Root aphids?

[medicalmj]

There seems to be some confusion around here between Root Aphids and more common Aphids that attack the foliage, and secrete "honeydew" that ants love. -granger

Well if you look at the pic of pest in question, the real confusion is between RA's and soil mites. The pic is a mite, a harmless soil mite.

But yeah, being that I am not a RA expert, some clarification as to what species of aphids are "herded" by ants is in order. Makes sense that the RA's I've seen aren't the herded type.

 

[miscbrah3284]

do lady bugs help at all? what about mosquito dunks? go gnats as a drench?

 

[medicalmj]

do lady bugs help at all? what about mosquito dunks? go gnats as a drench?

On Root aphids or soil mites?

No for both. Imidacloprid is your best bet for RA's. I have that and acetamiprid (Tristar), which is better but harder to get.

The bug in the pic is a soil mite. I just don't get why people insist on trying to kill something that:

A. is harmless
B. is in every sq inch of healthy forest soil
C. and good luck killing them...

 

[Granger2]

Ladybugs are above ground only. Nematodes will attack RA's. Water them into the medium. Read the RA Sticky for a tonne of info. -granger

 

[medicalmj]

I think they are legs but not 100% sure. I did some searching and they look kinda like hypoaspis mites. Most of what I am reading about hypoaspis mites is they stay n the top layer of the soil, and don't harm the plants at all. What is scary is the plants are not looking so hot and these things are everywhere.

@Megayields have you encountered these before?, do they cause damage?

Figure em out? I tried killing soil mites with all this stuff and more to no avail. In the end they were after there b/c I had a root rot problem that was spread by FGs...

Notice the $450 pint of Pylon. It's the best miticide on the market I drenched the ef out of em. Killed em but they were back in a week.

 

[diseasedmind]

lol WoW you really don't lie bugs in your soil. No after your last post I decided to hold off on attacking them. I fine tuned a few things to see if maybe that is causing the problems I was blaming on these mites. high heat was my biggest problem but cool tube seemed to fix that.

you positive they do no damage?, because midway through flowering my plants really start looking like shit. this has happened the last 3 runs by week 7 all my fan leaves are gone. this run I have my temps under 80, going to run grow nutes until week2 of flower, and added lime to my soil mix to keep the ph in check. If shit goes down hill mid flower again I don't know what I am gonna do, because I am out of I deas as to what is causing the problems.

thanks for all the help guys

 

[medicalmj]

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you positive they do no damage?, because midway through flowering my plants really start looking like shit. this has happened the last 3 runs by week 7 all my fan leaves are gone. this run I have my temps under 80, going to run grow nutes until week2 of flower, and added lime to my soil mix to keep the ph in check. If shit goes down hill mid flower again I don't know what I am gonna do, because I am out of I deas as to what is causing the problems.

thanks for all the help guys

All I can say is that I still have them and my plants are doing great! But I lost sleep over em. Had exact same problems with the mid flowering fade and had these things.

 

[diseasedmind]

All I can say is that I still have them and my plants are doing great! But I lost sleep over em. Had exact same problems with the mid flowering fade and had these things.

your plants are doing great, are you in veg or flower? mine always look pretty good in veg with these things, just mid flower they take a dive. Have you had a successful flower with them in the soil? If so did you find out what was causing the mid flower fade?

 

[medicalmj]

your plants are doing great, are you in veg or flower? mine always look pretty good in veg with these things, just mid flower they take a dive. Have you had a successful flower with them in the soil? If so did you find out what was causing the mid flower fade?

I am at day 28 and I have trich covered buds beautiful white hairs with green leaves pointing skyward. I have CO2 going, best looking at 28 in a loooong time. While my last harvest was a little weak, they finished with healthy leaves and solid nugs. I totally nuked the roots at about week one of flwr so they never filled out the space but recovered and mites returned. I was all but one in hydro, RDWC. Got some hydro now and some "coco-ton" going.

And the best I can tell these guys like fungus and decaying matter. My worst times were when I had a mild FG population. I think they were spreading rot. So after some research and lots of time with the scope I believe these (I have 2) species is adapted to an aquatic environment and will feed on decay/rot or fungus.

I took up compost tea, and feeding in mycorrhizae and other beneficial stuff in place of all the other sh*t I was using to attack. My guess is they have taken a liking to the fungus and bacteria I am feeding them.

 

[diseasedmind]

awesome, that's good to hear that your plants are looking good in flower. I have everything fine tuned now so hopefully I can get mine back on track too.

 

[medicalmj]

Just to be sure check images of the mites and if possible watch their habits under a scope' Here's one of the species I have:

Google Histiostomatidae-Mites: Mouthparts and Feeding

 

[nofriend]

Root aphid hondeydew

Root aphid hondeydew

There seems to be some confusion around here between Root Aphids and more common Aphids that attack the foliage, and secrete "honeydew" that ants love. -granger

I am certain that the white fungus looking spots in the soil and the plant stock is in fact a root aphid honeydew being secreted. Ants could surely have the same symbiotic relationship with root aphids as other aphids.

I cant recall which forum I read it on but one individual said he had root aphids then he treated them with a pesticide then he saw the ants come in and physically remove all the root aphids in an effort to save them.

 

[medicalmj]

I am certain that the white fungus looking spots in the soil and the plant stock is in fact a root aphid honeydew being secreted. Ants could surely have the same symbiotic relationship with root aphids as other aphids.

I cant recall which forum I read it on but one individual said he had root aphids then he treated them with a pesticide then he saw the ants come in and physically remove all the root aphids in an effort to save them.

I think ants are what made RAs subterranean critters in the first place. I am pretty sure, unless i was just really baked, that I seen a show on how ants will sequester em their underground hideouts and turn em out..forcing them into, well uh, cows for ants. Can't prove it, but it sure makes sense.

 

[Granger2]

What I read in an article from U Conn Ag Dept, was that that secretion, which I've also seen, is waxy, and very hard to get rid off. It's not honeydew. The emulsifier in Cedarcide PCO Choice helps carry it away, I believe. The article stated that immersing the medium for 20 mins in insecticide soap solution gets rid of it, along with 98-99% of the RA's. My experience with insecticide soap is that you need to flush thoroughly right away because the soap will burn the roots.

BTW, the insecticide soap was as effective in killing them as any chemical insecticide in their trials. That included Imid. Good luck. -granger

 

[Bongstar420]

This is true, but you won't find anyone who actually makes money doing it. This is for the people who don't count all the costs associated with the grow.

You try this in a commercial op and let me know how much profit you're raking in as a consequence.

Home growers are getting skirted with all these non-commercially viable options. This is because the people selling the stuff are profiting as though they were pumping out the chron instead, though they are not.

Its like I tell people with store vegetables. You get what you pay for, and if your home grow is "better," you probably are paying much more and much of that "payment" is your time and effort. There is no way you could bring your superior home grown quality to the masses in a cost effective manner. This leads most people to the conclusion that their status is higher than it is and to think they could get much better quality for a lower price than is realistically possible.

The waxy coating is to protect them from the soil solution. Without the coating, they are much more susceptible susceptible to toxins and diseases. Any insecticidal soap will do to cut through the waxy coating (I.E. Potassium laurate/oleate).

What I read in an article from U Conn Ag Dept, was that that secretion, which I've also seen, is waxy, and very hard to get rid off. It's not honeydew. The emulsifier in Cedarcide PCO Choice helps carry it away, I believe. The article stated that immersing the medium for 20 mins in insecticide soap solution gets rid of it, along with 98-99% of the RA's. My experience with insecticide soap is that you need to flush thoroughly right away because the soap will burn the roots.

BTW, the insecticide soap was as effective in killing them as any chemical insecticide in their trials. That included Imid. Good luck. -granger