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pests Aphids... remove leaves or just smash the Bast@rds

MNXR250R

MNXR250R

This question is about mechanical control of Aphids (no Neem or soap) Just wondering if anyone takes the time to physically smash those little pests, or do you remove the infested tops.
 
I personally have a somewhat concerning infestation of the Aphids on a Reaper plant. So far I have been removing the infested leaves/tops, but I can see that this will eventually lead to a plants that has no leaves !  SO I want to know if Aphid control can be accomplished simply by squishing those little (bad words).
 
Indoor Hydro grow.
 
Thanks All,
 
Jeff
 
Never been able to control an aphid infestation myself. I try to get rid of the plant as soon as possible. Hope this helps! Cheers!
 
I had some this summer I ordered some ladybugs from amazon and they did the job [emoji221]


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Hi there, I don't think physically removing/smashing them works. My method of getting rids of these lil buggers is by putting in a couple spoons of chilli powder (those you can buy cheap in any oriental grocery store) in a sprayer top up with water. And then, I would just spray them generously onto the leaves, underneath the leaves and branches basically all over the plant. These buggers will be gone the next day and will last at least a week. On the other end, do you see any ants nearby your plant, you need to get rid of them ants fast if you see them around, they are the culprits who bring the aphids up the pepper plant. Easiest way to repel these ants, soaked a ball-size of tissue with Chlorpyrifos (or any similar pesticide), place the tissue ball next to the plant, it is the best ant repellent I have ever had. Make sure the tissue ball is keep out of reach of young children and pets.
 
Sinn said:
I had some this summer I ordered some ladybugs from amazon and they did the job [emoji221]


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Click to expand...
 
Lady Bugs could work... Maybe I'll give that a shot.  Who doesn't love a Lady Bug anyway right ??
 
ckb1989 said:
Hi there, I don't think physically removing/smashing them works. My method of getting rids of these lil buggers is by putting in a couple spoons of chilli powder (those you can buy cheap in any oriental grocery store) in a sprayer top up with water. And then, I would just spray them generously onto the leaves, underneath the leaves and branches basically all over the plant. These buggers will be gone the next day and will last at least a week. On the other end, do you see any ants nearby your plant, you need to get rid of them ants fast if you see them around, they are the culprits who bring the aphids up the pepper plant. Easiest way to repel these ants, soaked a ball-size of tissue with Chlorpyrifos (or any similar pesticide), place the tissue ball next to the plant, it is the best ant repellent I have ever had. Make sure the tissue ball is keep out of reach of young children and pets.
Click to expand...
 
ckb1989, this is an indoor grow and I don't have any ants.  The Aphids came inside by my own (or my wife's)  mistake.  She wanted to "overwinter" and pepper plant that she got from a co-worker.  It was infected with Aphids. Our Bad.
 
Thanks for the replies,
 
Jeff
 
Unfortunately there are only a few methods that totally eradicate aphids. For the most part you will be fortunate if you can keep them in check.
 
Sorry, only got a non mechanical option that works. Azamax. I swear by it. 
 
Another option i've done with greenhouse bought plants was dunk them in a 5 gal bucket of water with hydrogen peroxide. I don't remember the ratio. Maybe a bottle of 3% plants loved it and it took care of the aphids. 
 
Obviously i'm only saying what has worked for me. Take it with a grain of salt. 
 
Mechanical - Sticky Tape. You just brush the sticky side against the affected plant areas, and it picks up all the aphids it touches. I find this very effective, although for full-blown invasions it can be quite cumbersome, but it does reduce their numbers greatly, and then you do it again and they're all gone. My indoor start this season survived about 5 attacks through this method.
 
Bonus thing, is, the tape doesn't kill them, so you can torture the little buggers however you want...  If that's what you're into :D :hell:
 
If you don't torture them, just squish 'em on the tape, or just chuck them into your enemy's garden.... :hell:
 
Why am I so evil today? :rofl:
 
One of the methods, and one I can now personally atest to is parasitic wasps. They are rather expensive but are 100% effective. Plus, no mixing, spraying odors or praying.the results?
20171127_210309.jpg
 
I had a nasty aphid infestation a few years back, while I was isolating plants for seed stock. The tulle netting provided a perfect barrier for them from their natural predators

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I went out and bought ladybugs from a garden center, and they worked fantastic. I know there are places on Amazon that'll deliver ladybugs to your house, guaranteed live
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You can use tulle netting like I did to keep them contained, so they're not flying around all over your house, lol. Or, if the plants are still small enough, the mesh paint strainer 'bags' (1 gallon or 5 gallon?) from a big box hardware store should do the trick. As effective as the parasitic wasps are, I'd be hesitant to let wasps loose in my house, haha.

I've also heard great things about Azamax, if you decide to go that route. I've tried neem oil with less than desirable results. Azamax seems like a "one and done" approach.

Here's a good link about hydrogen peroxide, but it doesn't mention anything about pest control. Maybe one of the ratios listed in it will work. Either way, it's a good link.
http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/gardening-with-hydrogen-peroxide.html

Hope that helps. Best of luck!
 
D3monic said:
Sorry, only got a non mechanical option that works. Azamax. I swear by it. 
 
Another option i've done with greenhouse bought plants was dunk them in a 5 gal bucket of water with hydrogen peroxide. I don't remember the ratio. Maybe a bottle of 3% plants loved it and it took care of the aphids. 
 
Obviously i'm only saying what has worked for me. Take it with a grain of salt. 
Click to expand...
 

Yup, D3 is right. Only thing that is going to work outside of systemic is Azamax. Spray and soil drench.Unless your wife wants ladybugs in the house lol.
 
I guess I should also mention that although parasitic wasps are in fact classified as wasps, they are not the stinging type. And in as much there may be hesitation to introduce them to your indoor grow, I look at it this way, what's one more but now if it eliminated the tens of thousands I have witnessed in aphid infestations. They also are so illusive that I had to continuously look for them in order to confirm their presence.
 
I guess I'm alone in this? I don't have a large overwinter collection and most are small or extensively cut back so I do most of my aphid management by the squish method. Usually just find 4 or 5 every week. Sometimes I'll miss an area for a couple days and there will be 20+, but then the leaf has obvious honeydew and is easy to spot so it doesn't get worse than this.
 
I just take about 5 minutes every afternoon to quickly look over everything. I haven't seen a single one in over 2 weeks now so my manual removal might have actually completely wiped them out - just have to kill the females I guess. I'll probably do a single light dose of pyrethrin aerosol spray in a week once the last of the fruit has ripened and is picked. That should kill any elusive hideaways and I'll check much less frequently.
 
I'll second the ladybugs. As long as they are RED American lady bugs. We had a ton outside on our patio this year... I mean every where you look from the Larva to the full grown ones.

You don't have to order a million and honestly, they won't travel too far from your grow room. I think if you order a small batch and use only maybe 20 then it will be fine. Plus kids love them!

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I have tried NEEM, Insecticidal soap, spraying, dunking... the only thing that worked was ladybugs.
 
You can keep the ones you do not use in the refrigerator for several weeks, they sort of hibernate.
 
alkhall said:
You can keep the ones you do not use in the refrigerator for several weeks, they sort of hibernate.
Click to expand...
You sure can. They basically just fall asleep in the cool temps. Ive heard they'll survive for a few months in the fridge without food. They wake up within a matter of minutes when you take them out.

Storing a plastic tub full of insects in the fridge kinda freaks the Mrs. out though ;)
 
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