How to Control Root Aphids

Root aphids are a significant pest that can affect indoor farmers if they are not careful.

One main driver of root aphids is temperature. In environments with high temperature, often generated by grow lights without proper airflow, aphids can have an opportunity to thrive.

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One especially hard characteristics of root aphids is the speed that they can strike, these small white insects (which can fly), can significantly damage your crops in less than 24 hours! 

Even more frustrating? 

Root aphids can burrow into grow media such as rockwool and cococoir, media that are often used as a soil substitute for hydroponic farmers.

So how do you identify and then eventually manage root aphids? 

We will provide some tips in this section.

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Below are some potential solutions for root aphids: 

• If the root aphids have been attracted by a nutritional deficiency in the plant, then supplements to correct any deficiencies can be helpful. Examples of micronutrients are: chlorine, molybdenum, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, and boron
• For small infestations, lady bugs can be a very fast and effective biological control. Lady bugs will even remove aphids deeply entrenched in grow media
• For more widespread infestations, try Azadirachtin, Pyrethrum, or Lemongrass Oil

A Note on Application

• Simply spraying the plants with any of the above treatments will most likely not be sufficient
• A better method that will get you better results is root drenching
• Root drenching entails submerging the roots of plants in the solution, for example, Lemongrass oil, shaking or agitating the container

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For more info on root drenching, check out this helpful article! 

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