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pests Lights and aphids

W

wordwiz

This just occurred to me.

Last winter, when I was trying to grow seedlings, aphids were a major PITA. Except for a group of plants that were under first CFL bulbs and later, LED lights. Even after eight, maybe ten weeks of LED lights, I never found an aphid on a single plant.

Are they photo sensitive, maybe to the point they cannot survive under a spectrum that includes only particular wavelengths?

Anecdotes from anyone?

Mike
 
Omri said:
A *type* of aphids is sensitive to green light. it can live under it.
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Thats really interesting think more research is needed..a none aphid germination process.. late spring on would be great :)
 
All aphids seem to have feasted on mine..problem has gone now..they seem to particularly like C.Chinese..I really carnt blame them for ahving good taste :lol:
 
Ok, This is a question i have always had....

Where the bloody hell do they come from???

My brother has a few chillis growing under lights in an old fully sealed fish tank, and he has the little buggers everywhere....

Whats the go???? are they in the soil and come out in the warmed?

Please explain...:think::)
 
Well they do cover entire plants with eggs, so it is very much likely for them to be in the soil as well. heat + water + eggs will get ya a aphid party. the most troubling fact is they travel. just like other bugs get into your house, so can they and without any natural enemy (which they have outside), they'll multiply.
 
they could come from mechanical transfer...if you touch plants that have aphid eggs/aphids on them and do not wash your hands/arms before touching another plant...there ya go...
 
What are natural predators to aphids? Spiders? If so has anyone tried introducing those bugs into their grow rooms?
 
There has to be some correlation between lights, dirt and aphids.

The plants under the fluorescents were constantly beset with aphid. The seedling under the LEDs, though they were just a few feet away. And the ones in the hydro system have not had any aphids and they have been growing for a few months.

Why?

If they are simply in the air or on the floor, they would have found the plants under the LEDs or in hydro (though it is also under LEDs).

If they are in the soil and hatch after the plants start growing, it would not be hard to sterilize the soil first, I wouldn't think. Five minutes in a microwave out to kill any aphids waiting to hatch.

I plan on being very proactive next year in preventing aphids rather than dealing with them after they attack. I'll have a few gallons of juice made from boiling green tomato leaves with garlic, I'll sprinkle garlic on the dirt and I'll use any other methods necessary. They set my plants back at least a month this year. But as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
There has to be some correlation between lights, dirt and aphids.

The plants under the fluorescents were constantly beset with aphid. The seedling under the LEDs, though they were just a few feet away. And the ones in the hydro system have not had any aphids and they have been growing for a few months.

Why?

If they are simply in the air or on the floor, they would have found the plants under the LEDs or in hydro (though it is also under LEDs).

If they are in the soil and hatch after the plants start growing, it would not be hard to sterilize the soil first, I wouldn't think. Five minutes in a microwave out to kill any aphids waiting to hatch.

I plan on being very proactive next year in preventing aphids rather than dealing with them after they attack. I'll have a few gallons of juice made from boiling green tomato leaves with garlic, I'll sprinkle garlic on the dirt and I'll use any other methods necessary. They set my plants back at least a month this year. But as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Mike
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A bunch appeared in my house out of nowhere. Not touching my hydro plants. Anywho, are you saying that I can sprinkle garlic on the dirt to help rid my plants of these annoying buggers? They got in my sealed seedling containers too!
 
wordwiz said:
There has to be some correlation between lights, dirt and aphids.

The plants under the fluorescents were constantly beset with aphid. The seedling under the LEDs, though they were just a few feet away. And the ones in the hydro system have not had any aphids and they have been growing for a few months.

Why?

If they are simply in the air or on the floor, they would have found the plants under the LEDs or in hydro (though it is also under LEDs).

If they are in the soil and hatch after the plants start growing, it would not be hard to sterilize the soil first, I wouldn't think. Five minutes in a microwave out to kill any aphids waiting to hatch.

I plan on being very proactive next year in preventing aphids rather than dealing with them after they attack. I'll have a few gallons of juice made from boiling green tomato leaves with garlic, I'll sprinkle garlic on the dirt and I'll use any other methods necessary. They set my plants back at least a month this year. But as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Mike
Click to expand...

Mike have heard of this but never spoke of anyone trying it :mouthonfire:
 
Couple notes, Aphids DO NOT NEED A MALE OR FEMALE to breed, all it takes is ONE APHID.

Aphids grow wings when the food supply is running low, while not the best flyers in the insect kingdom, they do get around.

Aphids do not lay eggs most of the time, they give birth to LIVE young and they do not go through a larval stage, they molt leaving white castings everywhere.

Most aphids have a waxy coating over them that protects them from being dehydrated. Soap and water will remove this and kill them however it is a direct contact kill, spraying every square inch of your plant will most likly not work.

I kill every single aphid I can find with my fingers, rubbing the leaves and crushing them. It's population control and NOT erratication because all it takes is ONE Aphid to reinfest.

Thankfully mine are red and stand out easily. The little buggers hide inside the folds of new leaves and inside open flowers.

The only way I can imagine getting rid of them all is to cut all my plants down to a stump and pouring hot water over the soil to kill anything living down there.

Other than that, it's like herpes, once you get it you got it for life.
 
I happen to have a lot of lady bugs overwintering in our house. I didn't invite them. We had them in the last winters and they're already back this year. There has never been an aphid problem before but until now I didn't grow or overwinter chili plants in the house. Does anyone here know if those lady bugs also feed on aphids during winter time? Or do they have a winter break even when it's warm around them?
 
Ladybugs don't seem to work as well for me in the winter, they just want to mate and hibernate, and lots just die.
 
I was so lucky last indoor growing season, all those plants started from seed and no aphids. They were planted in promix and under flourescent lights, that's it...maybe not knowing anything fancy worked. I can't claim any special techniques as this was the first time of growing so many from seed. Just sheer luck.
 
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