APHIDS. What am I in for?

So I was going into my grow last night to do one last check up to make sure everything was in order and thought "it's been awhile since I've checked the bottom of the leaves". Upon inspection, I found on the bottom of just a couple leaves, thousands of little green dots crawling around. APHIDS! The fan leaves were sticky like honey. There were little white remnants as if egg sacks or exoskeletons. Now, this was localized to just one plant (the one with the biggest buds, of course) and I just picked the leaves with the bugs while wiping off which ever strays I found lingering amongst the other leaves. There seems to be no damage to the buds, they don't seem like the will require much effort for removal other than a good hand cleaning. Am I out of the woods? Or, have they been know to do more damage? Now remember, I can't buy anything to help me control them cuz I'm flat broke. Any help is appreciated.

spinosad..... need i say more....peace

I'm more concerned about the damage they'll do. I find that more often than not, I can get rid of pests myself without having to use pesticides. Will they harm the buds?

you can use neem oil, ive used it before for aphids and within a week i had none. or you can buy ladybugs and let them do their thing by eating the aphids and eggs.

Aphids will suck the juices from the leaves so if left unchecked they will damage your buds

Thanks Gaztron. I know HOW to kill em, I just needed to know how scary they could be. I had silk worms earlier this year (aweful little monsters), springtails in the soil, leafhoppers, grasshoppers outside, I found a clutch of thrip eggs before they hatched outside...I'm familiar with bugs. People get very scared when they see ANY type of bug on their plant and often overreact by using harsh chemicals or oils that would not normally be introduced to plant. I like using predator bugs or animals like reptiles or amphibians. I've been considering getting a chameleon as pest control. I used a tree frog to get rid of the silk worms, so I think it would work.

I had aphids recently from strawberries I brought inside, was fun sitting there with a joint squashing the little bastards. Couple nights of this and they were gone lol. no sprays needed, and quality time spent with my floral friends.

I checked on them today after the lights came on, I found a few rogue aphids, but t only took me a couple minutes to eradicate them. Anyone who is spending money to kill aphids is wasting their time and cash. I'll check back in a few days to see if any eggs hatch, but I think I did it!
So my advice is this. If you get aphids, simply remove them. I plucked the fan leaves that were covered, which was only like 4 or 5, then killed the rest with my fingers. It must've taken all of 10 minutes. They laid little yellow eggs along the veins so those were easy to spot as well. They aren't tough and you can squish em with your fingies a lot faster than ladybugs or sprays.

when you have a bad infestation sprays can be the way though mate. Risking leaving too many can be fatal to plants if they are in numbers. But you're right too many people nuke their plants at first sign

I actually found another small nest on the same plant today and this time it was in the bud. There were little spots of egg sacks and aphid shits...what a mess. Luckily, today was HARVEST DAY! Before trimming the affected bud, I threw it in the freezer for about 4 hours. It was frozen solid, along with my new nemesis and their eggs. I went out to the garage and used the air gun to blast away the little buggers and their disgusting remnants without harming the calyxes. They do localize themselves to specific spots and don't spread fast, so I was lucky that they affected only the one popcorn nugget. Especially considering how many there were the first day I discovered them. Upon looking at them under a microscope, they are the cutest damn infestation I've ever seen, but I'm so glad they only attacked the one plant and trust me, I've done many thorough inspections of the other plants. I don't blame them for wanting a bite of these juicy buds. The buds are in my drying bin now and I will be posting pictures tomorrow. On a one foot plant, I got 6 buds about the size of a dollar bill. I'm happy with that! Lucky for me too cuz I just burned up the last of my outdoor yesterday. Two down and three to go.

there will always be some pest that finds its way in but the plant can survive as long as the pests population doesn't get too big. Someone has to look through it (like me) , in my book to check for caterpillars , their poo and mold or rot. I spotted some today when I saw dead material , and dead leaves in a few spots

If you spray it with just plain soapy water it should make them go away. If they get a good hold on your plant leaves start dying and eventually they eat the new growth before it comes out. Especially if they have some ants running an aphid ranch. Even though you can remove them by hand they will keep coming back in higher numbers... Better to hit em early and avoid it all together.

Order some predatory bugs on-line and you wont have to worry at all..

I find hundreds of ladybugs outside and they seem to be more aggressive than the ones you order online. I've found they like to feed on fungus gnat larvae as well.

i hope you didn't blast away all your frozen trichomes as well as the aphids ,

This thread was a big help to me before i started spraying my plants with soap and other chemicals, im glad i read how easy it is to pluck em all off and smash all the eggs.. My turn for some quality time giving my girl a shower!