ROOT APHID CONTROLS
There are several options, none are fool proof. First, there is a fungus that kills insects (
Beuveria bassiana) This is sold under two brand names that I know of, Botinigard and Naturalis. This fungus is mixed with water and sprayed on the plants making direct contact with the aphids is important. This is one reason root aphids are so hard to control; there are so many nooks and crannies in soil and other mediums that almost any treatment is bound to miss a few pregnant females. In fact, one study I read showed that the number one reason for difficulty controlling root aphids is lack of proper application of the chemical or pathogen. I should mention too that the finer the mist the better. Also, since this fungus gets on the skin of aphids, and aphids that are growing rapidly can shed their skin every 3-5 days you should reapply the fungus every 3-5 days. In Europe they use a fungus
Verticillium lecanii with much success. I think this is still in the process of being approved by the EPA, but you could do a search for it.
Second, you can apply chemicals like
Neem, pyrethrum etc. to the roots and above ground parts of plants. For root aphids it is recommended you soak the root balls in an insecticide for 5 minutes. There are studies that show soaking in any insecticide for less than 5 min. will result in far less than 100% dead (you don’t fix the problem) so soak longer rather than shorter.Good article.
I have had root aphids for almost 2 years. HIt em with everything from Azamax to pyrethrin to Botanigard. Botanigard ES works best out of everything. From what I read on the BOTAINGARD ES its a fungus that kills them
http://htgsupplysaskthedoc.blogspot.com/2009/11/pests-e-mail-root-aphids.html this link will take you to what I have posted
I hope this will resolve your issues that your having
takes about two weeks to fully get rid of them but it has always worked for me.
my bad...for root aphids my buddy and I have used Azatrol with pretty good results. Just make sure to dilute it as it can be fairly strong. We had 55 gallon drums so in there we would mix in about 1 cup of Azatrol. According to my notes I'm reading right now, they took us 9 complete days to get rid of them as soon as we added them to our reservoir. Sorry about the earlier post, I feel like a moron but glad you cleared it up.
