Hello fellow rockwool growers,
I am curious to how you treat your rockwool cubes when you have root aphids. What has worked best, what has not and why? What do you use as preventatives?
If you use a recirculating reservior, will nematodes survive for long with a simple fountain pump or do you need a diaphram pump ?
I am looking for organic options to treat that are fast and effective using drip irrigation on a recerculating system as well as a run to waste system. Trying to dial in a large scale indoor grow. Many thanks!
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I’ve never had root aphids before but I have had aphids on the plants. For a preventative, neem oil comes to mind. Cleanliness is next to godliness here, so prevention is your best bet (root aphids can travel with new clones like spider mites, so if you are noticing problems after cloning, new clones, etc, maybe check your sources and/or coming up with a better treatment plan for the new clones.
I haven’t personally used this so hoping one of the MG’s on here can provide some insight, but been reading that Botanigard is a recommended solution for battling them (expensive though, almost $80+ for a pound of granules.) It’s a mycoinsecticide, meaning it’s an insect killing fungus (apparently aphids can’t build a resistance to the mycelium, so supposed to be pretty knock-out even if it doesn’t kill on the first treatment (and most treatments likely won’t.))
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@Grodan.Doug would be a perfect person to ask regarding rockwool questions!
Also: @grodan @cinnamon.cantwell
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Hi,
Botanigard (MyCotrol) is the best option for controlling root aphids. The manufacture has good recommendations on how to use the product for treating and preventing root aphids at different stages of growth. This can be applied as drench, foliar spray, and cutting dip as per manufacture recommendations.
You might also consider removing the most infected plants and using traditional IPM surveillance to make sure the population stays under control. Please let me know if you have any additional question.
-Doug
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I am currently using botanigard 22WP as a preventative. What is your experience using Botanigard MAXX as a drench with rockwool? We tried it a few times and the plants suffered an immediate wilt and never recovered through flower. They were stunted and the leaves started to yellow and curl down.
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Have never used the MAXX before. Like with any product you need to test the effect on a few plants first before applying to the whole farm. Certain varieties of plants can be more sensitive than others. Also if using as a drench you may want to add your regular nutrient into the mix if is listed as compatible with that product.
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