Want to know how to get rid of root aphids? It’s not easy for sure but read on, watch the video and kill these nasty little bastards dead in their tracks!

Root aphids are nasty little critters that can reduce yields or even ruin your harvest. They multiply quickly and are hard to kill and can be very hard to get rid of. Because they are in your roots and grow media you may not ever see them unless you look for them.

If you are seeing stunted plants or what looks like nutrient deficiencies in your leaves it is time to take a closer look inside your pots. Root aphids come in many colors like white, green, black and more. They also can vary in size. Years ago I had very small translucent root aphids that were sometimes called micros.

I beat them and never saw them again for years. Now they have reincarnated as large white aphids. I beat them back then and I will beat them again. I am going to tell you how so stick around.

How To Get Rid Of Root Aphids What To Do

Before you take controls to eliminate your infestation: First make sure you actually have root aphids! You may actually see them when you examine plant roots but some can be very small and you may need a [amazon_textlink asin=’B078N34WZR’ text=’jewelers loop’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’263a72f1-18cd-414b-920e-f222eb3c34da’] or [amazon_textlink asin=’B06WD843ZM’ text=’USB microscope’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’356f1a3b-775a-4864-ac07-7f7b9553a1ec’] to see them.
If you have fliers on yellow sticky traps make sure you can tell the difference between fungus gnats and root aphid flyers.

There is a good and very long forum thread here: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=159960
They do look similar so the best way to know for sure really is to find them on your roots.

ORGANIC ROOT APHID CONTROL

I use chemicals to get rid of root aphids but I realize many growers are organic and dont want to use them. Your job may be harder because it will be harder to eliminate the eggs. The first thing to eliminate them would be a root drench with pyrethrum. It will provide a quick knock down and kill your root aphids but if that is all you do they will definitely be back.
The Pyganic is OMRI certified and naturally derived and the cheaper Bonide product is synthetic and not certified.

[amazon_link asins=’B0035HA0AK’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’588d67e5-c5f9-429b-8be2-6bdbfa39df35′]

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Your mainline of defense after knocking them back will be Botanigard. This product is pretty expensive but contains a combination of pyrethrins and Beauveria bassiana which attacks the aphids. Since it has pyrethrins in it you may not need to purchase them separately. It comes as a liquid and a wettable powder. You will have to reapply it more than once to kill the root aphids off probably every 3 to 5 days at first. [amazon_link asins=’B000J2K34W’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ce518988-c684-4868-a42a-8713298b687b’]

[amazon_link asins=’B007ROV0BU,B01NH0PWXX’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’538ff263-71c3-4b98-a696-bcd6dfe8d760′]

[amazon_textlink asin=’B01NH0PWXX’ text=’Botanigard’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’faf5f321-961c-4c1e-9924-91cf7f666024′] may be a good option even for growers who are not organic per se.

There are a lot of various home remedies that organic growers use and claim to work but I would be cautious about trying them. For example a neem oil drench is recommended by some but can actually suffocate your roots. Generally speaking oils and soaps are bad for your roots.

Nematodes are often recommended as another weapon against root aphids for organic growers. Some say it works some say it doesn’t. A big problem is getting live ones. At least one breeder of nematodes when asked said they will not control them.

Some growers report success with [amazon_textlink asin=’B004Q2K31Y’ text=’Azamax’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’305e826d-a907-4fef-ab72-ba7ce7a3f58a’] which is a derivative of neem oil. I think it will be partially effective if used as a drench but it may damage roots. It may act to repel them if you spray your plants with it.

YELLOW STICKY TRAPS

Using [amazon_textlink asin=’B000I6K3JY’ text=’yellow sticky traps’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’58cb0a05-8457-4f94-9d60-c6590b642656′] is a good idea whether you grow organically or not. If you are using them to trap fungus gnats it is a good idea to check them for root aphid flyers too.

[amazon_link asins=’B000I6K3JY’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’622dd683-20fb-4931-9e28-2b004612e6ab’]

Root aphids damage the roots and cause them to die. Because fungus gnats are attracted to decomposing organic matter it is not uncommon to have both.

If you are seeing stunting, slow growth, smaller than normal leaves or unusual deficiency like symptoms in your leaves the problem may be caused by root aphids and not fungus gnats.

HOW TO GET RID OF ROOT APHIDS – NUKE ‘EM THE CHEMICAL APPROACH

I respect organic growers and in fact I was an organic grower myself many years ago before it was even popular and considered lunatic fringe.

But root aphids are a serious problem and can quickly get out of hand. They breed really fast and many organics are slow acting or dont kill eggs. I want to stop these buggers fast and not have to continue treating them for weeks on end.

Root drenching is stressful to plants so the less I have to do the better. So my approach is to nuke the little bastards. Once and done with insecticides can be less stressful than multiple treatments with neem oil for example.

So my #2 closet received an IMD treatment and I left it recirculating in the res for 5 days. I use [amazon_textlink asin=’B00C4Y2774′ text=’Merit 75 WP’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8aca8e19-38b6-48dd-a666-f81439087535′] Then the plants received a root drench with [amazon_textlink asin=’B015BSUY88′ text=’Orthene 97′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d9134aa5-071a-4044-82e1-093e3b8b465a’]. I left this in for about 6 hours and then flushed the reservoir.

I could not find IMD as wettable powder so not sure if it is available. It seems to come in pouches now or granules but it will still work although mixing may be different. As with all chemicals make sure to read the label and measure and calibrate so you dont over apply. More is not better and may harm plants.

[amazon_link asins=’B00C4Y2774′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’7576baba-deac-4096-aed5-1b7f8ba59c89′][amazon_link asins=’B015BSUY88′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’buildkoipondc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ce41f52b-9102-4cef-87a6-5e2596746719′]
 

 

 

So now I am seeing positive results. Last grow plants never really rooted into the mat under them. But this time I am seeing healthy white root growth and it is growing into the root mat and spreading out.

This SOG grow journal will feature Death Bubba in a sea of green. After many years of growing large plants I have made the switch to growing in a SOG.  There are many advantages to this especially for smaller grow spaces which I will detail in a bit.

Here is a Death Bubba on day 17 from another SOG grow journal. It is from a mixed grow and you can see it here.

This is the original GML Death Bubba and comes from BC. Most everything else is a renamed fake. It is shorter than most of my strains and has a tall columnar shape rather than bushy so I feel it would be a good choice for a SOG. More info on the GML Death Bubba strain is available here: https://420dotcom.com/death-bubba-cannabis-strain.html

About My SOG Grow  Journal

First a few basics about my grow. I am using a 2 x 4 flood tray and running flood and drain in it. There are 15 plants in 6 inch net pots filled with growstones. The tray is flooded for 3 minutes every 4 hours and I am running my nutes at 900 ppm to start.

The plants are rooted clones and after a few days of veg and getting them acclimated to stronger light they were flipped to 12/12.

Lighting is a double ended Gavita. The 6/750 Flex can run from 400 to 825 watts. It is the only Gavita designed for grows with lower ceilings and the only one that can run on 120 volts. Click the image to see it on Amazon.

SOG Growing – Advantages Of Sea Of Green

Sea of green is a great system and especially suited to small grows or limited ceiling height. Dont get me wrong here, it is great for larger commercial grows too. No matter what size your grow is you can limit veg time and increase turnover time.

For many years I grew large plants because I believed they would yield more. While this is true in a sense it requires longer veg times and that is expensive. The idea of a SOG is to get a smaller yield from each plant but by increasing planting density you can get the same or better yields.

When you are flowering you are making money but long vegging times cost you money and delay flowering. With a SOG there is little to no veg time. Two weeks would be about the max. Remember the goal is small plants with an even canopy, Plants will veg and stretch for about 2 weeks even under 12/12 lighting before they start to flower.

Because plants are smaller there is much less shading and very little popcorn buds to deal with. In a properly set up sea of green we are focusing on single colas and everything gets even light. Ideally the canopy is short so light can easily penetrate to lower parts of the plant.

I used to worry about plants getting to close to the light even with 8 foot ceilings but not any more! Big plants produce lots of secondary shoots too. These need to be removed or spread out under a trellis to prevent over crowding and shading. Both these issues are a thing of the past thankfully.

SOG Disadvantages

No system is perfect and they all have their pros and cons. While the plants are small and easy to manage you need a lot of cuttings for sea of green. This will most likely mean keeping large, healthy mother plants to provide you with cuttings.

This method is meant for clones. There will be too much variation in size and pheno type with seeds. Seeds will also take longer than clones.

If you are not good at cloning this probably is not a good method for you.

Starting My SOG Grow Journal

Here is the start of my Death Bubba sea of green. I have 15 freshly rooted clones in a 2 x 4 flood tray. They will be flipped to 12/12 soon. Just want to give them a few days to get used to stronger lighting and start digging into the grow media,

DEATH BUBBA DAY 1 -7 OF FLOWER

Things are moving along. There is variation in plant size. They were flipped within a couple of days of rooting. Plants that rooted first are twice the size of those that rooted a few days later.

Ideally all plants should be the same size which produces an even canopy and this is the whole idea behind what a sea of green is designed to do.

I need to take a lot more clones than I need and only flower the best. I also would like to be more consistent in my cloning. It is an art.

DEATH BUBBA AND C99 SOG DAY 2

I just added 3 Cinderella 99 to this sea of green. Since I have a few really small Death Bubba plants that are not going to yield very much adding a few more plants should help with yields.

C99 is a fast maturing plant so I am hoping everything will finish at about the same time. She is very potent and frosty too. Not a large plant and can finish in 8-9 weeks so fingers crossed. These are seeds I made from my C99 BX that I grew many years ago but I have never grown so I am really looking forward to what they will do.

Day 28 Death Bubba And Cinderella

Things are looking better than expected and the C99 should be flowering very soon. Most of the Death Bubba has made it through the screen and looks good. Not a perfect grow by any means but there is a full screen at least.

Day 35 Death Bubba And Cinderella 99

The C99 is flowering nicely. Not sure exactly when I put them in but it is less than 14 days probably 10-12. Guess I forgot to write it down.

The Death Bubba is doing well but with a lot of variation in size. It is very important to have equally healthy vigorous clones because there is no veg time. So they need to take off and grow immediately or you wind up with an uneven canopy and reduced yield.

Death Bubba And C99 Day 35 Pictures

CINDERELLA 99 AT 15 DAYS

Here we have some Cindy 99 at 15 days. She comes from some selections I made with Mosca Seeds Cinderella 99 BX-1. I needed to compensate for 3 Death Bubba clones that were not doing well so in she went.

She seems to be a good plant for a sea of green although the bottoms need to be cleaned up in my opinion. She does not get very tall either, maybe 3 feet here and she was vegged a bit before she went in.

You can see from the video that she is a very fast growing plant. The buds and the stacking are really fast for only 15 days.

The breeder says she only takes 52 days. I dont know if I will take her that early because she is a very racy sativa and it might be good to let her mellow a bit.

Death Bubba Day 38 C99 Day 21 Calcium Deficiency

After a recount I found it was day 38 and not day 42 as I thought. It is day 21 for the C99. Things are going pretty well but I found signs of a calcium deficiency on the Death Bubba.

There is no such thing as a calmag deficiency. You can have calcium deficiency alone or magnesium deficiency alone and often the 2 will occur together so people say its a calmag deficiency. But they are different nutrients.

In my case the purple stems common with magnesium deficiency were absent. My leaves had typical dead spots common to a calcium deficiency but they also were curling and dying. Because of this I mistook this for nutrient burn. Check out the video below to see how I diagnosed calcium deficiency and treated it.

More Death Bubba And C99

This grow was not going the way I expected and I knew the results would be far from what I expected. I did document most of it, painful as that was.

The Death Bubba buds were great quality although yield was way off. The C99 was in my opinion garbage and I may not even trim it up.

Frost production was way off especially on the Cinderella. I think the room was too warm and the Gavita, although a great light was just not well suited for my closet grow. I will be replacing it with 2 HLG 300 R Specs over time and as money allows.

Death Bubba SOG Grow Journal Harvest

So about a week ago I posted some bud shots of my last grow from my other closet and mistakenly called Tropicanna Cookies Death Bubba. It did not look right but the pots were labeled Death Bubba. So I felt you guys deserved to see some real Death Bubba bud shots.

I discovered root aphids in this grow and am taking steps to correct it. These plants were stunted and while the Death Bubba turned out OK the C99 did poorly.