Root aphids

I know have asked this before, but I really do need an answer. I have been cleaning up my Auricula seedlings and far too many of them have bad infestations of root aphids. Has anyone ever found an effective insecticide? At the moment I am washing all the compost off the plants in a Horticultural soft soap solution. The aphids are covered in a wax which stops normal insecticides from reaching the creatures.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi,

Did not know of such aphids, they sound as bad vine weevil.

As such would not Provado UBK be a suitable treatment, both as a drench and foliar spray as its works by contact and systemically.

 

The plants have been soaked in one of the Vine Weevil systemic insecticides. Scott's stuff. No effect that I can see on the aphids.

 

They do sound a real pest as detailed in this US post, along with some suggested methods of control, though nothing offering a total solution .
How to Get Rid of Root Aphids | Planet Natural

On a plant you can risk sacrificing, think I would try a spray or dipping the bare roots in Meths or even IPA, I know that kills Mealy Bugs with their waxy coat.

Worth contacting the Nemasys or similar Nematode suppliers to see if any of their existing creatures will kill them ? they say Root Fly , though that could mean carrot or scarid fly ??

 

Thanks. Getting to the stage where I will try anything.

 

I know some pleione orchid growers use neem oil to dip bulbs in to get rid of mite infestations. Perhaps that might work? I suspect it stops respiration by coating them.

 

Trouble is that the things are in the compost, so getting anything on them is not easy. You can spray the outside of the compost, but the only way to get anything on the rest of the roots is to wash all the compost away. Not really wanting to do that as we are trialling a fungus which is supposed to kill vine weevil grubs. Very expensive stuff too. £30 or so for enough to do about 60 litres of compost.

 

I had some root aphids on a banana plant last spring, had two plants one growing like the clappers and the other doing nothing.
I soaked the rootball in a spray strength solution of malathion.
Trouble is you cant get that anymore, but it sorted them out.

Have you tried soaking the rootballs in an insecticide with a couple of drops of washing up liquid added, but its not a good time of the year to be doing this.

 

Actara insecticide (Active Ingredient
250 g/Kg Thiamethoxam) would help, if you can get it.

 

That does not appear to be readily available. It is also a neonicotinoid insecticide which I prefer not to use where there are bees likely to be visiting.
I could just throw the plants away (as recommended on various sites) but they are all unflowered deliberate crosses from named plants. I need to see them flower before they get tossed. Any which are any good will then be propagated from cuttings and the mother planted destroyed, if they still are infected.
Thanks folks for trying.

 

Hi,

As that link I mentioned earlier said, the compost we buy in bags may well be contaminated with them or their eggs, let alone the compost in the pots of plants we buy, so it would suggest finding a cure is the way rather than discarding the plants.

Wonder if the simplest way would work, immerse the plant fully in a bucket of room temperature water for a couple of days, seems quiet a few plants can survive that.

 

I washed the roots in plain water and left them soaking in a pot for a week, that seems to deal with them. Any new compost used for plants in pots I cook in the microwave for about five minutes, then let it cool before using, it seems to work. It won't work though if the treated compost is amongst other plants with the same problem, or there's stored compost in the same place, because aphids will transfer from one pot to another. It means dealing with all other compost the same way.

 

Hi,

A bit more web searching and seems a Pyrethum drench or Nematode products are said to effective.

 

Thanks folks, plenty to be trying out. Ordered some Neem oil to try first.

 

Let us know how you get on please Palustris.