Worse than spider mites??? I have ROOT APHIDS... what a f****** nightmare.

I've been growing a while.

I recently relocated to So-Cal and went about my business.

I was a little surprised when I started seeing deficiencies in my girls a few weeks into flowering. I tried to treat them (mostly showing a cal def.) and nothing really got any better.

I was certain I had fungus gnats, so I coated the soil with a layer of sand.

I leached the soil, and hit them with a nice nutrient mix, and things really did not get much better.

I was going insane; I thought I knew what I was doing and I thought I approached the problems I was seeing in the proper manner. Little did I know that my soil and root systems were thriving with root aphids. Fuckers.

I also noticed I still had bugs flying around resembling gnats even after I had laid sand out which is supposed to be a sure shot to get rid of them.

Upon further research and noticing tiny sesame seed sized bugs crawling around on some potato slices I had thrown in the pots, I realized I had root aphids.

What a pain in the ass. I am starting to realize these are local to So-cal more than any place else, and I guess they are very hard to get rid of.

Many of my plants are showing deficiencies and I have tried my hardest to treat them.

Today I got fed up and went and got some azatrol. It was expensive. I am mixing this azatrol product with SM-90, and H202 and completely drenching the soil with this mixture praying it will at least control them

I also bought some nematodes which I will use but not at the same time as the Azatrol

Any personal experiences or quick fixes to get rid of these asshole invaders would be helpful.

Let me tell you; you do NOT want these things, and I am certain they came with the clones I bought in the beginning. I have spent a lot of MONEY and TIME, and I am just now starting to realize the extent of the problem.

I was told that the aphids will actually scurry up the stem in search of refuge from the flush, but I have not seen this happen on my plants. Maybe it's because the sand keeps them from getting up the stem.

Even worse, in late maturation they develop wings, fly around, and get stuck in your sticky buds. How annoying.

I have never encountered this problem in 4 years of growing in any other state and I can't begin to tell you how pissed I am and I know that it's really gonna hurt my yield.

What a pain in the ass.

Insight anyone?

I'll also let you know how my SM-90/Azatrol/H202 flush works out.

Seriously, I think these are worse than mites because you can't even see them until it's too late.

Sigh...

have you tried h202 hydrogen peroxide? it did solve my problem once

Yes, I am currently flushing the soil with H202, Azatrol, and SM-90 as we speak. We will see how the results turn out. I am hoping for the best. It's encouraging to hear you say H202 works; especially since its far more cost effective than Azatrol.

good to know...i have not used any insecticides with my roots so i cant speak for the other stuff you are mixing with it, based on experienced i got pissed-off with my plants (flowering) and didnt care if it die and what i did was water the whole root system and gave her just plain h202 bounce back after 2-3 days. but i wouldnt recommend not dissolving it with water. but it works for me but probably will not try not dissolving it with water just in case it happens again. i was using the 35% btw. so hope yours bounced back. try it on other plants first and see if it has abnormal reaction

well i hope they work and get id of them fckers sorry to here and good luck may be next grow stick your soil in the oven and bake soil at 179 degrees for like 15 mins goin to smell up the house but u can guarntee by sterilizing your soil these things will never happen again

The worst part is there is really nothing conclusive to go on on the internet. Some people say azatrol works. Some people say it sucks. Some people say nematodes work. Some say they don't. I have some nematodes and that will be the next step but I also think the azatrol interferes with them and kills them so I might just wait out this harvest and just use the nematodes on the next generation as a preventative measure. Seriously I wouldn't doubt if my yield is cut in half because of this. What a joke. Man I'm pissed.