igothydrotoneverywhere
Well-Known Member
So folks we recently had a battle with root aphids in our garden and i thought i would share our success story and what it took.
one thing to note right off is that a indoor garden will usually get fungus gnats and root aphids at the same time, this method addresses both problems. the distinction is easy if you dont own bibles of insect definitions, fungus gnats fly around the topsoil and the adult aphids fly up towards the light. aphids will also fly around the topsoil when they are looking to procreate and lay eggs in the soil/root ball. the flying adult aphids arent really detrimental to your plant, its their fucking fat children feasting on your roots.
so this method consists of 3 parts and is 100% organic
1st If you are in plastic pots, you will want to transplant to a cloth pot with no holes in the bottom, this keeps the aphids from coming up thru the bottom, and the larvae from escaping out. If you are stuck with plastic pots, maybe you want to tape up your holes and drill a few smaller ones in the very bottom for drainage. Another issue with plastic pots and this method is that the layer of sand on top almost creates an anaerobic enviroment, so if you must stick with the plastic pots, you will need to add H202 to subsidize oxygen in the root zone, they get a bit suffocated otherwise and you can see a visuall 30% slowdown in growth rate. For longterm preventative maintenece i suggest switching to dense fabric pots. this method also addresses the long term preventative maintenence, we dont know where they came from and we are going to assume we will never get rid of them totally, so the chance of returning is always a possibility in the back of our mind, we will also assume we are smarter than a root aphid and we just made it easy on them indoors.
2nd you are going to want to cover the top layer of your pot with washed sandbox sand. the sand doesnt change the ph but it does add some unfamilar salts to the root zone we just arent looking for. one thing about the sand is that it settles to a "poor mans cement" once it dries. and when you water again you will have to make sure you dont disturb it so much as to leave an avenue for the aphids to physically get into the soil. this is a thick physical barrier. dont skimp on the sand, 6 cups on top of a 5 gal, its heavy and can be messy, but nothing easy in life is worth while. when you wash your sand you will want to wash it in a fabric pot, no strainer or collander out there will suffice. the adults love to fly around a find a home, their home should be burning up in your light or on sticky paper, hang it off your lights and off the side of your pots.
3rd and finally, I know, pretty easy, you will need something to kill the the little babies, i use botanigard. Its expensive but it works. its a fungus that attaches to the larvae and kills them, totally organic and non intrusive. I honestly dont know of anything else that works, but to kill them so efectively without any detriment to the plant... wow. so thats it, wait at least 24-48 hrs to water again, so that fungus can sit in the root ball. viola, young done, adults done, and no chance of procreation.
one thing to note right off is that a indoor garden will usually get fungus gnats and root aphids at the same time, this method addresses both problems. the distinction is easy if you dont own bibles of insect definitions, fungus gnats fly around the topsoil and the adult aphids fly up towards the light. aphids will also fly around the topsoil when they are looking to procreate and lay eggs in the soil/root ball. the flying adult aphids arent really detrimental to your plant, its their fucking fat children feasting on your roots.
so this method consists of 3 parts and is 100% organic
1st If you are in plastic pots, you will want to transplant to a cloth pot with no holes in the bottom, this keeps the aphids from coming up thru the bottom, and the larvae from escaping out. If you are stuck with plastic pots, maybe you want to tape up your holes and drill a few smaller ones in the very bottom for drainage. Another issue with plastic pots and this method is that the layer of sand on top almost creates an anaerobic enviroment, so if you must stick with the plastic pots, you will need to add H202 to subsidize oxygen in the root zone, they get a bit suffocated otherwise and you can see a visuall 30% slowdown in growth rate. For longterm preventative maintenece i suggest switching to dense fabric pots. this method also addresses the long term preventative maintenence, we dont know where they came from and we are going to assume we will never get rid of them totally, so the chance of returning is always a possibility in the back of our mind, we will also assume we are smarter than a root aphid and we just made it easy on them indoors.
2nd you are going to want to cover the top layer of your pot with washed sandbox sand. the sand doesnt change the ph but it does add some unfamilar salts to the root zone we just arent looking for. one thing about the sand is that it settles to a "poor mans cement" once it dries. and when you water again you will have to make sure you dont disturb it so much as to leave an avenue for the aphids to physically get into the soil. this is a thick physical barrier. dont skimp on the sand, 6 cups on top of a 5 gal, its heavy and can be messy, but nothing easy in life is worth while. when you wash your sand you will want to wash it in a fabric pot, no strainer or collander out there will suffice. the adults love to fly around a find a home, their home should be burning up in your light or on sticky paper, hang it off your lights and off the side of your pots.
3rd and finally, I know, pretty easy, you will need something to kill the the little babies, i use botanigard. Its expensive but it works. its a fungus that attaches to the larvae and kills them, totally organic and non intrusive. I honestly dont know of anything else that works, but to kill them so efectively without any detriment to the plant... wow. so thats it, wait at least 24-48 hrs to water again, so that fungus can sit in the root ball. viola, young done, adults done, and no chance of procreation.
