Aphids... what the?

[JohnEmad]

Not sure where they came from this time of year but i have found aphids infesting my grow.

Looked up other threads on them and went online to see what I could use to rid my plants of them.
Several choices like homemade garlic/pepper solution, insecticidal soaps, Spinosad( not in Canada that I can find) and more.
I have opted for 2 treatments.
1. ISO at 50/50 for the initial treatment. sprayed all surfaces with lights out.

2. Harvest Miracle by Bio Labs. A copper and sulfur solution used at 50 ml per liter. Will spray this at lights out on all surfaces and have added it to the nutrient solution at .5 ml per liter and will water through.

friggin aphids.

Have to use non toxic of course so lets see what happens.

Will respray every 3 days after this.

Any comments about your experiences are appreciated.

[Rwise]

I have used the ISO/water 50/50 it works well, does need to be retreated at least 3 times.
Do you see any ants? Ants move them around and will bring them to your plants, they also milk them for the sweet shit.

[JohnEmad]

No ants farming the aphids. Just the little juice sucking pests.

[Farmbuck]

Darn !! Sorry to hear that John.

[DW2]

Howdy JohnEmad, If You can find it, the plant based AzaMax works very well especially with the plant sucking/eating pests. It is not an over night cure as it interferes with their reproductive cycle to get rid of the pests. It is safe to use up 24 hours prior to the harvest. I add it directly into my reservoirs where the plants take it up and it becomes systemic. It is ingested by the bugs as they feed. It can also be applied as a foilar spray.

[JohnEmad]

I looked into Neem products and decided against using them due to differing reports on it being safe for humans or not long term.
It is effective but I would rather see less contradiction about it.

[Cali]

DW2 isn’t that AzaMax just Neem? I know for a fact Aza is short for Azadirachtin which they get from the Neem tree. I’m just wondering how it’s safe to use till harvest. Neem is no poison but I wouldn’t recommend Neem on my flowers or anytime during the 12/12 cycle. also might as well use Neem being that it’s cheaper and has all the benefits rather than Azadirachtin alone.

[DW2]

That is the active ingredient at 1.2%. The instructions say that it can be used 24 hours prior to harvest. I add it directly into the reservoir (when there are signs of pests) at the rate of 1 ml / gallon. In limited use (in hydroponics) I have not had any noticeable problems.

[PeterMatanzas]

I figured drastic action was needed so I got 1000 lady bugs and yes I let them loose in the grow room. They did the job.

[JohnEmad]

I could get lady bugs but once they have no more food I would hate to see them starve. lol. Good idea.

[DW2]

I did that several years ago when the aphids attacked My blueberry plants in the garden. Works well!

[Cali]

PeterMatanzas gkad it worked out. Now make sure you keep an eye on the ladybugs because they will get in the lights and possibly cause a fire. It has happens before. When I used them once I hated that I had to be taking my lights apart to clean them cus those ladybugs get in every single crack they find int the grow room. Basically committing suicide. I would recommend putting a tiny bird house or something that feeds them so they can go there rather than look for food all over once the aphids are gone they will want to go as well.

[Rwise]

And maybe to prevent another outbreak use a chopped banana peal worked into the soil around the plant.

[JohnEmad]

Worth a try. I have done two ISO/water/dish soap treatments so far and the aphid numbers seem lower.

[OlderNOTwiser]

I've had horrible aphid issues outside on my Lupines. I heard of the banana peel thing so I chopped up as they got eaten. I missed a section about two feet long in the strip I was looking to save. That section still got them...very bad...while the nanner soil didn't. I also started growing garlic in between my flowers and that also worked in that area. Try citrus peels as well. Don't think I want garlic in my tent with the girls...may have garlic breath ;-)

[Rwise]

JohnEmad Read this! I found it an informative read on getting rid of and keeping these pests (and ants) gone.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/137749

[stump]

i like the lemon one.

[Ace1973]

I got rid of mine quickly with dish soap and water, it worked.