War Room - Operation: Root Aphid

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Dr.McNugget

New Member
So I'm mid flower (Day 31) with a root aphid infestation. She originally had them in veg and was treated right before transplanting. She responded very well to the Bayer so I opted to not treat a second time at flip. Big mistake. So now there back and she's dying. I'm going to try a root soak with Ed's Zero Tolerance but I'm definitely not expecting it to wipe em out. Botinaguard and nematodes are in my battle strategy but I'm open to all suggestions. Keep in mind I'm just over 4 weeks....

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Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

Hi Dr. I am confused... are root aphids and fungus gnats the same thing?

I had the gnats on some of my plants. I used DE all over the soil and around the base and holes in the bucket. Suppose you could dust the root ball as well. They all died. Hope this helps some.
 
Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

hmmm my lower leaves die off like this, but i believe its caused by lack of light being penetrated to the bottom, plus for mositure purposes. i realized they eat the leaves for whatever if they need it. ive read somewhere fan leaves are 80% water, plus they store food. if the new growth is wilting, i would think gnat larvae? they feed on root hairs 2inches underneath topsoil or around that area...
have u seen the bugs? are you able to take upclose pictures of them?
goodluck doc
 
Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

Okay I am pissed... I guess the yellowing of my leaves is due to the gnats again instead of nitrigen dif. Had a bunch in there when I watered earlier today!! I flooded them with neem water and have the pot sitting it in for awhile. Covered the top of the soil again with DE. I think I dropped my guard when I quit seeing them flying, so did not retreat like I should have.
 
Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

Hey Tmac! No Root aphids and fungus gnats are different. I've heard the DE helps prevent fungus Gnats from entering your soil and kills em as they try to leave, but the aphids don't leave. Fungus gnat larvae eat the roots during their development, and when they morph they leave the root zone, returning to lay eggs. Retreat, retreat every 3-5 days! You gotta kill the ones that were eggs when u treated initally. I soak the top of my coco with a neem/water mix, overkill style for the gants, but they're not a big problem for me.

Aphids will produce winged flyers when the population reaches a critical level, but for the most part they stay put and enjoy the root buffet. I've read that aphids are all female and don't require a male to reproduce. They don't lay eggs they lay live 'pregnant' female nymphs. And yes the root damage can present like a number of defs. Which is what I thouhgt initally too. But leaves started dropping way too fast and yellowing way too quick. I've seen black spots in a few places and weird stuff going on at the leaf margins. Another tell is the way a leaf shrivels, if its an uneven shrivel like 2 blades on one side go crispy dry and the rest of the blades are still wet and a lil green.

Hey Funnystyle how is it? I hear you bro, my thoughts on pruning is that your taking away nutrient and energy storage. Yea the leaf will 'auto destruct' if it doesn't get enough light but I got side lighting down there with cfl's. Yes I've seen them, they're about the length of 3 or 4 grains of sand, pear shaped and tan in color, they're tiny little fuckers and a pic would probably look like a grain of sand. Just found one on the web that looks exactly like what im dealing with:
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Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

Hi Dr. Okay so the aphids stay underground, so I would not really know if I have them unless I pull the plant out of the pot...... hope I just have the fungus gnats.... Yea last time when Sunni had them, I covered the top with DE and in the edges of the saucers, the flyers would come out and flounder around til they died. I would sit with a magnifier and watch for a while. Later I would check on them and a huge pile of dead gnats. :yahoo:
 
Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

hmm i got the same goin on though.... my leaves on the bottom crisp up 1 blade at a time... 1 blade can be super dry and brown but the other 6 blades are green and barely starting to yellow/crisp
im sure this is normal since youre well into flowering
ive notived the crisping and dropping stopd after i fed em a full serving of growbig. couldve been that i havent watered em for 8 days tryna get kill of any bugs that cant live without moisture. my main thought is they eat the bottom stuff for moisture, nitrogen, and other nutrients since they hold more than just that...
hmm guess i goto do some reading on those aphids... although ive spent days reading on bugs because of my collembola infestation :reading420magazine:
 
Re: WAR ROOM- Operation: Root Aphid

Speaking strictly from my ass I think these signs are indicative of root damage in general. I've seen the plant eat a leaf for N and Mg but there's something 'not right' about it when its a damage thing...

Update: She survived the Zero Tolerance Bath from last night. No signs of stress at all. The leaves that had slight damage to them last night had no further progression of damage. And the tent smells wonderful right now. Like cinnamon pot!
 
I think the leaves aren't getting light. bugs suck I seen sand placed on top of the soil to stop them. I use Aza Max for bugs full strength all grow except the final weeks and when I cant afford it lol. I hear dunkers work. :trance: i stopped spraying for spider mites after they were gone, and than the aphids moved in. never stop the bug care they love the mmj just as much as us. good luck to all.
 
Before I tried sand on Sunni and it did not work. I vacummed the sand up and put DE down. Was up checking on Sassy just a few minutes ago, and saw gnats floundering in the DE...:yahoo: One thing I worry about with the DE. You are literally cutting off oxygen. Plus next time I water I will have to scrap off the DE.
 
Yes tmac! very similar in symptom it seems...

Since the Zero tolerance didn't kill the plant OR the bugs; I tried nicotine. Did me 2.5 cups of tobacco boiled and then mixed into 2.5 gallons of water and dunked the whole pot for 5 mins. Same procedure as the zero tolerance with little result. Also I tried just flushing them outwith an absurd amount of water, nada...

when i first saw the aphids again i started adding dark time at the beginning and end of the day in 2-3day intervals im at 13hr45mins of dark now and im gonna take another half off tonight cause she's losing the battle hope she can flush in time for something..

11/25
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Daily drop 11/29:
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Very :sorry: to hear Dr.Mc. I broke down today and put a perethin drench on her. Cause if I did not do it, I may as well just cut her down. She is just getting worse everyday. If she continues to do better I will do a good flush and see what happens. But if she doesnt respond I will probably cut her down. She is getting no nutes right now while her roots are damaged. So figured it could not hurt her to give the perethin to her. I will give her some myco fungi stuff.... tomorrow, see if that helps.

I keep reading others having trouble with yellowing and wonder how many are bugs vs defeciency. :goodluck: to and me~~
 
tmac, i Know exactly how you feel....:sorry:

All defs are root problems by nature though, brought by bugs or bad chemistry....as for others I cannot say but i can say that if i didn't know ahead of time what this was i'd be fuct. Im a dumshit for bringing the aphids here but at least I know what it is. I say this because I've only seen them when I've dug into the coco a bit and waited for movement, never seen one outside or on a pot (they are white though) or in the dunk leftovers....my forehead would be soft from wall hits if i didn't know to look....
 
My seedling is only a few weeks old and i think i have the root aphid things. They are black lil flea looking things i guess. Im just going to treat the roots and soil. I dont see anything flying around yet.
 
mcnugget you said you had four weeks left how'd it turn out?
i'm curious because i have the root aphids as well
you mentioned botanigard were you using it or planning to?
i was thinking about giving it a try but its kind of spendy and was hoping to hear what you say
these aphids are relentless
i've been using nematodes, and gognats
i've read on other forums people use imidacloprid systemic during veg
and other than that scraping grows
really don't want the latter
any tips you've learned would be most appreciated
 
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