How they got in doesn't matter. Probably one rode in on my clothing. If you know aphids, you know that the females give live birth to females, parthenogenesis without benefit of a male. They can also reproduce "normally" by our standards. They can also lay eggs. And if it gets too crowded, they will birth aphids with wings.
So, one aphid is indeed a very big deal! We had about 12 plants in bloom, and I had to inspect the leaves of every single one of them, every single night.
At first, they were clustered on the lower fan leaves. I just cut those off and discarded them. (after squishing the aphids because I hate them)
I found clusters on all the sativa dominant kalisnapplegoo, but initially none on the indica dominant, or the SuperSilver. Once the big clusters were gone, I started finding singles and little groups where I missed one the night before.
Brain finally kicked in one night when I realized we have a pump sprayer. Filled it with water, pumped it up, and started hosing those plants individually before feeding them. Pump n' spray works. The bottle has only ever held water; I wouldn't use it if it had weed killer or insecticide in it previously.
Last night the farm stood inspection before the nightly hosing down, and not one aphid was found. I shall continue this regimen. The leaves seem to like it, washing the underside cleans dirt away from stomata. And if you've never paused to appreciate the beautiful creamy light green of the underside of a leaf, I highly recommend it.
