Root Aphids

I believe I have these guys. Couldnt figure out what was going on, half way through flower on last run things started looking bad. Like a severe deficiency, or nute burn. This time around sort of the same. First half of flower looked fine, and then they started looking off, and stopped taking up water, or putting on size, and 1/4 of them have slowly starting wilting and are dead.

So I pulled one up and checked the roots and sure enough I see what I believe is a root aphid. It is red in color, unlike the white ones Ive seen in pics. No flying ones that I have seen either.

Question is there any way to salvage the veg room and clones I have left?
Can I treat the clones I have, which are only a week old and in cups? Really would like to save those.
The moms I was thinking of taking more clones off of and tossing, along with all the Coco and pots I have.

What is the best thing to treat them with? I am not opposed to using a big gun on this issue. Had broad mites in the past and Avid/Forbid was the only thing that worked.

I already use OG Biowar, have not been treating as frequently lately though.

I am going to do more research, but wanted to start this thread just to get some feedback.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Bayer tree and shrub will kill them . They make two kinds one for ornamentals and one for citrus trees I believe . The only difference is the concentration of imid (the active ingredient) . It's nasty stuff , kills bees if you use it outside . Imid was at one time the most widely used pesticide in the world even in food crops .

I would use either root cleaner, or plant therapy at 10 mls per gallonas soil drench

Investigate the half-life in imid, especially in soil. Then remember it is "half-life", not zero residual.

Thanks for the reply's guys.
Dont want to do it but getting Imid and Acephate. Dont want to mess around, want these gone. Never seen them before and never want to see them again.

Also got Root cleaner, which Ive heard only pisses them off. But that and caps should get me through the last few weeks til harvest.

You don't need the imid to kill the bastards. The Acephate and pyrethrin is all you need. Mfgr says imid kills for a year, so what makes you think its safe to use at any stage in a 3-5 month plant. Plus, it's systemic. Good luck. -granger

Granger2 said:

You don't need the imid to kill the bastards. The Acephate and pyrethrin is all you need. Mfgr says imid kills for a year, so what makes you think its safe to use at any stage in a 3-5 month plant. Plus, it's systemic. Good luck. -granger

Click to expand...

Did some reading about the riptide cure.

I am in coco, does this work as well as in soil? What is the best way of not frying my plants when I use it?

Would much rather not use imid if I didn't have to.

thanks for the heads up

Research pH as relates to app of Acephate/Riptide in coco. That info is in the sticky
"Fungus Gnats or Winged Root Aphids."

i had a bad infestation of root aphids. i successfully killed them using organic pyrethrins, synthetic pyrethrins and diatomaceous earth in recycled organic soil. it took several treatments. unlike spider mites which I've easily killed a few times the root aphid eggs could lie dormant. i used the diatomaceous earth on the unused soil (after letting it dry out). edited

idiit said:

I got root aphids in some newly purchased soil and I treated it with organic and synthetic pyrethrins. the treatment seems to have killed the bugs but also severely stunted my oger kush females including root balls. things are recovering nicely and i'll post when I get thru flower.

Click to expand...

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=8038134&highlight=aphids#post8038134



the reason i say i was successful is that i haven't seen any root aphids ( or any other bugs in my soil) for a couple of months now.


i did not lose any plants. all my plants were torn up between the root aphids and the treatment and it took months to recover.


now here's where the howls may begin; the source of organic and synthetic pyrethrins was Raid Flea Killer Plus. i upended the pots, removed the root ball and sprayed the outside of the root ball and the inside of the pot. i also sprayed on the outside pot undersides ( i would sometimes see several root aphids try to escape the spray through drainage holes to the outside of the container) and i did room sprays (aerial).


I was the only person posting how Raid Flea Killer Plus kills spider mites easily and effectively without losing important clone moms. now, i'm the only person that's posting that Raid Flea Killer Plus effectively killed a heavy root aphid infestation. I've been successfully using Raid Flea Killer Plus for 25 years.

Granger2 said:

Research pH as relates to app of Acephate/Riptide in coco. That info is in the sticky
"Fungus Gnats or Winged Root Aphids."

Click to expand...

Read through a lot of the thread, from what I gathered, make sure the ph is right. Water with full strength nutes until plenty of runoff after the dunk and keep the lights high and the burn will be minimal.
Anything you can add would be great.

The plants I'm treating are clones in cups. Small rootballs. Would imagine They would be more vulnearable to getting burned. So want to take any measures to cause the least amount of damage I can while still taking out the aphids.

Thanks

Yes, pH. -granger

I don't think Raid Flea Killer Plus is an answer for everyone. there are other ways to kill root aphids. There is tremendous cognitive bias against the Raid brand. from my study of Raid Flea Killer Plus it is simply organic and synthetic pyrethrins with a propellant for aerosol application. ppl think poison when they see the Raid brand and probably deservedly so based on their other products.


Synthetic and organic pyrethrins coupled with heavy diaotameceous earth on dried out organic soil is effective. I constantly check my pots and have found one or two root aphids in the last couple of days in one potted plant but +9/10 potted plants are now clear. these were heavily infested with root aphids. after the plant is culled and if I find even one root aphid I spray the rootball with RFK+ again, let the root ball sit in the container to dry out. then check the root ball again to ensure the one or two surviving root aphids died and then store the dry root ball broken up in buckets liberally sprinkled with DE.


I store any dry soil that doesn't have a plant in it (potted) in buckets liberally sprinkled with DE.


Cognitive bias ( again, probably deservedly so based on Raid's other products) has kept the cannabis community from using RFK+. PPl can get synthetic and organic pyrethrins and DE without using RFK+. this combination of synthetic and organic pyrethrins coupled with DE correctly applied does work. that's the point I was trying to make. I don't care if ppl want to hate RFK+. we just need something that works.


cognitive bias: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-29/every-single-cognitive-bias-one-infographic


synthetic and organic pyrethrins coupled with DE has worked for me. it doesn't matter where you source the necessary ingredients. I use water ph corrected to 6 in recycled organic soil. this method needs an established root ball for the plant to survive the treatment.

headees said:

Did some reading about the riptide cure.

I am in coco, does this work as well as in soil? What is the best way of not frying my plants when I use it?

Would much rather not use imid if I didn't have to.

thanks for the heads up

Click to expand...

Riptide is a cure for root aphids like a bullet in the brain cures cancer.
Just use the acephate part of the combo "cure" and skip the riptide.
I like idiit's comments on pyrethrins[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

imid - bayer fruit and veggy or similar keeps bugs from feeding on the plant, takes 2 - 4 weeks to distribute through plant - use once
bifen - ortho home defense kills young and adults till the imid works, spray or root drench
nylar maybe to stop young from maturing
spreader sticker - a surfactant

Research the half life of the imid (which has systemic properties). Hint, it is not measured in hours, days or weeks.

the point of imid is that it is systemic. keeps the whitefies, etc from being able to feed on the plant.
in veggies, it can be used up to 2-4 weeks before harvest.
here in AZ, whiteflies can hardly be controlled without it. much resistance.

i have some plants that the whiteflies and root aphids are back on after 8 weeks of bloom. tells me that the Imid is pretty much gone now. At 10 weeks now, the whiteflies are getting rambunctious again.

but i'm all for using sm90 to get rid of them, if it would work.

IPM

IPM

OK guys, I've been working on an IPM program for my grow.

I have been terrorized by root aphids and whiteflies.

These critters have been making me long for the days of fungus gnats, lol.
Or even spider mites and thrips.

The Borg were easy, Thrips were tough till i got Spinosad.

I know some folks don't like Imid use, but there is no other effective control for whiteflies.

All clones and seedlings get a shot of Imid (i use dominion) at about a week or two after planting. Seedlings when they get where they can be watered normally, usually after the stem hardens a bit.

Also a shot of Bifen. Bifenthrin I/T. about a 7% concentrate.

I use maybe a teaspoon (5ml) a gallon of each. I mix it right into a gallon of Nutrient Solution.

The Imid will make it impossible for the Whiteflies to feed on the plants but takes a weeks or two to distribute through the plant. The Bifen is an effective adulticide, but neither the Bifen nor the Imid will kill eggs or Young, well they might, but not effectively enough, the root aphids will be back just as bad in a few days after their eggs hatch.

Enter Nylar. Spendy at 20 bucks for 4 ounces. that's 4 gallons worth.
Nylar was the turning point for me. It is an Insect Growth Regulator. It keeps egss and nymphs from being able to reach adulthood. No adults, no new eggs.

So Bifen for the immediate kill. Imid to innoculate the plant from future attacks, and Nylar to break the life cycle of the bastards.

I reapply Bifen a week or two after the first time.

Imid should be a one time use in early veg. I like to give it plenty of time before bloom. It can be used right after flipping, but I would not uses it then unless it is a long blooming strain. I've use it on my Cheese during the stretch, and by the time it's done the Whiteflies are back. Hopefully the Nylar stops them.

Mixed in nutes I use my death to bugs cocktail as a root drench. But mixed in water they may be sprayed on leaves so you can wipe soak the whitefy eggs on the bottoms of leaves.

As my whitefly infested girls in bloom get chopped, the next ones coming will have been treated with Nylar so the Whiteflies should be gone by the time they get to the bloom room.

The root aphids are easy, because you just drench the roots, the leaves top and bottom of leaves sucks.

So far no root aphids have been seen in treated pots.

I use coco, and have not been reusing my coco because of all the bugs, now I can save a little money on coco again.

I do also use Montery Spinosad for thrips.

I like to spray Physan 20 on surfaces after washing them. Especially on cloners, trays, etc and let it dry on it.

I would love to hear any better IPM strategies anyone has.

Good information, Did you get any negative reactions on your plans?

Thanks
Mike