Cascadian's Continuing Grow Journal 600 Watt 5X5

[Cascadian]

Yeah, that is exactly what I have read. I think at some point this summer I am going to have to get rid of all soil then, bomb, bleach, etc. Then take clones and root them into fresh soil. I think I am going to shoot for June, so I can take the "mother" clones the new clones will come from, and plant them outdoors in the root aphid infested soil.

Hopefully I don't have to burn the house down to kill them... I have read stories about people moving to rid themselves of them completely.

 

[thecannacove]

Yeah, that is exactly what I have read. I think at some point this summer I am going to have to get rid of all soil then, bomb, bleach, etc. Then take clones and root them into fresh soil. I think I am going to shoot for June, so I can take the "mother" clones the new clones will come from, and plant them outdoors in the root aphid infested soil.

Hopefully I don't have to burn the house down to kill them... I have read stories about people moving to rid themselves of them completely.

You really think its RA's man? Abby thing else on the strip yet?

 

[Cascadian]

Well, I know for sure they are in there. Even though I only found one, I know there are more and I need to make sure I keep them in check. Won't even try to eradicate them until I shut down the indoor grow for the summer. I really think my problem with the clones is fungus gnat based. But also, when I checked the roots on the dead SNSW5 there were none... it had not rooted. I also checked the JTRxPurUrk roots and the same thing. I might have just pulled them out of the dome too soon which made them weaker plants more susceptible to disease. All the sickly clones have gone back under the dome. Unfortunately, "The Remedy" clone is now also looking sickly but I think it will make it and I have one in flower so could take a clone in a week or so if I have to.

I just let the gnats live too long. I knew they were there but thought I would just kill them later and they got a foot hold. They are now dead but they have already spread some kind of fungus, so the damage is done. I hit everything with a mix of BT, azamax, and neem last night again.

It really isn't too big of a deal though. Harlequin has outlived her usefulness as I have the sourt3 and remedy, jtrxpururk was just a hold over clone, and the JH I was able to replace with an identical from a buddy. The only real loss is the SNSW5 but I still have 3 more phenos of it. Purple Kush is looking a bit sickly too but I don't think it will die.

Lesson learned! don't get too complacent about any pest even if they are just fungus gnats... All the other plants in veg seem to be doing great.

I just need to get everything healthy before I leave on vacation in a couple weeks, they will be on an auto watering system I am building. Will probably have nightmares about coming home to a bunch of dead clones lol...

 

[thecannacove]

But what I'm saying is that one fly to me doesn't really look like an RA fly...

 

[Cascadian]

Well, it is not a flyer. You are totally correct there, but they have many stages of growth, most of those stages are "crawling" stages. l don't know what else it would be, it looks like the pics of adult male RAs to me and given I had them a couple months ago it makes sense. Certainly could be something else, I should probably post a question in plant problems to make sure. If I get flyers I have BIG problems.

I think I need to go get some pyrethrin and do a dunk similar to what I did in flower last time. It will kill like 98% of them, just won't eradicate them...

The decision will be do I do it now at week 2 (and catch them early) or do I wait a week or 2 to give myself a better chance at killing them for the duration of flower.

 

[thecannacove]

Lol. Gotcha, no wonder it didn't look like an ra fly, Lmao. You're far more experienced in pest control and plant growing in general but I might wait one more week to treat since those girls are still real young

 

[Cascadian]

Good call, that is exactly what I was thinking. I want to buy myself the most time I can to get through flower, and hitting them with pyrethrin late in flower is out of the question.

 

[Cascadian]

I did a partial defoliation on the JillyBean a few days ago, and just did a little more last night. Just trying to keep it a lower stress process for her, might do it one more time in a couple more days. So far the plant seems to be growing normally with good bud development starting. I don't think it has slowed her down much at all. Will be checking for nanners religiously now. I probably have taken 40-60 fan leaves off her over the last week.

Only had 2 pictures turn out, they are different sides of the plant but you get the idea...
Before:


After:

 

[Cascadian]

You're far more experienced in pest control

I wish I wasn't, it comes at too high a price...

On that note, the good news is I am about to get some more experience, the bad news is I have identified about 6 of these winged devils on about 3 pieces of tape that were only on the floor for 12 hours.


Sorry, that was a pic from my nightmares...

Root aphids have fatter bodies with less hourglass shape (because they are built like fucking tanks!), their wings are longer than their bodies and sometimes they have dual sets of wings. I saw a couple with dual sets but not sure if they will be clearly visible in the pics.




Starting to think it was these that caused the problems on my clones. Maybe it was also them on my last grow, just at an earlier stage of the infestation.

 

[jointed]

Damn all i'm dealing with at the moment is cool temps since my kero heater took a dump, I wish you the best of luck in ridding your grow of them Cas. I guess I don't have too awful much to gripe about. I know there is a thread on here somewhere about a fella telling how to get rid of ra's, i'll have to look aroud and see if i can find it.

 

[thecannacove]

I wish I wasn't, it comes at too high a price...

On that note, the good news is I am about to get some more experience, the bad news is I have identified about 6 of these winged devils on about 3 pieces of tape that were only on the floor for 12 hours.


Sorry, that was a pic from my nightmares...

Root aphids have fatter bodies with less hourglass shape (because they are built like fucking tanks!), their wings are longer than their bodies and sometimes they have dual sets of wings. I saw a couple with dual sets but not sure if they will be clearly visible in the pics.

View attachment 3032205View attachment 3032207
View attachment 3032206View attachment 3032208

Starting to think it was these that caused the problems on my clones. Maybe it was also them on my last grow, just at an earlier stage of the infestation.

So are you suggesting those are or are not root aphids?

Damn all i'm dealing with at the moment is cool temps since my kero heater took a dump, I wish you the best of luck in ridding your grow of them Cas. I guess I don't have too awful much to gripe about. I know there is a thread on here somewhere about a fella telling how to get rid of ra's, i'll have to look aroud and see if i can find it.

Ever notice how there's always something we gotta deal with, shit... I suppose its worth it in the end.

 

[jointed]

I know right, just the way life rolls so it seems....call me a donut..

 

[thecannacove]

I know right, just the way life rolls so it seems....call me a donut..

A donut? Color me clueless...

 

[jointed]

Ya know man!!...donuts are round and roll...lol I think you need to hand over your green..lol I won't smoke any...i promise..

 

[Cascadian]

Mmmm donuts... it does seem there is always a problem to deal with or an improvement that could be made. Totally worth it though!

Canna,
Yeah man, they are root aphids for sure. They are about twice the size of the crawlers and darker but the bodies are similar. In one of those shots you can see about 3 baby root aphids right next to the flying momma root aphid. All these were found in the veg room, I haven't put tape down yet in the tent. Lights just came on so I am going to go do that here in a minute.

J, I think the thread you were remembering was one Dr. Who posted a while back, he also shared the instructions in canna's grow thread. Pyrethrin is just the first step but it will kill most of them. I need to research the other products to see if they are an option in flower (assuming they are in there too at this point).

 

[thecannacove]

I think its time to call in the beneficial nematodes...

 

[jointed]

That does sound familiar now that you mention it. Yeah i would assume their in your tent too..

 

[Cascadian]

I think its time to call in the beneficial nematodes...

Yeah, good idea. I need to look into them, I considered them last grow but decided on pyrethrin. I can't remember if the neem drenches and azamax in the soil will effect them. I know predator mites can't be introduced for 30 days after the last use of azamax.

Off to do some research...

 

[Cascadian]

Looks like azamax will kill the nematodes so it looks like it will be habanero water only for any spider mites issues (none yet).

There are different opinions on whether nematodes will kill root aphids, but I found several sites that claim they do as well as a few growers.
Here is a link to a site that recommends using both nematodes and pyrethrin. Nematodes first and then just spraying the soil surface with pyrethrin.
http://www.gardenguides.com/125773-kill-root-aphid-ants.html

After I read this I decided nematodes are going to be my new best friends. Now this is the kind of painful death these little bitches deserve! Bwaahaha...

"Nematodes get sucked up into the guts of the larvae, and begin to colonize and multiply and multiply and multiply until they finally burst
open the stomach of the larvae (dealing it out a very nasty death) and releasing more nematode colonies into the medium in the process."

 

[thecannacove]

After I read this I decided nematodes are going to be my new best friends. Now this is the kind of painful death these little bitches deserve! Bwaahaha...

"Nematodes get sucked up into the guts of the larvae, and begin to colonize and multiply and multiply and multiply until they finally burst
open the stomach of the larvae (dealing it out a very nasty death) and releasing more nematode colonies into the medium in the process."

Good thing the nematodes are on our side eh?

By the way, check out this thread I just gave it a read to check out what damage people report from RA's. In it they recommend Botaniguard...

"Biological insecticide used to control whitefly, thrips, aphids, and many other soft-bodied insects in greenhouse and field crops. Based on the highly successful fungus, Beauveria bassiana, strain GHA, it controls the most troublesome crop pests – even resistant strains. Because of BotaniGard’s superior formulation, higher spore concentration, high viability and proven performance, it outperforms other Beauveria-containing products. When properly applied, BotaniGard’s insect control can equal or exceed that of chemical insecticides."

I've heard of beauveria bassiana before for root aphids. I would go hard on em with nematodes, botanigard, and Triazicide or Spectracide (veg only). Fuck em up hard Cas. Give em hell! HELL!