A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Bugs!

We have an 9 month old 80sqft DWC system in Haiku... and recently we got white flies and aphids! Murray Hallam, Australia's aqua guru, recommends spraying a molasses and water mixture. Does anyone have any experience with dealing with these bugs, or others?

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Permalink Reply by Larry Yonashiro on February 9, 2011 at 11:01pm

I don't, but how about this search:

http://aquaponicscommunity.com/main/search/search?q=white+flies+aphids

BTW thanks for the info on Murray Hallam. I finally got to look at some of his videos. Amazing.

Permalink Reply by Rebecca B on February 10, 2011 at 11:09am

Hi, Marina. Did you find the forum on "The Bug Battle?" The fish complicate bug control because of the parameters they impose, but they also offer a solution to the aphids = wash them off in the fish tank! Once you have the bugs under control, you might try compost tea to discourage them in the future. My understanding is the tea used in a foliar spray increases the plants' health and makes them less appealing to bugs. Nick brews his own from his worm compost; it is also available free on Fridays from Eco-Island in Haiku. I learned about it on a tour of Iao Farms in Kula; they had been instructed by the tea lady herself Elaine Ingram. (Wikipedia lists her credentials.) http://www.main.org/aog/articles/comptea.htm

Permalink Reply by Larry Yonashiro on February 10, 2011 at 12:11pm

Also, Patty has been doing some research on netting. See:

http://www.naturalnews.com/027943_pesticides_crops.html

And the links at the bottom.

Permalink Reply by Rebecca B on February 10, 2011 at 12:48pm

Susanne bought her floating row cover from http://www.duboisag.com/ in Canada because it lasts 10 years, rather than the more usual season or two. Using a grow cover you lose 8% of the sunlight = they don't use it at all during the lower light months of winter. And it was O'o Farms, not Iao.

Larry Yonashiro said:

Also, Patty has been doing some research on netting. See:

http://www.naturalnews.com/027943_pesticides_crops.html

And the links at the bottom.

Permalink Reply by Chris Smith on February 11, 2011 at 11:33pm

Aloha Marina,

I have found that healthy plants do not attract white fly and aphids as stressed and unhealthy plants do. The bug issue can be a symptom of another unseen problem. The plants can look good on top and have root problems that you can't see. I suggest you look for underlying problems.

I once had an isolated bug problem. After much investigation I discovered that a large fish had gotten into my net tank and died. This caused the tank to go anaerobic and the plants in the troughs were starved of oxygen. Low DO caused the plants stress and the bugs came in!! Now if I see any plant issue, I look at the roots first for signs of problems.

Supplemental aeration in your troughs will increase plant growth. I have added bubblers in the troughs and have seen MUCH better growth.

Permalink Reply by Larry Yonashiro on February 12, 2011 at 9:11am

Good mindset, Chris. Fix the source of the problem and the symptoms will disappear. This is valuable information. Mahalo.

BTW, thanks for your input and for joining. Enjoyed your presentation at the Friendly training this past October.

Permalink Reply by Marina Galvan on February 12, 2011 at 11:52pm

Yes, thank you Chris. Thank you for reminding me-- bugs' little attennae pick up on the biochemical signals of plants crying out for help, and attack those stressed plants first... which i was overlooking because our lettuce is super healthy, but the kale is struggling--they are the plants that have this aphid/whitefly issue. i think i''ve figured it out though. i think the kale was planted before we increased aeration in the troughs, and maybe it got stunted or somehow damaged and just needs to be replanted. I will do so. As far as replacing these kale- well, we are short on sprouts! Germination, with several different seeds in different locations, has been really spotty the last few months. Which is another issue that I welcome comments on! And thank you everyone for your thoughts on bugs!
Chris Smith said:

Aloha Marina,

I have found that healthy plants do not attract white fly and aphids as stressed and unhealthy plants do. The bug issue can be a symptom of another unseen problem. The plants can look good on top and have root problems that you can't see. I suggest you look for underlying problems.

I once had an isolated bug problem. After much investigation I discovered that a large fish had gotten into my net tank and died. This caused the tank to go anaerobic and the plants in the troughs were starved of oxygen. Low DO caused the plants stress and the bugs came in!! Now if I see any plant issue, I look at the roots first for signs of problems.

Supplemental aeration in your troughs will increase plant growth. I have added bubblers in the troughs and have seen MUCH better growth.

Permalink Reply by Chris Smith on February 13, 2011 at 9:01am

Marina, kale is a plant that attracts bugs more than others. My kale plants have been attacked by aphids and caterpillars since I have been growing it. I have noticed that the white butterflies flock to kale to lay eggs. I have to use dipel on a weekly basis so that plants don't get eaten.

I now grow kale, celery, peppers and other long term plants in cinder beds. I have found that the raft method is better for plants(like lettuce or bac choy) that the entire plant is harvested at one time and immediately replaced with a seedling. It becomes a hassle lifting out rafts of mature kale or celery for harvesting and I really do not like bending over to harvest. I have been harvesting celery from the same plants in my cinder bed since November! That would have been a lot of bending over if the plants were in rafts.

I too had problems with germination when I used coir. I have switched to cinder as my starting medium and now have nearly 97% germ rate. The cinder is a cheep and local product. Coir is imported from oversees. I will be posting on my new method in the next week probably in the raft growers group.

Permalink Reply by Marina Galvan on February 13, 2011 at 5:12pm

Wow, Chris, you have addressed my two biggest issues! Kale bugs and germination. I love kale and would hate to give up on growing it. What is this dipel that you use?

Since you're germinating in cinder, is it very fine cinder? do you spread something fine on top of the big chunky cinder?are you worried about it falling into the troughs and compromising the liner?

I look forward to trying new media. the coir and vermiculite mixture, after a couple months, falls almost entirely into the troughs. i have strawberry plants sitting in net pots with NO media left!

Thanks for your valuable input.

Chris Smith said:

Marina, kale is a plant that attracts bugs more than others. My kale plants have been attacked by aphids and caterpillars since I have been growing it. I have noticed that the white butterflies flock to kale to lay eggs. I have to use dipel on a weekly basis so that plants don't get eaten.

I now grow kale, celery, peppers and other long term plants in cinder beds. I have found that the raft method is better for plants(like lettuce or bac choy) that the entire plant is harvested at one time and immediately replaced with a seedling. It becomes a hassle lifting out rafts of mature kale or celery for harvesting and I really do not like bending over to harvest. I have been harvesting celery from the same plants in my cinder bed since November! That would have been a lot of bending over if the plants were in rafts.

I too had problems with germination when I used coir. I have switched to cinder as my starting medium and now have nearly 97% germ rate. The cinder is a cheep and local product. Coir is imported from oversees. I will be posting on my new method in the next week probably in the raft growers group.