Organic Root Aphid DESTRUCTION!!

[GeorgeSmiley]

The organic version of botanigard is "Mycotrol O". Botanigard es and wp both have petroleum distillates. But all three do work effectively.


Organic tools for fighting root aphids
Pyganic
Mycotrol O
Sns203 or homemade version
Met 52
Neem cake and neem meal
Hot water dunks

It's an expensive battle with these products.

Ive found its cheaper and easier to treat small plants and maintain them with these products than fight a big outbreak in larger pots.


HTH
GS

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

Just found some in a clone tray - no sign of them elsewhere in my garden and they don't appear to have taken wing. I work in an office with 3 other growers and spend too much time at the local grow store attached to my office, so I've got plenty of potential recent points of entry.

i was gonna submerge cuttings (and cubes) entirely in neem tea for 5 minutes - do you think I should go with any of the heavier stuff if their arrival was as recent as expected?

The organic version of botanigard is "Mycotrol O". Botanigard es and wp both have petroleum distillates. But all three do work effectively.


Organic tools for fighting root aphids
Pyganic
Mycotrol O
Sns203 or homemade version
Met 52
Neem cake and neem meal
Hot water dunks

It's an expensive battle with these products.

Ive found its cheaper and easier to treat small plants and maintain them with these products than fight a big outbreak in larger pots.


HTH
GS

 

[Granger2]

My experience with Botanigard is a positive one. I took last 2 crops to harvest with vibrant health, great production, and great bud using primarily Botanigard and Nematodes. Botanigard has no detrimental effect on Nematodes.

Tips: Don't buy Nematodes locally. They have a short shelf life. Order them from Buglogical or Nature's Control. Get only the Steinernema feltiae and Steinernema carpocapsae. Use overwhelming numbers and use both at the same time.
Also, use the liquid forms of Botanigard. Mycotrol is organic. No fungal dust to breath and to get on yourself.

I will make no claims about any "Final Solution" to Root mofo Aphids. I am skeptical about any such claims. I fear that once you’ve got ‘em, you’ve got ‘em. Can’t speak with experience about chemical controls, since I grow organically. I have tried many organic control methods.

For Root Aphids, I actually don't have a strict rigid schedule. I start with the 30 minute Cedarcide immersion [with flush] before bringing the medium and containers [Aerobags with coco80%/ perlite20%] into my room. I add to the Cedarcide solution as needed, not worrying about the color of it going from white to brown.

From there on, I have the Cedarcide PCO Choice on hand, in case there is an outbreak, but haven't had to use it. About a week after transplanting to the 3 gal Aerobags, I immerse them for 20 mins. in full strength Mycotrol, and let drain. I add to the Mycotrol solution as needed, again not worrying about the color change. After that, I use Mycotrol every 2-3 weeks by watering heavily with it.

I've been ordering overwhelming numbers of Beneficial Nematodes approx. monthly. I order 30 million, use half, and store the other half no more than 10 days in fridge, then apply. These are divided between 27 3 gal bags, and to my [about 15] mothers in 6" pots.

I also spray the leaves [no roots] with Azasol, the soluble and quite a bit more systemic version of Azidiractin, at transplant, and during the 1st week of 12/12. This oil free Azidiractin causes no phytotoxicity that I've observed. Great stuff and no more expensive to use than Azamax or Azatrol. Not messy. Prevents other pests too.

My yield on the last crop was better than ever. Plants were healthy till the end, and the potency, taste, smell were great. I have gotten ample high praise on the quality from multiple consumers.

This method is by no means cheap, but it has worked, and I'm still producing quality bud, and I can still look people in the eye and say it's organic. Many chemical remedies people are using with varying success are pricey too. I'm not smoking these chemicals.

And also, I spray the floors, walls, entire outside of AeroBags with Cedarcide every once in awhile. I don't want it to penetrate into the medium because I fear for my tode buddies. I am using EJ nute line and EWC ACT's and I inoculate with Plant Success Soluble.

I can't over emphasize the usefulness of sticky traps. No only do they trap flying insects, but they serve as a harbinger. Often you'll see bugs on the traps before you see them on the plants. Good luck. -granger

 

[al-k-mist]

Has anyone tried using peppermint oil?
My bro just left and has them (aphidz) ...he was asking what Id use, hes just tried NEEM for a week(oil)..(should i give him some neem meal?).
Hes really seeing what our organic shit can do, and wants to try.
I have peppermint oil in the lab, anyone got a recipe?
Dank you
Joe

 

[SecondAttempt]

Hate to jack your thread but I've been researching and it seems nematodes are where it's at... does anybody know if nematodes will be effected by Bti? I've been using mosquito dunks.

 

[Greenheart]

The only way I was able to beat RA's was by tossing every plant in my house outside in the middle of winter. I have since read more on them whenever a thread creeps up. If you want safe organic methods trust CC with the neem cake tea. He seems to have a pretty in depth knowledge of the horticultural industry and the knowledge I have gained from his posts around here in the organic forums is beyond golden.

When I had them I tried.


Teas & Foliar-Lavender, Thyme, Oregano, Cilantro, Chives, Garlic, Cloves, Tarragon, Orange Peel, Spearmint, Peppermint


Oil Extracts-Neem, Lavender, Peppermint, Ecalyptus, Lemon, Organacide (mainly a fish oil)


In a final attempt I tried pure 3% h202 undilluted dunks. Shortly after that Mrs. GH and I had a major blowout and every plant in my house ended up as a frozen compost pile in my front yard. I never tried hot water dunks or nematodes and probably could have benefited from the untapped knowledge around the organic forums at the time but life is a learning curve and thankfully those evil little flying bombers haven't been back. I saw one hit my worm bin when I first started it but with all the crab meal and neem/karanja cake in everything none of his buddies ever joined the party and I trapped him in the rubbermaid with no hope of escape. It's been a couple months now so I'm pretty certain he became worm chow and didn't cause any havoc.

*As GeorgeSmiley said it's much easier to battle them in smaller containers.
**I also tried Daitomaceous Earth.

 

[Linkedlight]

I used Bacillus Thuringiensis and my fungus gnat problems have disappeared for the time being. The plants look a lot nicer and happier a week later. A few clones on death's door have made it that normally wouldn't.

I'm currently using Beauveria Bassiana to get my whitefly infestation under control. You might also want to see if powdered mosquito dunk (Bacillus Thuringiensis) sprinkled on the top of soil before watering will help.

I'll keep you posted on how well Beauveria Bassiana works on my whiteflies. The idea that a fungus will eat them from the inside out makes me morbidly . I used pepper wax spray and it did help protect them and I might of kept it up if I didn't feel like I was being pepper sprayed every time I used it.

 

[ozzieAI]

i successfully used neem oil in high doses to beat my current RA issue...

check link below...

 

[Granger2]

Couple of notes: BT, BTi, and Botanigard do not harm Nematodes. They are non segmented worms, not larvae.

I haven't heard of any resistance in pests treated with Botanigard, but anything is possible. Even if true, it doesn't mean that your herd of pests has any resistance. Good luck. -granger

 

[Scottish Research]

I have one plant that seems to be infected with these pests. I initially tried a neem solution drench, however that did not work; besides the fact that I'm not convinced about neem's all around efficacy in treating most anything.

From what I have read it is critical to make your preferred insecticide solution and then remove the plant from its container and immerse the plants root ball in this solution for a minimum of 4 minutes up to 10 minutes; it is important to treat all plants in your room.

I have heard that Ortho Orthene, Azamax and Botanigard solutions work well with repeated treatments... but that said I don't want to use a systemic poison like Orthene.

I also really don't like the pricing on the other 2 organic insecticides.

I was hoping that a Spinosad solution might work.

Can anyone share a success story? and what did you employ to kill them?

Thanks!

R.Fortune

 

[BlueJayWay]

Neem is not an instant fix - applications every few days and then back off to every week, then back off to every couple weeks or whatever.

...neem seed meal in the soil mix, compost and vermicompost - neem seed topdressed at each and every transplant, neem seed tea to feed the plants every couple weeks or once a month.....I live with a fluctuating population of FU gnats and RA, they inevitably come back, but never in a crazy infestation type manner, and they always die back and they never cause a detriment to the crops.

Neem is an intricate part of my program - IPM and plant health/nutrients - never considered an instant or one time fix.

 

[BlueJayWay]

It might be worth noting - I've actually used much much less NSM teas since I started regularly sprinkling NSM at every transplant, or mixing a little with vermicompost and topdressing with that....

 

[ozzieAI]

Can anyone share a success story? and what did you employ to kill them?
Thanks!
R.Fortune

i can see you are not a fan of neem but it has worked very well for me on RA. my usual dose is 5ml/litre/week and to hit the RA i bumped it up to 12ml/litre.

Neem is an intricate part of my program - IPM and plant health/nutrients - never considered an instant or one time fix.

absolutely..i have only just found a source of NSM and look forward to using less oil in the future..