Well here I am again, with friggin aphids!!!!! Half way into flower and they are back with a vengeance. What a heartbreaker finding these things again... it's either I raise the temps in my room to over 90° for an hour and try to kill them off or freeze them off with cold water in a spray bottle, both these things will have an effect on my girls. Too late in flower to use soaps and oils or chems. What do you guys think, these things can easily destroy all the time and work invested.
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I appreciate all the input guys, I'm gonna limp these ones to the finish line(flush starts in 8ish days) and take extra measures for pests on the next grow. Grow and learn!
I had another set of plants in the tent and they went from outdoors(wasn't getting enough sun) to indoors noticed aphids did a soap water mix and nearly killed them(too strong of a mixture, I'm guessing) so back outside they went to flower as I started seeds in the tent, I did wipe the tent with 90% isopropyl alcohol but guess I didn't get them all. They must have hid in the soil. I should have waited 2 weeks. So this grow was 6 weeks in and they appeared. I used antibacterial soap for a bit aphids came back then neem oil for a bit and thought I got them all. Now I'm 4 weeks into flower and they are back. I'm just hoping to keep their numbers down so they don't suck the life out of my plants. I don't want to use soap or neem this close to harvest(the ones I nearly killed with soap tasted like crap). I tried your idea with the q-tip and alcohol, it does kill them well, just have to be careful not to touch the buds. But with colas everywhere those damn aphids can hide anywhere. I will definitely be taking some huge preventative measures next grow. I've learnt as much as I want to know about aphids. Lol
BTW aphids love the Charlotte's diesel cultavar and hate the triple Scoop cultavar.
I'm not sure on the heat to kill. You don't use soaps with neem. You may need a surfactant (wetting agent), but dawn should be the choice. and then one drop or even less.
Bugs attack plants that have issues. How did they show up in the first place?
Aphids indicate an overabundance of nitrogen. It is a clue in IPM.
Aphids are a direct result of High N levels in the plant. It indicates a weak plant immune system. You know, A fat kid eating nothing but cake . . .
I always had pest free growing till half way through flower. Then I got spider mites. I hit them with a soldering iron one at a time for 1/2 hr a day for two weeks. I saved most 85% of the flowers. I also used strong rubbing alcohol and a q-tip as well. I tried predatory insects too. I figured out that mostly it was soil moisture level. Very hard to get right and constant. So I'm trying a SIP this time.
If I'm screwing something up, can I fix the part I'm screwing up?
Good growing
Diluted alcohol and water in a very fine mist. Turn your lights down and your fan off while spraying. Wait 10 minutes and turn it all back on again. Repeat thrice daily to help control. Won’t eliminate but will help to minimize without much affect on your plants.