Root aphids: discovery leading to a question

The discovery: while prepping some clone plugs for cuttings, I saw a live root aphid on a plug. After a closer look, I found dozens of aphid eggs embedded inside ALL the plugs. The brand does not matter here because this can happen to any organic material during storage, manufacturing, etc. I keep a pretty clean room and I was confident (ha!) that I caught it early. I chucked all the plugs and started with a fresh batch. This time I inspected and boiled them before taking cuttings. All seemed OK... Fast forward about 2 weeks -> I had some friends watch my girls while I was out of town. I'm grateful for their help, but I returned to find some flying pests which I quickly identified as adult root aphids. If there are "flyers" already, the situation underground is gonna be really bad - I guess I had already used some infested plugs... damn.

The question: when there are adult-stage root aphids in a garden, would a thick layer of rice hulls or DE or green sand on the soil's surface help keep them from breeding? - Or is ALL their reproduction occurring underground and more adult flyers will just keep emerging regardless of a surface barrier?

I'm not looking for suggestions like BTI, beneficial bugs, nematodes, etc. I'm more interested in learning WHERE their breeding occurs and HOW they get to the area where they lay eggs.

- Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

They lay eggs on the lower leaves & or in the soil. None if the things you suggested will stop them breeding demascus earth is supposed to be fine & sharp enough to affect the pupae somehow but Ive heard mixed opinions on it

Yes. That's exactly what I've read too, but I have been searching & searching with a very strong loupe and can't find any eggs under the leaves, on any stem, or anywhere on the plant (above the soil). Just below the soil surface though, I see eggs. So I wondered if I can block them from getting out into the tent & breeding with a physical barrier. But if they breed under the soil also, then obviously that won't work.

In my experience, BTI does actually work on the larvae but I need to apply it 3 or 4 times over a couple weeks to really see a difference and it doesn't kill eggs. I've also had good luck with neem drench, but that's not an option once they're close to flowering.

Well OK, maybe now I'm looking for a few "outta the box" suggestions on conquering these little bastards in an organic soil, perpetual garden.

Thanks!

bubbadun1 said:

The discovery: while prepping some clone plugs for cuttings, I saw a live root aphid on a plug. After a closer look, I found dozens of aphid eggs embedded inside ALL the plugs. The brand does not matter here because this can happen to any organic material during storage, manufacturing, etc. I keep a pretty clean room and I was confident (ha!) that I caught it early. I chucked all the plugs and started with a fresh batch. This time I inspected and boiled them before taking cuttings. All seemed OK... Fast forward about 2 weeks -> I had some friends watch my girls while I was out of town. I'm grateful for their help, but I returned to find some flying pests which I quickly identified as adult root aphids. If there are "flyers" already, the situation underground is gonna be really bad - I guess I had already used some infested plugs... damn.

The question: when there are adult-stage root aphids in a garden, would a thick layer of rice hulls or DE or green sand on the soil's surface help keep them from breeding? - Or is ALL their reproduction occurring underground and more adult flyers will just keep emerging regardless of a surface barrier?

I'm not looking for suggestions like BTI, beneficial bugs, nematodes, etc. I'm more interested in learning WHERE their breeding occurs and HOW they get to the area where they lay eggs.

- Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Click to expand...

it would as they colonized at the soil level right below and they mostly come in my experience from either another grower brigning them unknowingly on clothes into your grow or the plugs as you pointed out are usually infested due to the state they have to be stored in being a breeding pit for them basically. my response would be to use a combo of all 3. in my experience using various methods on a repetitive cycle for 2 week alternating treatments should help em

I started using plugs because I got lazy -> lesson learned on that one. I guess I'll throw a few things at them at once, but I'm also gonna experiment and cover a couple pots with rice hulls & diatomaceous earth and see if it makes any difference. Thanks.

Big time exterminator 15ml-30mL per gallon, bigtimegardens.com Tried and true and organic. start with 30mL back down after a week. they should be almost all gone.