pests The aphid battle rages on

Get yourself  Hibiscus!  My Hibiscus out the front is full blown infested!  My chili plants out the back are perfectly clean!
 
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I do. getting them off is pertinent to the well being of the plant as a whole. The only difference between hosing them and a thunder storm is the hose can be directed under the leaves where the buggers are most commonly latched on.
 
Can one say that if you hose aphids off your pepper, tomato, bean plants that the aphids will not crawl back onto rhe plants?
 
Use a nice stream of water and it would be very unlikely. plus they may encounter ants that want to place them elsewhere or some natural predator or lose their way. but unlikely.
 
My OWs this year are practically engrossed in aphids (partly due to some neglect when I was on vacation).  Gonna get home from work today and try to take out as many as I can.  Wish I could get some wasps/ladybugs but I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't want me unleashing hundreds of insects into the basement!
 
sreinhard88 said:
My OWs this year are practically engrossed in aphids (partly due to some neglect when I was on vacation).  Gonna get home from work today and try to take out as many as I can.  Wish I could get some wasps/ladybugs but I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't want me unleashing hundreds of insects into the basement!
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having an enclosed room makes all the difference.
 
CAPCOM said:
having an enclosed room makes all the difference.
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My setup is in the back of the basement, so it's semi-enclosed, but it's also the laundry room so definitely no insects allowed predatory or otherwise!
 
sreinhard88 said:
My setup is in the back of the basement, so it's semi-enclosed, but it's also the laundry room so definitely no insects allowed predatory or otherwise!
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I dont think you are following the rules then, you brought aphids in.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kidding,
I couldn't resist.
 
CAPCOM said:
I dont think you are following the rules then, you brought aphids in.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kidding,
I couldn't resist.
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ha well yes, but of course this was unintentional.
 
 I was actually just down there examining the damage and planning my attack strategy for tomorrow.  I'm actually thinking I may have a massive soil fungus gnat infestation instead of aphids.  I've scarcely watered the plants to avoid just such a thing but I guess even a small leak left unchecked can eventually burst a dam.  The thought didn't occur to me until I noticed a pile of small winged insect carcasses on top of my HPS bulb.  I then vacuumed a few leaves with a handheld dust buster and the filter revealed more gnat-like insects.  At this point I'm not sure which is worse: an infestation of aphids or of soil gnats lol!
 
That makes sense too... the insects I sucked up definitely looked like soil fungus gnats though...hell I hope I don't have both.  There also appears to be strands of web-like material throughout parts of the plants and on the frame of my setup, would that be more indicative of aphids or gnats? 
 
sreinhard88 said:
That makes sense too... the insects I sucked up definitely looked like soil fungus gnats though...
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     Keep in mind aphids can have winged life stages as well. The winged adults can look kind of like fungus gnats if you're not very familiar with them. Try an image search to help you differentiate.
 
miguelovic said:
More indicative of spider mites than anything.
 
You've got a regular circus going on down there :P
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A circus indeed, I found some kind of beetle-like insect roaming around as well (but I'm hoping he's a good guy, pics will be uploaded shortly).
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
 
     Keep in mind aphids can have winged life stages as well. The winged adults can look kind of like fungus gnats if you're not very familiar with them. Try an image search to help you differentiate.
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Interesting, I had no idea.  After looking at images I'm pretty sure they were gnats and not aphids, the shape of the bodies is much more gnat-like.
 
 
I just got done an extensive cleaning process for my setup.  Each plant's container was thoroughly cleaned, then each plant was washed with a wet paper towel before being wiped down with a pyrethrin based insecticide/fungicide/miticide.  The frame and light were also cleaned with a wet paper towel and dead leaves were vacuumed up.  I'll post some pics in my glog (which is in much need of an update anyways!)
 
I was able to convince my dad the beetle is friendly...at least I think it is, doing some research now
 
 
EDIT: research has revealed that it is most likely a boxelder bug...time to get the vacuum...
 
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