Root Aphids?

[vernal]

Do what you want, guy. He may not have root aphids. But if he does, and he doesn’t want that infestation, the methods I use are 100% effective in eliminating that problem, probably in a single application. Widely used on food crops, almost everywhere in the world.

@Stonedmason if they are root aphids, they’ll rapidly get worse. Plant will definitely have a “failure to thrive” look about it. I’d say just watch them for a week and see if the problem changes/worsens. Can you dig in close by the plant roots themselves to see if they’re being fed on?

[Stonedmason]

That’s what I’ve been doing, but they’re not living/getting stunted past seedling phase so there’s not enough healthy root to see a bunch of them. There’s always more crawling around by the roots then not. There’s a few everywhere, but there’s also old roots and new cover crop roots everywhere.

I’m just going to wait out for the time being and see with some more natural treatments. I’ve also got a bunch of good homemade vermicompost I’m going to throw on there in a week or so when it’s ready. If things still don’t improve, I may sterilize/chuck the pots. In the meantime the rooms getting a good scrubbin.

To be honest it doesn’t seem like root aphids now that I’ve studied them a bit, but it is something or is a symptom of something harming my seedlings and possibly affecting yield of my last run.

So for now I watch

Thanks for all the advice

[LemonadeJoe]

Could it be fungus gnats?

Sciarid Fly (Bradysia paupera) - Insects | Candide Gardening

Sciara (gnat)

[buzzmobile]

What I saw moving in the video clip were springtails. Try using some clear packing tape to capture the critters for closer inspection.

[Purple-N-Hairy]

@buzzmobile

What I saw moving in the video clip were springtails

Hmmm…looks like a good call, @buzzmobile.

Springtail:

Op’s bug:

BTW, @Stonedmason, how much soil is infected? I mean, like how many cubic feet or dry gallons?

[Stonedmason]

I thought they were gnats at first @LemonadeJoe but there aren’t any fliers or larvae that I saw and not much literature on flightless gnats.

That picture is pretty much identical @Purple-N-Hairy and @buzzmobile I was thrown off because I have smaller white springtails that do jump, but I’ve read there are many different species and not all “spring”. So I circle back to what is causing the roots to decompose in the first place to attract them. Like I said earlier, I may have contracted a fungus or mould that spread around due to cold temperatures for a bit. I was hesitant to spray newish seedlings with neem oil, but for now it looks like it’s doing the trick

I’ll continue updating

Edit: I have 8 cubic feet of soil at stake

[Buttercup726]

Hey. I just created this account after reading this thread. I’m literally shook right now. Can you dm me? I’d like to pick your brain on this topic. I’m going to go thru the archives and see what else I can find to attack these demons from hell. Thanks

[vernal]

DM me if you’d like, but the easiest fastest way to kill root aphids is imidacloprid. It’s a one-shot cure, and the plants aren’t harmed by it whatsoever. It’s a good idea to follow up with a secondary treatment a week later, but one treatment will take care of them overnight.

Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer is a common formulation and widely available at many hardware stores.

I use Temprid SC, it’s the same formula, just a bit stronger.

Root aphids are very easy to kill, you just need the right tools. You can drive a nail in with a brick, but wouldn’t you rather use a hammer?

[Seamonkey84]

@vernal

but the easiest fastest way to kill root aphids is imidacloprid

Bumping this because I found these. They crawl to the surface and in the sides of the container when I water, some have wings. Looks like root aphids, would submerging the whole container in safer soap help knock them back until get through imidacloprid? I should get new mothers started. I’m assuming they came with the bagged compost I used, otherwise it’s just promix and perlite.

[vernal]

Yep that’s them. They look kinda like bedbugs. Interestingly, treatment for both is imidacloprid lol.

Can’t comment on safer’s for RA, but IME the soaps oils and such are more just bandaids when you need stitches. So…it might help temporarily but surely you got a Home Depot within driving distance.

Bayer Tree n Shrub at the hardware sto’ will set you right.

[motherbucker]

Sprinkle a healthy dusting of chia seeds as a cover crop. Most important.
If you have aphids they will munch on them and either die or high tail it out of there. They will even leave behind pheromones of Farnesene that will tell other aphids they don’t want to chill there…that is if you reuse your soil.

Aphid-repellent pheromone E-β-farnesene is generated in transgenic...

Stay away from H202 if you want to not nuke everything. Beauveria is a great addition from the soil.
Nuke em is a great product for another step up.

Or use the poison that vernal recommends. That will kill them too. Along with any of your microbiology.

Also, talk to your plants and encourage them they can make it through this. Seriously.

[vernal]

Imidacloprid isn’t an bactericide or fungicide. Any arthropod is toast, though.

[Yetigrows]

I’ve had fungus gnats come flying out from brand new bags of promix in the past.

A quick Google search tells me I’m not alone…

Apparently last year was a really bad year for them and many different bagged soils/mediums are infested.

[Seamonkey84]

Fungus gnats I can somewhat understand, a where moist can grow them. But aphids need a living plant, and peat is harvested from dead layers

[Yetigrows]

“I’m assuming they came with the bagged compost I used, otherwise it’s just promix and perlite.”

I was responding to that statement specifically.

If the place you bought your promix (home depot for me) stores it outdoors, it can get damp.

I’m guessing that’s how I got fungus gnats last year.

[JoeCrowe]

I’ve always wondered if one of the btk or bti products would kill the root aphids. Never been able to try it out unfortunately. If anyone is willing to give it a go, you’ll be my hero.

[PlantShepherd]

My opinion is those are not root aphids. They are aphids, not root aphids. There is a good chance they are cotton/melon aphids, but you would need an entomologist to confirm that (you can send samples to your local university for identification). Can I ask if you have seen them on the stems or leaves?

[PlantShepherd]

How do you know this is a root aphid? You already mis identified a springtail as a root aphid, and now you are telling someone from a poor photo which of the thousands of types of aphids they have?

[JoeCrowe]

Looks like Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominale to me. But a closer photo would be good.

[PlantShepherd]

I really don’t think it is a rice root aphid. I could be totally wrong. I have dealt with cotton/melon aphids and that does look like them to me. Also take a look at the antenna and coloration of the RRA:

Outta likes again.