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What are these bugs....?

blondie

Well-known member
Sadly I think I’ve got it figured to be trama Caudata , garden root aphid. This link shows it quite well. The aphid I have does not appear to have “tail pipes” . The images in the link below are without the tailpipes and look identical to what I have. I have hundreds of dollars in useless soil and a contaminated basement now. I just stripped the whole fucking grow room and huge effort to get it set back up. Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk me. Guess I gotta do it again.

No other plants in the house. Nothing from outside.

 

Ipotato

Active member
H0X03QX0JQ40007QCR20CRN0K0MQR0MQVRX03QG0VRX0VRMQJRKQR090Z0M0URM0L0IQQ0E0Z0M0UR.jpg


otherwise some lovely friendlies
 
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blondie

Well-known member
Yes soil is all in one place. Most still in unopened bags. Question is which bags are infested. Maybe I could treat but if it doesn’t work then what.

I’m not sure how long aphids will live. Also not sure if they need plants to live on or can they exist by eating material in the soil. The eggs should all be hatching now I would think. Seems if they all hatched and died in unopened bags I would be ok. If if if...
 

Three Berries

Active member
Yes soil is all in one place. Most still in unopened bags. Question is which bags are infested. Maybe I could treat but if it doesn’t work then what.

I’m not sure how long aphids will live. Also not sure if they need plants to live on or can they exist by eating material in the soil. The eggs should all be hatching now I would think. Seems if they all hatched and died in unopened bags I would be ok. If if if...
You can cook the soil or lay it outside in the sun with plastic over the top to cook it that way. It will stink in the house.

Ivermectin? :)

Ivermectin (/ˌaɪvərˈmɛktɪn/, EYE-vər-MEK-tin) is an antiparasitic drug.[5] After its discovery in 1975,[6] its first uses were in veterinary medicine to prevent and treat heartworm and acariasis.[7] Approved for human use in 1987,[8] today it is used to treat infestations including head lice, scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis), strongyloidiasis, trichuriasis, ascariasis and lymphatic filariasis.[7][9][10][11] It works through many mechanisms to kill the targeted parasites,[9] and can be taken orally, or applied to the skin for external infestations.[9][12] It belongs to the avermectin family of medications.[9]

 

blondie

Well-known member
I just sprayed the outside of my containers and lightly sprayed top of the soil, using hydrogen peroxide mix. No clue if it killed any or not. I saw many crawling around after though. The image attached with the two green planters has many crawling along the edges. How can this be? I literally filled them with soil two days ago and there is nothing with roots in there. The other thing to point out is the one very twisted leaves, small plant.

I’m entertaining the idea that the aphids are leaving the soil looking for food. Or maybe just hatching out looking for food. I’m hoping the lifecycle will end with no roots to feed on. Eggs will hatch out in the soil bag and die. Hopefully... Anyone know if this is possible?
 

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Creeperpark

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
It's not too late to save all those plants. I would remove those large long containers of soil from the grow area because they will house soil pests. Take all the infected stuff outside and get rid of it. Only keep the small container plants in the grow area for now, or until you can get rid of the soil pests. Keep all the old soil away from the growing area and isolate or quarantine the plants you have in the tent. On a watering day, you can dip the small containers in a soil dip and kill all the bugs at once. 😎
 

St. Phatty

Active member
You can cook the soil or lay it outside in the sun with plastic over the top to cook it that way. It will stink in the house.

Ivermectin? :)

Ivermectin (/ˌaɪvərˈmɛktɪn/, EYE-vər-MEK-tin) is an antiparasitic drug.[5] After its discovery in 1975,[6] its first uses were in veterinary medicine to prevent and treat heartworm and acariasis.[7] Approved for human use in 1987,[8] today it is used to treat infestations including head lice, scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis), strongyloidiasis, trichuriasis, ascariasis and lymphatic filariasis.[7][9][10][11] It works through many mechanisms to kill the targeted parasites,[9] and can be taken orally, or applied to the skin for external infestations.[9][12] It belongs to the avermectin family of medications.[9]


I welcome the Ivermectin info.

But, Why did it seem logical to post it in a bug thread ?

NOT CRITICIZING - just curious.

I tried to sell my extra Ivermectin on Craigslist Farm & Garden, since it's for farm animals. They wouldn't even let me post it. I bought 12 boxes because that was all they had and it was cheap.
 

Three Berries

Active member
I welcome the Ivermectin info.

But, Why did it seem logical to post it in a bug thread ?

NOT CRITICIZING - just curious.

I tried to sell my extra Ivermectin on Craigslist Farm & Garden, since it's for farm animals. They wouldn't even let me post it. I bought 12 boxes because that was all they had and it was cheap.
It seems to me it should work in soil if you can find a powdered form.
 

blondie

Well-known member
Man o man. This morning I watched an uncountable number of little fuckers crawling around. This is madness. Those green tray things have my garden green seeds in them. I’ll toss those as well though. I can replace those seeds easily. I’ve got some of the botanic stuff on the way. Plan is remove all bags of soil, those trays, sweep, clean etc. Repot into new soil removing all old soil I can then spray that botanic stuff everywhere. It’s apparently not a chemical based spray so shouldn’t be as bad.

My yellow sticky got one flying fucker.
 

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St. Phatty

Active member
It seems to me it should work in soil if you can find a powdered form.

You mean, to kill horseworms and other worm type parasite, like the kind that cats sometimes get on the bottom of their feet ?

It raises an interesting question - is the Ivermectin a horse-worm-icide treatment as is, OR when it becomes the "next molecule over", after being metabolized by the human body ?
 

X15

Well-known member
Ladybugs live on aphids, just don't get the yellow ones. They bite and when you swat them they stink.
The Asian lady beetle. Avoid them! they are commonly misinterpreted due to similarities in color and spots… but most I’ve seen stand out due to having an M shaped marking behind their head.
 

Three Berries

Active member
The Asian lady beetle. Avoid them! they are commonly misinterpreted due to similarities in color and spots… but most I’ve seen stand out due to having an M shaped marking behind their head.
Unfortunaly they imported the buggers here in Illinois 40 years ago or so for the soybeans. They are very good at eating the aphids but are all over now. Outnumber the orange ones.
 
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Three Berries

Active member
You mean, to kill horseworms and other worm type parasite, like the kind that cats sometimes get on the bottom of their feet ?

It raises an interesting question - is the Ivermectin a horse-worm-icide treatment as is, OR when it becomes the "next molecule over", after being metabolized by the human body ?
It is naturally a soil borne bacteria. Hard to get clear info on it.......

Chemistry[edit]​


Avermectins produced by fermentation are the chemical starting point for ivermectin
Fermentation of Streptomyces avermitilis yields eight closely related avermectin homologues, of which B1a and B1b form the bulk of the products isolated. In a separate chemical step, the mixture is hydrogenated to give ivermectin, which is an approximately 80:20 mixture of the two 22,23-dihydroavermectin compounds.[84][85][5]

Ivermectin is a macrocyclical lactone.[86]

History[edit]​

The avermectin family of compounds was discovered by Satoshi Ōmura of Kitasato University and William Campbell of Merck.[5] In 1970, Ōmura isolated a strain of Streptomyces avermitilis from woodland soil near a golf course along the south east coast of Honshu, Japan.[5] Ōmura sent the bacteria to William Campbell, who showed that the bacterial culture could cure mice infected with the roundworm Heligmosomoides polygyrus.[5] Campbell isolated the active compounds from the bacterial culture, naming them "avermectins" and the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis for the compounds' ability to clear mice of worms (in Latin: a 'without', vermis 'worms').[5] Of the various avermectins, Campbell's group found the compound "avermectin B1" to be the most potent when taken orally.[5] They synthesized modified forms of avermectin B1 to improve its pharmaceutical properties, eventually choosing a mixture of at least 80% 22,23-dihydroavermectin B1a and up to 20% 22,23-dihydroavermectin B1b, a combination they called "ivermectin".[5][77]

The discovery of ivermectin has been described as a combination of "chance and choice." Merck was looking for a broad-spectrum anthelmintic, which ivermectin is indeed; however, Campbell noted that they "...also found a broad-spectrum agent for the control of ectoparasitic insects and mites."[87]

Merck began marketing ivermectin as a veterinary antiparasitic in 1981.[5] By 1986, ivermectin was registered for use in 46 countries and was administered massively to cattle, sheep and other animals.[88] By the late 1980s, ivermectin was the bestselling veterinary medicine in the world.[5] Following its blockbuster success as a veterinary antiparasitic, another Merck scientist, Mohamed Aziz, collaborated with the World Health Organization to test the safety and efficacy of ivermectin against onchocerciasis in humans.[8] They found it to be highly safe and effective,[89] triggering Merck to register ivermectin for human use as "Mectizan" in France in 1987.[8] A year later, Merck CEO Roy Vagelos agreed that Merck would donate all ivermectin needed to eradicate river blindness.[8] In 1998, that donation would be expanded to include ivermectin used to treat lymphatic filariasis.[8]

Ivermectin earned the title of "wonder drug" for the treatment of nematodes and arthropod parasites.[90] Ivermectin has been used safely by hundreds of millions of people to treat river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.[5]

Half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Campbell and Ōmura for discovering avermectin, "the derivatives of which have radically lowered the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well as showing efficacy against an expanding number of other parasitic diseases".[13]
 

X15

Well-known member
Unfortunaly they imported the buggers here in Illinois 40 years ago or so for the soybeans. They are very good at eating the aphids but are all over now. Outnumber the orange ones.
Yeah I feel ya. Isn’t it crazy how things like that can happen lol. It’s devastating to the local community. I was just out in Iowa and holy shit they were everywhere! So yeah I feel for ya bud!
 

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TanzanianMagic

Well-known member
Veteran
If they're aphids...

Ants track aphids around because they excrete sugars.

Sugars are a poison to them.

So spraying sugar water on the soil/pots should slow them down.

Regular spraying with a fermentation from something known to beneficial to cannabis also keeps bugs in check.

Get some fermentation locks at the local fermentation store, the size of some bottles you have laying around. Put a table spoon of hempseeds and much of a banana in the bottle, and top up with water that has a tablespoon of honey dissolved in it. Put the fermentation lock on, add water (I prefer with some H2O2 added) to lock out the air, and put a way in a warm dark place for at least 3 days to months. If it still smells great, it's good to use. Although wormcastings never smell great, yet they're still effective.

Here are a few formulas:

honey
hempseeds
banana

Especially good for late flowering and resin production. The honey is a flower product, hempseeds have all the microbes beneficial to hemp, and banana has ethylene which speeds ripening in many fruits and vegetables and adds sugars and micros.

honey
wormcastings

Extra nitrogen. Increased potency. There is a lot going on in wormcastings.

This year, I've also given them gum arabic, which I think helps a lot with resin production and terpenes.
 

X15

Well-known member
If they're aphids...

Ants track aphids around because they excrete sugars.

Sugars are a poison to them.

So spraying sugar water on the soil/pots should slow them down.

Regular spraying with a fermentation from something known to beneficial to cannabis also keeps bugs in check.

Get some fermentation locks at the local fermentation store, the size of some bottles you have laying around. Put a table spoon of hempseeds and much of a banana in the bottle, and top up with water that has a tablespoon of honey dissolved in it. Put the fermentation lock on, add water (I prefer with some H2O2 added) to lock out the air, and put a way in a warm dark place for at least 3 days to months. If it still smells great, it's good to use. Although wormcastings never smell great, yet they're still effective.

Here are a few formulas:

honey
hempseeds
banana

Especially good for late flowering and resin production. The honey is a flower product, hempseeds have all the microbes beneficial to hemp, and banana has ethylene which speeds ripening in many fruits and vegetables and adds sugars and micros.

honey
wormcastings

Extra nitrogen. Increased potency. There is a lot going on in wormcastings.

This year, I've also given them gum arabic, which I think helps a lot with resin production and terpenes.
I’ve wondered how the anti microbial and anti fungal properties of honey affect the beneficial components of a good ferment. Is it offering a narrower window of beneficials vs. say “organic cane sugar”.
Or is this just my head trippin?

Does anyone have any info on Honey vs. Cane Sugar and ferments for IPM?

Much Respect!
nasa-
 

blondie

Well-known member
The sugar spray idea might make some sense actually from what I read. At least some root aphids can’t live without ants. The aphid bodies somehow build up honeydew and if ants don’t remove it eventually kills them. I don’t have ants that I see at least so this might be a somewhat effective tool.

I’ve also been thinking about the ivermectin idea and honestly it seems to have some merit. I’ve already ordered the botanic stuff though. It’s an available somewhat proven method. I just had to pay up for it.

Yesterday I lugged 350$ worth of soil to the curb and sanitized the living fuck out of what I could. Not a fun day but it’s done. Yellow stickies only caught the one flier so far. Plants are doing ok but showing signs of something wrong.

What I’ve found is there are two different types of aphids. One is regular aphid, mostly above ground dwelling leaf sucking. Visible on stem leaves etc. The other is a distinct and different creature, called a root aphid. Root aphids soil dwelling mostly and eat roots instead of leaves. Be careful as most sources don’t make a distinction. Treatment is different for both.

I’m quite certain what I have is in fact root aphid of the Trama family. Not much info on this particular creature but an old Canadian report shows it in Canada along the US border Vermont, NH, and Maine. It has to be in Maine, where my soil came from.
 
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