Soil is ready. But there’s aphids!!!
- Thread starter myke
- Start date
printer
Well-Known Member
I want to try some soil next time abd will be baking it in batches along with the chocolate cookies. Well maybe not the cookies, Have some of the little buggers at the moment, continuous grow. Sticky strips helps.
kratos015
Well-Known Member
Did you actually temp your soil when it was cooking? Cooking = decomposing. The composting process can reach temps over 150F, if your soil actually managed to get that high while it was cooking/composting then you likely killed off any eggs that were in the soil.
I wouldn't recommend freezing them out. Some aphids can actually survive temps below 0F, especially eggs. Worse off, the freezing cold will be brutal on your microbes effectively nullifying all the work you did cooking the soil.
Add some neem meal into the soil before you pot it, if you haven't already. Then top dress with it religiously. Neem for veg, Karanja for flower.
As "printer" above recommended, sticky strips will help for anything that managed to survive. Diatomaceous Earth will also help, but that shit loves to clump.
myke
Well-Known Member
Yes,sticky traps confirm.
Whatever way you do this, just make sure you probe the center of the soil with an instant read thermometer or something, and keep the temperature at that point for a good hour or so and I think you'll be good. Of course you'll be killing off most other lifeforms in your soil by doing this (except thermophilic bacteria), but you can always reinoculate it with some fresh worm castings afterwards.
If you positively confirmed these to be root aphids (Pemphigus sp.) I think you did the right thing rather than spend a lot of time with expensive options trying to control them throughout the lifetime of your medium. Trust me, you don't want that headache. So the best two choices are either dedicate the soil to an outside garden bed, or sterilize (sanitize) it like you're doing if you want to bring it indoors.
myke
Well-Known Member
Thanks,what is a safe temp? 140-150f?
I think anywhere above 140f should be fine (IMO). Just ensure it stays at your target temperature for enough time (1 hour minimum I'd say, but even longer might be safer).
Possibly rice root aphids, but kind hard to tell with them stuck to the card. How big are they? Rice root aphids are just under 2.5mm long, and their wings (in winged phase) are about twice as long as their body. They've become a common pest in indoor cannabis grows, including huge commercial grows. Here's some info: https://entomologytoday.org/2020/07/24/rice-root-aphid-indoor-grown-cannabis-integrated-pest-management/
I still think you're doing the right thing through.
Sup Im BirDy
Well-Known Member
Get mosquito bits, they kill aphid larva and then yellow sticky traps for the flyers. Also because they are there you are watering too heavy. Next time you make a soil throw the bits in there and it will be a precautionary action and be sure to keep it moist and not soaking. I even throw the mosquito bits in my soil when I’m planting
Yup, start cooking then, and kill 'em all! lol
I've never heard any BT (like mosquito bits) or other biological control effective against this particular pest. Heck, even very few pesticides are 100% effective, and the ones that were are banned in every country that has any kind of regulations. Apparently Hypoaspis miles can help, but not eliminate them because rice root aphids spend time deeper in your soil than Hypoaspis are willing to go. So fire up the kitchen oven or have the BBQ.
Use apple wood chips along with the hickory for great smoke quality. Oh shit, sorry... forgot these aren't pork back ribs! No matter, a BBQ is beer cracking time no matter what's on the grill. Even aphid infected soil! hahaha
But yeah, lid on
myke
Well-Known Member
It’s been an hour. The meat probe doesn’t get a reading Too loose I guess. My infrared one works good though. It’s been 1/2 hr and it’s just getting to 140fUse apple wood chips along with the hickory for great smoke quality. Oh shit, sorry... forgot these aren't pork back ribs! No matter, a BBQ is beer cracking time no matter what's on the grill. Even aphid infected soil! hahaha
But yeah, lid on