what's the best way to deal with aphids?

[Charlotte Seibert]

I have tried spraying them off with water but now they are all overthe GB and floating in the FT. Plant leaves are turning yellow and brown around the edges. Can't beleive how fast the multiplied.

[Converse]

If you have access to fresh worm castings you can brew a tea that will get rid of aphids.  Take 3/2 cup worm castings and put it in a gallon jar with 2 TBSP sugar and a gallon of non-chlorinated water. Add a fish bubbler for 24 hours. This will make the tea.  You can add the worm castings loose in the jar (you'll need to strain them out after brewing, but that is what we do) or you can put them in an old nylon or cloth sack and hang in the jar.  After brewing (aerating) the mix for 24 hours, spray this liquid on your plants, top-sides-and bottoms.  It will get rid of the aphid problem and feed the plants in the process.  It will not harm any plants, nor harm your FT. Warning: do not put a sealed lid on a jar of brewed worm casting tea.  It will build up pressure. Use the brewed tea within 18 hours of removing it from the aeration source. 

  I am sure there are other methods, but this is what we use recommend.  All natural.

Best of luck to you in this!

[Charlotte Seibert]

Where do you get fresh worm castings? Can you buy fishing worms and use the soil/ what ever they are in?

Converse said:

If you have access to fresh worm castings you can brew a tea that will get rid of aphids.  Take 3/2 cup worm castings and put it in a gallon jar with 2 TBSP sugar and a gallon of non-chlorinated water. Add a fish bubbler for 24 hours. This will make the tea.  You can add the worm castings loose in the jar (you'll need to strain them out after brewing, but that is what we do) or you can put them in an old nylon or cloth sack and hang in the jar.  After brewing (aerating) the mix for 24 hours, spray this liquid on your plants, top-sides-and bottoms.  It will get rid of the aphid problem and feed the plants in the process.  It will not harm any plants, nor harm your FT. Warning: do not put a sealed lid on a jar of brewed worm casting tea.  It will build up pressure. Use the brewed tea within 18 hours of removing it from the aeration source. 

  I am sure there are other methods, but this is what we use recommend.  All natural.

Best of luck to you in this!

[Jon Parr]

Try Organocide, a soluble fish oil available at home depot or wherever. I spray with Organocide, then spray with worm casting tea the next day, do this once per week until bugs are are gone, then once a month for good measure. Go on Craigslist to find local source of worms and or castings. Good luck

[Converse]

Worm castings is the polite, and more professional term for worm poop.  It is not the stuff that worms are packed in at the bait shop.  In fact, worms cannot live in a concentration of their own castings, which is why we vermiculturists separate the resulting castings from our redworms.  Worm castings are amazing!  They are higher in plant available nutrients than any other manure, compost or fertilizer. They naturally contain plant growth hormones.  They improve soil texture, and water retention quailities. They also have a population of microbes that are very beneficial, which is why they work so well in rejuvenating damaged/'dead' soils and get rid of insect pests and plant maladies.

   Worm castings contain an enzyme (chitinase) that attacks the bodies of hard bodies insects.This is why it works on aphids.  Worm castings also have a beneficial microbail population that call be increased when it is brewed as I described above.  Not just a sun-tea method of making worm casting tea (which is a great way to make a fertilizer for plants and soil), but it must be brewed (aerated) at the concetration (or higher concentration) I mentioned above to get the effect you need to get rid of aphids.  Nothing else is needed. 

 

    Where to get worm castings? Good question....I can mail some to you ( Send me a private message if you like some)....Or you can find them in larger garden stores.  Just make sure that the castings you buy have not been in a sealed up bag.  What you get if you buy them sealed, is a dead bunch of castings.  Valuable? Certainly...but only for the nutrients that are still there.  All the microbial population will be dead or dying. If buying at stores, the best place to get worm castings is from smaller mom and pop garden stores simply because if they have castings often times it is from a local worm farm and the castings will be fresher.  You can find them online too.

let me know if you have further questions.  Certainly there are other routes to go, but I do know this one is SAFE and it works.

[Dan Ponton]

This was very interesting, I am going to convert one of my barrel compost tumblers into a worm bed and put worms in my E&B grow beds filled with 3/4" gravel.

Converse said:

Worm castings is the polite, and more professional term for worm poop.  It is not the stuff that worms are packed in at the bait shop.  In fact, worms cannot live in a concentration of their own castings, which is why we vermiculturists separate the resulting castings from our redworms.  Worm castings are amazing!  They are higher in plant available nutrients than any other manure, compost or fertilizer. They naturally contain plant growth hormones.  They improve soil texture, and water retention quailities. They also have a population of microbes that are very beneficial, which is why they work so well in rejuvenating damaged/'dead' soils and get rid of insect pests and plant maladies.

   Worm castings contain an enzyme (chitinase) that attacks the bodies of hard bodies insects.This is why it works on aphids.  Worm castings also have a beneficial microbail population that call be increased when it is brewed as I described above.  Not just a sun-tea method of making worm casting tea (which is a great way to make a fertilizer for plants and soil), but it must be brewed (aerated) at the concetration (or higher concentration) I mentioned above to get the effect you need to get rid of aphids.  Nothing else is needed. 

 

    Where to get worm castings? Good question....I can mail some to you ( Send me a private message if you like some)....Or you can find them in larger garden stores.  Just make sure that the castings you buy have not been in a sealed up bag.  What you get if you buy them sealed, is a dead bunch of castings.  Valuable? Certainly...but only for the nutrients that are still there.  All the microbial population will be dead or dying. If buying at stores, the best place to get worm castings is from smaller mom and pop garden stores simply because if they have castings often times it is from a local worm farm and the castings will be fresher.  You can find them online too.

let me know if you have further questions.  Certainly there are other routes to go, but I do know this one is SAFE and it works.

[Converse]

  Just be sure your tumbler composter remains stationary (don't tumble it).  Redworms do not handle disturbances well, and will halt their eating/reproducing routine for a time if they get tumbled around.  This is one of the reasons that redworms newly added to a vermicomposting bin, an AP bed or wormbed take about 1 1/2 to 3 weeks before they will begin eating and reproducing at their normal rate.  (They also are acclimating to the the new pH and temps, etc.. during that time).  Also, be sure your tumbler composter is not sitting in the direct sun or you will bake the wormies.  Many, many people we talk to at the Farmers' Markets wind up doing just what you plan to do - convert their tumbler-composter  into a vermicomposting bin.

  By feeding dead plant matter to redworms you will have at your fingertips organic homemade ingredients to get rid of aphids, spider mits, tomato hornworms and a host of other insect pests.  It will stop black spot, get rid of damping off,powdery mildew and many more plant maladies.  All from your wormbin!  No more buying stuff from the store...and you can even feed the extra worms to your fish!

[Dan Ponton]

I have red spider mites by the thousands on my flowers. I have tried two different organic sprays and they have not phased them at all. Today I am going back to chemical warfare.

I have my two compost tumbler in a part shade condition, so I guess they should be OK.

Should I work the new food (vegi pulp) into the bed or can I toss it on the top?

Converse said:

  Just be sure your tumbler composter remains stationary (don't tumble it).  Redworms do not handle disturbances well, and will halt their eating/reproducing routine for a time if they get tumbled around.  This is one of the reasons that redworms newly added to a vermicomposting bin, an AP bed or wormbed take about 1 1/2 to 3 weeks before they will begin eating and reproducing at their normal rate.  (They also are acclimating to the the new pH and temps, etc.. during that time).  Also, be sure your tumbler composter is not sitting in the direct sun or you will bake the wormies.  Many, many people we talk to at the Farmers' Markets wind up doing just what you plan to do - convert their tumbler-composter  into a vermicomposting bin.

  By feeding dead plant matter to redworms you will have at your fingertips organic homemade ingredients to get rid of aphids, spider mits, tomato hornworms and a host of other insect pests.  It will stop black spot, get rid of damping off,powdery mildew and many more plant maladies.  All from your wormbin!  No more buying stuff from the store...and you can even feed the extra worms to your fish!

[Jon Parr]

Toss it on top. Ideally you want a stackable, tiered worm bin with each tray having a mesh floor. When the first bin is full of veg waste, worms, and castings, then add a second and keep stacking. By the time you get 3 or 4 trays, the oldest/lowest tray should be finished, and largely free of worms and ready to use. Spread the castings out in the sun on a window screen held a couple inches above a sheet of plastic. The worms will migrate down to avoid the light, and can be added back to the bin. Castings that are free of worms and still moist are best to make your tea with. 
Mites have a reproduction cycle of about a week, maybe even less in ideal conditions, and virtually all organic methods to fight the adults do not phase the eggs. So spraying once doesn't do much but give you a false sense of having won the battle. Plus there are so many places for adults to hide that one spraying simply won't get them all. I use an oil spray like Organicide, or make your own with cooking oil and water. The water itself actually kills most of the mites, their soft bodies swell an burst. The oil that remains coats the body of those that the water didn't kill, which blocks respiration and kills the mites. Unfortunately the oil also clogs the stoma on the underside of plant leaves as well, not good. One oil application is ok, but spraying oil repeatedly will kill the mites and the plants. A follow up spray of worm tea, a day or two after the oil spray, will fight mites and aphids in it's own way, and the hi bacterial content of the tea will break down oil residue so that it does not accumulate on plant. Worm tea by itself will work as well, but I've had better success with the one two punch. 

[George]

I use water only for aphids and spider mites.  Keep at it.

[TCLynx]

Just be careful when spraying the oils or organoside around aqupaonics since a spill or overspray of oil, soap or chemical treatments can be detrimental to the fish and bacteria in aquaponics.

Converse, do you have a web site for your worm farming operation?

I probably need to start making aerated worm tea sprays from my worm castings but I've usually been too lazy to spray anything on my plants (see in FL you have to get up very early to be able to spray anything since it gets so hot that spraying after dawn means the plants get burned.)

[Charlotte Seibert]

All I have been able to is keep spraying  with a spray pump and water,  early and late in the day.. been called into work too much this week...have not had a chance to start looking for the worm castings... so far ,all though not gone , the aphids are less. Will have to wait til monday to really work on it.. Have not even had time to look at posts.... worse case I'll pull up plants...most of the aphids are on something new I tried..ground cherrys..ty all for the help...

[Charlotte Seibert]

Converse please friend me so I can see about getting some worm castings from you.
 
Converse said:

Worm castings is the polite, and more professional term for worm poop.  It is not the stuff that worms are packed in at the .  In fact, worms cannot live in a concentration of their own castings, which is why we vermiculturists separate the resulting castings from our redworms.  Worm castings are amazing!  They are higher in plant available nutrients than any other manure, compost or fertilizer. They naturally contain plant .  They improve soil texture, and water retention quailities. They also have a population of microbes that are very beneficial, which is why they work so well in rejuvenating damaged/'dead' soils and get rid of insect pests and plant maladies.

   Worm castings contain an enzyme (chitinase) that attacks the bodies of hard bodies insects.This is why it works on aphids.  Worm castings also have a beneficial microbail population that call be increased when it is brewed as I described above.  Not just a sun-tea method of making worm casting tea (which is a great way to make a fertilizer for plants and soil), but it must be brewed (aerated) at the concetration (or higher concentration) I mentioned above to get the effect you need to get rid of aphids.  Nothing else is needed. 

 

    Where to get worm castings? Good question....I can mail some to you ( Send me a private message if you like some)....Or you can find them in larger garden stores.  Just make sure that the castings you buy have not been in a sealed up bag.  What you get if you buy them sealed, is a dead bunch of castings.  Valuable? Certainly...but only for the nutrients that are still there.  All the microbial population will be dead or dying. If buying at stores, the best place to get worm castings is from smaller mom and pop garden stores simply because if they have castings often times it is from a local worm farm and the castings will be fresher.  You can find them online too.

let me know if you have further questions.  Certainly there are other routes to go, but I do know this one is SAFE and it works.