Hi everyone, thanks in advance for any and all advice. I need help asap! As the title read, I'm about 2-3 weeks out from harvest and I found myself having a growing infestation of aphids on my girls yesterday. All on the buds, and the underside of the leaves. Started on one cola at the base going up a cpl inches, lots of them all of the sudden from nowhere. Now i notice they have spread to the adjacent cola, only a few on that one right now...lots of eggs on a different plant in the corner...lots of adults, lots of juveniles and eggs..so it's looking like the makings of a full blown infestation. I have asked every grow shop in town what can i do to kill them safely this close to harvest without affecting the final product, and gotten a different answer from each. Please help! I'm not a newbie, but I've never had to deal with aphids, and I got so much conflicting info both locally and online that I'd like some clarification.. What can I do to kill and get rid of them so close to harvest-(according to the breeder they should finish in 10-14 days. I may start my flush in a week or 2, but looks like could need longer)-without hurting them in any way, or affecting the final product? Some said use take down at 1% spray as a spot treatment, so I bought that but haven't applied it, or anything yet. Some said there's nothing I can do cause it's way too late to spray anything. Some said a fogger, like Dr doom...some say that's a big no. If I were to want to use one, I don't even think I could as I'm in a small tent, and the girls would get sprayed directly by the fogger, no matter where I would place it in the tent. What about neem oil, would that be effective? Ive used it this late in flower before for mites, and everyrhing was ok. Will it work as well for the aphids, and the eggs? Or should I use the take down with pyrethrin instead? So that's where I'm at, what are my options at this point? Thanks.
Spray em down with water 2 times a day for three days being sure to use plenty of water pressure, remove old grass, grass clippings, and nearby thatch. Spot treat with pure neem oil, if the infestation is massive after 3 days, or keep the water pressure up and add some dawn soap to your plant. I've heard of the aluminum foil method of putting a square around the base of the plant but have never tried it. Where there are aphids there are usually ants, they love to eat em.
Thanks for the info and quick response. About spraying down with water; I have high rh already=up around 42-45% lights off, on any given day. When I water that day, the rh goes up to over 50. Adding all the extra moisture, wouldn't that put me at risk for mold/bud rot? I know I could leave the tent open for a while, but don't want to risk getting mites, or whatever else might want to get in there, and have 2 problems.
Just keep a fan on it for circulation lightly tho it should slowly dry and help it from causing bud rot or mold but once it dries spray again to keep em at bay somembody else might have better advice I hope you get it taken care that looks like good bud Sent from my SM-J320R4 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I like everything that Johnhasthemunchies says but the soap and dont get any of that neems on ur buds spraying them with high pressure water is probably is the best thing you can do at this time. Spray straight upward on your plant from the bottom up hitting every Branch every leaf on your way up when you're done Shake plant off really well and make sure and try and get all the water off the buds and then turn your fans on and blow everything dry quickly as possible and again watch for mold you already know good luck there a bitch I've had them before many times I got them right now that's the only thing I know what to do when your in bud that close to harvest. Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk
Thanks everyone. Well , seems like 3/3 for the high pressure water. But that makes me think: yes that would be effective in removing them from the buds, but wouldn't that spread them everywhere inside the tent, and onto the uninfested areas, and onto the one girl that so far doesn't have any? Or would they mostly end up on the floor where i can use whatever? The water doesn't kill them, just removes them from the flowers/ wherever right? Or is the goal to drown and remove them at the same time? Also, would the pressure needed to remove them blast all the trichs and some hairs you happen to spray, clean off with the aphids?
Get neem oil and when you do spray them off use a spray bottle I think that should be the least harmful to your girl I myself am waiting to hear if anyone else has a better method and least destructive way of doing it Sent from my SM-J320R4 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
That's exactly what i was thinking about doing. Seems like the safest, most effective way. I was also thinking about using the wand attachment on the vacuum covered in a fine mesh, or window screen-something to prevent actually sucking up any veg, and allowing the aphids to pass through without getting clogged up. Maybe I'll try that on a small area, at about 3 inches out and see what happens. If it works ok without taking off too many trichs and/or hairs, then I don't have to spray anything and that'd be great=no chems no off smells/tastes, no added moisture. Let you know how it works out. If not, I'll do a light neem spot treatment for good measure followed by the light pressure wash as recommend. Thanks everyone for all the info, much appreciated.
? no-not gonna cut any bit of them yet. Not an option. Me personally if it came down to it, and its looking like it may, I'd much rather spray the fuuuc out of the small localized sites they are on and end up having to throw all that stuff that was treated out at the end to be rid of the bugs, have saved and allowed the rest of the flowers to mature and fully do their thing to end up with good results, Rather than to have everything-the whole harvest be immature and not right when it was so close. I'd sacrifice 10-20% to save the 80-90%, and make sure it was as good as possible But I think I got a solid plan now thanks to all the help, so it shouldn't come to that.
Don't use any chemicals at this time you can't afford to do that your too close and use any chemicals and you get it on your buds it'll ruin it absolutely destroy it. The high pressure water is your safest bet you aren't going to worry about blowing up any of those trikes Cuz if you don't get them aphids off from them you ain't going to have to worry about no weed at all..... if it goes into the other areas again you got the problem in your tent you need to move everything out of your tent and bomb your tent clean it well bleach water you going to have to do it because you got them and you're going to have them and they're going to be everywhere no matter what you do you have to deal with the problem now and then before you go into Bud again you going to take everything out of your tent and clean everything absolutely and then you can use all your chemicals you want but as long as you got buds on those plants do not use any chemicals on them. If you do you will be sorry neems oil is the poison to humans. Good luck Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk
I agree with not using neem oil but I still recommend it to people. Most of the time people aren't willing to do more work, or they don't have the time to check up on their plants often. As for the moisture thing, good circulation, and a decent temp above 80 degrees should keep moisture off your plant. Most of the time the moisture combined with poor circulation, and bad water quality cause the budrot (mold) watch for the conditions that mold like. You can clip leaves off the bottom stems to aid with circulation.