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Little light green bugs??

Ok so, last night i was looking over the plants for anything unusual and i found this little tiny light green bug on this bubbakush clone that i have. Today about 25 mins ago i found another one on another plant of mine. The perch themselves right where new growth is in early stages of the veg cycle. They post upside down with their ass raised up away from the plant. I caught it alive, but dont have a camera good enough to take photos. Any ideas from anyone?
 

buzzmobile

Well-known member
Veteran
Aphids perhaps.

aphids.gif


They also come in red.
red_aphids.jpg


If they are aphids, a soap spray will kill them.

:D
 
D

DogBoy

there's many ways to stop aphids. There are the usual commercial sprays, soapy water and sponges, planting other plants next to them, Pyrethium, flamethrowers etc. You can even order other bugs from the garden centre which will eat the aphids and then die of starvation once the outbreak is cleared so you dont have bugs everywhere.

Personally i like to use the soapy water and a fine pored sponge first to get rid of the bulk of them and then release the bugs to get rid of any that get missed by the sponge. This usually works pretty well. If your feeling particularly sadistic you can use a cooker lighter to burn their legs off as they will often clump together in groups. It's not an erradication method but it can help control the numbers if you cant use any other methods for whatever reason.
 
D

Darkstarlive

Green,
Thrips like to hang out in new growth, watch for rasping of the leaf and a silvery shine the leaf surface and little black dots ( that's the feces of the thrips). A spray that contains Spinosad in it will take care of them and it safe to use.

Good luck.

Peace..
 
Thanks for all your help guys! I actually did research on them and turns out that you guys are right. They are aphids, i got the only two that i have seen and havnt seen any eggs as of yet. Ill keep looking tho for sure.

You gys say that a soapy water spray will do the trick? I ready somewhere that cayenne pepper water spray will kill them off for sure. But so far there havnt been anymore.

Thanks again for all your help!

Green.
 

kushism

Member
if you see them on the plant, check the medium and roots.. could be root aphids, and those are not so easy to get rid of.. Spinosad works like a charm for normal aphids. soapy water works well to knock them down and kill all visible insects, but in my experience they will come back. If you do indeed notice bugs on the roots, or in the medium, i would use something a bit stronger.. Imidiclorpid is a great pesticide for root aphids and ALMOST all bugs that suck on/eat the plant. I have noticed that bubbakush is more susceptible to pests.. my bubbakush was infested with root aphids and the OG kush right next to it was not.. I think it could possibly have to do with bubba being a "sweeter" plant with higher sugar contents.. but that is just a guess..
 
Kushism- I will keep a close look out for those bastards hangin in my soil. As far as now there arent anymore on or around the plants. I am about to spray them down with some soap water now.
 
Ya im over the idea of more bugs ya know? I am quite afraid of them to begin with, reguardless if they are a threat i just dont get along with them haha.
 
D

DogBoy

Use the soapy water method to both remove those on your leaves and improve the leaves themselves. Once done use a natural chemical like those listed above to kill off whatever you miss. Leave them for 10-14 days and then treat again just to be sure you kill any eggs or nasties you miss. This way you are almost guaranteed to get rid of them.

I also buy into the sweetness comment. I've seen them reduce yield on sweet strains by up to half before while leaving the more earthy sativas alone.

Often times you will also find you have them on house plants elsewhere in the house and this can cause a reservior effect. Be sure you check all plants in the house to prevent reinfection.
 

kushism

Member
i do agree, soapy water is a great way to knock em down right away, and it does seem to make the leaves a bit happier. it coupled with1 or 2 treatments should have you bug free.

Science hour : Soapy water works by removing the waxy coating all soft bodied insects have.. This waxy coating is how the insects are able to retain moisture and not die of dehydration. So without this waxy coating the insect will die of dehydration. It works on contact.
Some "solutions" leave residue on the leaves that discourages insect activity(sulfur burner). others are systemic(imidiclorpid), meaning the plant needs to take it up in the roots, and when the bugs eat the plant they ingest it and die.
Others are strictly contact killers(soap, pyrethrins, spinosad)although some pyrethrins can have a residual effect.. There are products such as azamax or azatrol that are IGR's or insect growth regulators.. IGR's disrupt certain biological functions and keep insects from feeding, molting or mating.
There are beneficial bacteria's to kill certain species, ie BTI(Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) for fungus gnats. There are broad spectrum products such as Botanigard(Beauveria bassina strain GHA) that use beneficial fungus to destroy and regulate insect populations..
These are just the one's i know work.. i have tried countless others such as neem oils and other extracts that just did not give the results i was looking for.. constant applications, in my opinion more for control rather than eradication.
I have seen people try and use ladybugs and other predatory insects inside, they just weren't as effective as hoped, and left a bit of a mess..

Botanigard is particularly nice cause once the insects are infected with with the fungal spores and they die, their carcasses basically become a spore producing factory, eventually bursting with millions of spores to infect and kill their entire extended families..

Re-infestation due to contaminated clothes is no joke.. they have to be coming in from somewhere. are there are plants by the inlet of your intake?? are they infected?? did you work outside then go visit your ladies? did you visit someone else's infested grow? You are lucky you have only seen 2 and no other signs.. but in my experience for every one that you see there are usually others hiding in the woodwork.. just stay vigilant, and hopefully you will get spared a nasty infestation.

There are pro's and cons about all solutions.. the important thing is being aware, being able to identify the pest, and finding the right info/product to eradicate it.. ICMAG for the win!!

The bottom line with every infestation is to have multiple solutions available and develop a regimen... and it's all based on information, opinion and experience. i know that for mites floramite/avid work very well.. Aphids, root aphids and most other sucking insects, imidiclorpid works great in conjunction with Botanigard.

Hope the info helps
Keep your eyes open, and be prepared :)
 
Sprayed the plants down last night and didnt find anymore aphids. Just checked again and there are still no more aphids. I have only found 2 babies, buts youre right, they had to come from somewhere. They came in with the clone of bubba i got.
 
D

DogBoy

Keep an eye open and check once a week. There may be a hidden source still in there so dont let your guard down but well played on getting rid of the first batch. The other advantage is now you have had them once you know how to handle them in the future.

Just as a final addition consider putting a small square of fly paper on the soil or hang from a paperclip if unable to rest on the soil. Having one of these every sq meter of your grow makes it easy to check for bugs. Simply whizz round the plants daily to check the paper squares and if you see bugs you will have some early warning and a location. Use this in addition to a proper weekly check and no infection will ever get out of hand.
 

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