Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I moved my AP system from a side porch to my basement so I could keep it going year round. In a matter of only a few months, I now have a boat load of growth BUT....the leaves, GB edge, top of the bell siphon, etc has a lot of tiny, little brown specs on them. I'm assuming these are from the tiny, little green gnats that are there. What is safe to use to kill/deter these gnats??

Any idea what type of gnats they are? Good pics might help.

Here are a few pics. Tiny little green bugs and A LOT of same size brown specs...eggs?

You have aphids (the green ones), probably run-of-the-mill peach aphids or similar, the white bits are their sheddings.

The pics are a bit out of focus so it's hard to see what the brown dots are, but they are quite a bit smaller than the aphids, so they could be spider mite.

How do I get rid of them..."organically"?

Neem Oil...

It's non-toxic to humans, mammals, birds etc, but kills insects on contact and can also have a repellent effect that lasts for 4 or 5 days.

Thoroughly cover any exposed areas of gravel in the grow bed with newspaper 3 or 4 sheets thick, then spray the underside and upper surface of the leaves with a fine mist almost to the point of run-off.

Using the Neem oil concentrate at the recommended rates usually kills any aphids on contact, but they start coming back within a couple of days. I've found that when making up the solution I need to add the concentrate to the water at twice the recommended rate for it to have a longer lasting repellent effect. Also, use slightly warm water when making up the spray solution, about 35C.

Avoid getting the neem oil in the system water as much as possible.

You might also have luck with a chili/garlic spray that's listed around here someplace.