Beware Growers! Root Aphids!

Root Aphids

Root Aphid

Growers beware Hawaii is being plagued this summer with an outbreak of root aphids. Due to the long travel time and close storage areas most every soil mix being sold in stores are culturing many bad things such as root aphids and other Bacterial soil contaminants. My first suggestion when buying a bagged soil is always to condition it to keep soil bacteria washed or dried out. 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide usually does the trick for bacterial contaminant build up or just letting your soil sun and dry for 7 days. As for the Root Aphids without the direct access to nematodes they are a pain to remedy, zero tolerance is supposed to work but I think it acts more like a cocktail for them. General Hydroponics has come out with Azamax which seems to work like a charm. Although all your plants might not be spared if your infestation is too far out of control but sparing what you can is sometimes better than losing it all. I find also plants that are further in their bloom will be the most vulnerable to wilting out and dying. So try and catch it in your veg. Also read the instructions well and follow all directions when handling any pesticide especially for those indoor growers using small spaces,

Root Aphid

DON’T MAKE YOUR SELF SICK!!!!! YOU ARE HANDLING A PESTICIDE!!