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pests war on aphids - indoor

S

svtcontour

If I mist the plants, then using a brush, lightly sprinkle some of the stuff on the leaves and on the soil, can I keep the buggers in check - or possibly even eliminate them? I've heard Diatomaceous earth can pretty much kill any insect by cutting into them no?
 
It won't kill them all but it may help. I've been trying sweetened Diatomaceous earth(mixed with icing sugar) in the soil. In theory they eat the sugar and it shreds them up into pieces. In reality, aphids are very resiliant and find ways to overcome most obstacles :(
 
I use a natural product called Natrasoap and have for years. Its gets rid of them real quick and doesnt hurt us. It is potassium based. I may have to apply a couple of times if I have missed a buildup but it doesnt happen very often. It is one of the few natural products that will get rid of mealybug as long as you drench the soil under the problem plants with it.(because that is where the mealybugs hangout when they arnt sucking on sap)
 
I've been on a long battle with aphids myself, freaking things won't die! And when I move the soil with my finger and get to the lower moister part I see these tiny little worm like things, are those aphid larvae?
 
I have become a firm believer in Organocide. It is an organic OMRI ceritifed product. It is Sesame oil in a fish oil. So it kills the bugs by smothering them and fertilzes at the same time. You can spray it often. All my ongoing overwintered peppers love it.
 
I like to rotate between oils(neem, pine, or other horticultural oils), soaps(fatty acids), water blasts, chile/garlic spray, pyrethrins, diatomaceous earth, as well as using ladybugs and other predators, and I still can never get rid of them during the winter months :(
 
aram said:
And when I move the soil with my finger and get to the lower moister part I see these tiny little worm like things, are those aphid larvae?
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Those are probably Scariad fly larvae, also commonly known as fungus gnat maggots.

They eat compost and are particularly attracted to peat moss.

Though they don't do a lot of harm to larger plants, they can chew on the roots of tender seedlings and open a portal for fungal or bacterial infections to attack your young pepper plants.

You can control them by letting the top soil dry out or I've found that a thin top-dressing of sand on the potting surface discourages the female gnats from laying their eggs.

dvg
 
Well all I will say is that its a daily ritual. Now instead of just crushing them with my fingers, I take a small plate and use a water color brush to knock them off onto the plate. I do this for my dozen plants or so indoor (takes I guess about 2-3 minutes per plant) and collect the hundreds of live aphids and feed them to my fish. They seem to really go nuts over the aphids vs the standard flake foods.

My thinking is that if they are going harm my plants, I may as well take that negative action (in my mind its negative) and turn it into positive by giving my fish healthy live food. This way I'm not AS angry. LOL.
 
I wonder if there is anything that can be purchased which has the following properties:

-its very liquid until its exposed to air in which turn it starts to turn very sticky
-must not harm the plant leaves and should be able to be washed off with a water spray

My thought is that make the whole plant incredibly sticky for 2-3 days. If they cant walk around and feed, they may die. With the oils and soaps, they may hide somewhere that the oil wont get to and then later just walk around. In this case they will get trapped as soon as they hit something sticky.

I'm almost tempted to try hair spray as a contact type killer. LOL. Forget the insecticial soaps :)

POTAWIE said:
I like to rotate between oils(neem, pine, or other horticultural oils), soaps(fatty acids), water blasts, chile/garlic spray, pyrethrins, diatomaceous earth, as well as using ladybugs and other predators, and I still can never get rid of them during the winter months :(
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