Who's battling root aphids?!

I've managed to stomp most of them out, but some still remain. All the ones I gave the dunk of death to are gone, but some are now in the rockwool slabs of flowering plants. How the fuck am I gonna get rid of them? The dunk I gave them was a 2% solution of Take Down in water, but while it was good at killing the bugs, the roots didn't like the treatment much. The vegging plants went into a bit of shock while they regrew a lot of their root system in the 4 inch cubes, and now they're alright. There's no way I'm going to risk doing that again to flowering plants at this stage, especially how difficult it would be now. What alternatives do I have here, and was it successful for you?

So far this is the best thread I've been able to find on it, but it's old now.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=70503

I had tiny black gnats for a little while with my plant. I looked around on a lot of sights and in order to keep them from reproducing, by burrowing down into your soil/rockwool and laying eggs, put a 1 inch layer of sand on top of the soil. also try not watering your plants for half a week or more since the larva like the moist soil and feed off your roots. the sand really does wonders in eliminating root eating pests and keeping them out of your soil. One last thing that will help kill off some adults is placing a cup of half soap half plant water next to your plant some will fly in it and die. Most effective if you try all three at once.

I'm not fighting fungus gnats dude. I'm fighting ROOT APHIDs. Where are all the experts with advice here? I know I can kill off them off, but how do I do it without sending the root zone into shock?

Mcgician said:

I've managed to stomp most of them out, but some still remain. All the ones I gave the dunk of death to are gone, but some are now in the rockwool slabs of flowering plants. How the fuck am I gonna get rid of them? The dunk I gave them was a 2% solution of Take Down in water, but while it was good at killing the bugs, the roots didn't like the treatment much. The vegging plants went into a bit of shock while they regrew a lot of their root system in the 4 inch cubes, and now they're alright. There's no way I'm going to risk doing that again to flowering plants at this stage, especially how difficult it would be now. What alternatives do I have here, and was it successful for you?

So far this is the best thread I've been able to find on it, but it's old now.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=70503

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hey can you describe what they look like?? ive been having some white thin looking worm in my soil and i have no fucking clue what they are.. thanks

those are def NOT what ive got just googled them and seen pix..

I looked around for a solution to your problem man and it looked like a lot of people were saying that root aphids are resistant to everything and "Here is how to win this battle- No plants + Bleach= future bountiful harvests. Fight them and get crappy returns."

I think the only solution is to start over from what i found sorry man better luck next time.

but one sight said if you get a certain type of nematode they will eat the aphids so maybe... but i have no expierience with them myself.

bump......

I can't possibly be the only one that's had to deal with these fuckers. Nobody has a recipe for success? Seriously?

Mcgician said:

I can't possibly be the only one that's had to deal with these fuckers. Nobody has a recipe for success? Seriously?

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I had these fuckers. After alot of shit i found that imidacloprid, a chemical systemic found in bayre advance which you can find at home depot works good.

hey all, just joined tonight to post a photo and get help diagnosing a deficiency. But while I am here, I'll share my ROOT APHID solution. I too was F*ed by these little bastards.... i tried everything. Here is the solution, there is a new insecticide that was just released this year by the same company that makes Floramite. Its called Kontos, it can be used via the roots, or foliar. Its really expensive, and takes about 10 days to kick in, but its worth every penny. google it, and say goodbye to these pests!

p.s., it also controls spider mites!!!

try boiling some tobacco in water worked so far for me. if that doesnt work just go noahs arks top and clone all the plants and start over, it sucks but if you cant get rid of them atleast you kept all the strains you were working with.and you only get set back a couple of weeks. but try the tobacco first by boiling it in water to pull out the nicotine and kill the mosaic virus. you can water your plants all day with it. and no shock exept for the critters

Things in the soil are pretty hard to kill. Have you tried predators yet? http://www.territorialseed.com/product/39/175

jheart said:

hey all, just joined tonight to post a photo and get help diagnosing a deficiency. But while I am here, I'll share my ROOT APHID solution. I too was F*ed by these little bastards.... i tried everything. Here is the solution, there is a new insecticide that was just released this year by the same company that makes Floramite. Its called Kontos, it can be used via the roots, or foliar. Its really expensive, and takes about 10 days to kick in, but its worth every penny. google it, and say goodbye to these pests!

p.s., it also controls spider mites!!!

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Kontos? Is it like AVID? Systemic? I'm really don't want to go down that road if it's at all similar. It's just too poisonous, dangerous and straight up gnarly for me. If it's not as dangerous as that stuff, then I might be game. I google it and see what's up. Thanks for the tip.

bobonthewater202 said:

try boiling some tobacco in water worked so far for me. if that doesnt work just go noahs arks top and clone all the plants and start over, it sucks but if you cant get rid of them atleast you kept all the strains you were working with.and you only get set back a couple of weeks. but try the tobacco first by boiling it in water to pull out the nicotine and kill the mosaic virus. you can water your plants all day with it. and no shock exept for the critters

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Interesting. Where did you hear about that method?


And just to reiterate people, the plants are in UniSlabs. Individually wrapped rockwool slabs that are 4" tall, 9.5" wide, and 8" long.

My plants are absolutely thriving right now except for these damn root aphids. At this point, I believe there will be little these things can do to stop the plants from reaching their ultimate potential. They don't seem to be burrowing into the medium, just munching on the exposed roots between the plastic and slab. I'm using high doses of water/nutrient solution with a hose and basically drowning them out of the medium every day or so. By the looks of the plants, it appears to be working- at least in staving them from doing any significant damage. I will definitely post the results. My belief is that the plants will finish far before these things can do the damage they wish they could.

Sorry, didn't know about the rockwool. I'd try what Bobonthewater said. It's called Tobacco Juice, it's in one of those paperclipped threads https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/216537-self-diagnose-your-plants.html This one I think.

You might also try an organic product like Mite X or something (3 oils, 3 acids, sorbitol, sucrose, molasses, & water). There are also other organic products out there, I just haven't tried them yet. Mite X killed off thrips in one spraying though.

If all else fails you might think about getting a cloner and just cloning the heck out of them while you can. At least you'll salvage something. Just spray them with something a few times while they're in the cloner just in case.

Best of luck man, hope you save them.

BTW, love the pic. That was one of the best comedies ever.

You need to capture one and examine it under a super magnifying glass to really identify what it is. It could be an aphid, but it's probably a mite. Sorry, but you will have to go hard core in your treatment, believe me. You will have to use Avid or Imidacloprid or something similar, plus an oil to really know you're killing the eggs. Otherwise your yield will be small.....

Did you ever git rid of the aphid problem? I have the same problem any idea on what to do??????????

I had them pretty bad for about a week. Read several threads on here, found that the simplest idea I found worked the first time and I haven't seen any in over a week. I let them dry out for 1 extra day. I'm growing in 1 gal pots so it didn't take much. With bigger pots you might need to let it go longer. The first time I watered after letting them dryout I got a bunch of them in the run off. All dead!!

I am in hydro 4x4 rock wool cubes.

Try something called Pyganic 5%. I've heard many growers get great results battling root aphids with this.