The Bug Battle

[Sylvia Bernstein]

How are people tackling the bugs that find our systems?  I've been using a combination of beneficial insects (mainly ladybugs) and spraying with insecticidal soap when I have to...but I worry about the effect that using too much of that might have on the fish.  If a plant is pretty small (lettuces, greens, beans, peppers) and is pretty bug infested I'll take it out of the media and let it soak in the fish tank for about 15 minutes. the bugs drown, and the fish seem to love them.

I know some people use neem oil with success.  What are the downsides?  What else do you guys use?

Also, my most buggy plants are salad greens and peppers.  They've stayed totally off my herbs, broccoli, and tomatoes.  What have other's experience been with this?  Any hypothesis as to why?  Travis thinks it has something to do with nitrogen levels...

[Sylvia Bernstein]

oops...you are right!  I just went and checked.  We sell Neem as a concentrate, but the soap is a spray.  Sorry about that... I should have checked first ;-)

[Windy Elliott]

it's ok. So the soap is ok. Can I wash the bugs off in the tank with the soap or do I have to rinse them off in the sink first? Also, all my seedlings are really leggy. Is that normal? Is my light too high?

[TCLynx]

I'd rinse them off first before putting in the tank.

Leggy seedlings are a sign of not enough light or the light is too far away from them.

[Windy Elliott]

That's what I suspected. TCL, you just rock. I will lower the lights this evening. I guess I can just soak things in regular water and put them back in the media. The seedlings are just so delicate, I hate to pull them out. I think I will lower the light, hold off for a week or so, then try to get rid of the aphids.

[TCLynx]

Ya know aphids can simply be sprayed off the plants with water if pulling the plants out seems like it will be too hard on them.  If you  have ants farming them, then the ants would just bring them back but otherwise just spraying the plants regularly can sometimes take care of it.

 

Granted, indoor growing can have more issues with aphids, whiteflys, spider mites and some others getting out of hand because you don't have the natural controls of them like outdoors so you might have to be more proactive at controlling those things than I have to.

[Growzay]

I know these pests are hard to see in the pics - They are stacked one on top of the other-on my cauliflower- the colony looks like cauliflower. Can anyone tell me what kind they are? Aphids/mites? They do have 6- legs a set of antennas and black piercing eyes.

[Windy Elliott]

I don't have any ants farming these aphids. But I think they came from my cucumber plant that was outside and was being farmed by ant. I will try the water spray.

[Green Acre Aquaponics]

We were just introduced to a new natural bug repellent yesterday that we are going to try out.  It is called Soap Nuts and it is a fruit that grows in Taiwan and is farmed and shipped here.  Apparently it is useful as a laundry detergent, a hand soap, an insect repellent and treats aphids and whiteflys.  It suds very little, so may be a great natural alternative for pest control.  We will try it out and let you know!  They say they even use it as a wash for their dogs and it is a flea repellent too.

[Windy Elliott]

I have a friend that backpacks several times a year and swears by Soap Nuts for laundry.

Green Acre Organics said:

We were just introduced to a new natural bug repellent yesterday that we are going to try out.  It is called Soap Nuts and it is a fruit that grows in Taiwan and is farmed and shipped here.  Apparently it is useful as a laundry detergent, a hand soap, an insect repellent and treats aphids and whiteflys.  It suds very little, so may be a great natural alternative for pest control.  We will try it out and let you know!  They say they even use it as a wash for their dogs and it is a flea repellent too.

[Green Acre Aquaponics]

The folks that gave them to us said they are incredilbe for a multitude of things but hadn't yet tried them for aphids.  We will!

[Sylvia Bernstein]

I wonder if that is like Dr. Bonner's soap.  I've used that in the past for insects, but I know it is used a lot in camping, etc. as well

[Green Acre Aquaponics]

I don't know.  I still need to do some research on them.  What we were given was an actual fruit, somewhat like a cherry with a pit, that has been dried and pitted.  For laundry, you toss it in a little 'sock' for washing and for bug repellent or as a hand soap, it is steeped.  It only takes about 5 or 6 of them to do laundry and will do up to 7 loads.