Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My set up is indoors. My entire hydroponic was terribly infested. I could not control it and had to start over. I had tried neem oil dishwashing detergent and several other similar remedies. The only thing that I did not try was molasses mixed with water. I had heard it works on the other pests but not specifically aphids. I would like to try to see if it works on aphids but from my past experience I don't think that it will. Aphids destroyed my entire tomatillo plant. It appears that aphids do not like hot humidity and my immersed aquarium plant set up started to get some aphids so I wet them and put it in a large plastic bag and covered the bin. after a day or so the aphids were completely gone so perhaps covering up the plants with plastic after spraying them with water would help.

nothing works on aphids on a chemical level that is fish friendly imho.
my celery was being totally destroyed and i got out the hose and set it to jet and blasted them off and that cut their numbers down a little, but didn't get rid of them.
don't waste money/time on sprays or home remedies, inspect your plants once a week with a high pressure sprayer in hand. to date i have tried the following on aphids without worthwhile results

metho spray
chilli+garlic spray
rhubarb spray
commercial chilli+garlic spray
seasol spray

I noticed that the aphids do not like to be wet more than a few minutes. I suppose they find a place to get out of the dew or wait it out but the better part of the day is too much for them.

I was thinking to add a spray bar off the pump so that when it cycles on it sprays the top of the plants as well as fills the substrate bed. Any thought on that idea? PVC pipe with the sprayer heads sounds like its worth a try.

I havnt actually tried this, but every now and again I've pulled a plant out of my system to have a look at the roots just out of interest. When I replant them they just carry on as if nothing has happened (as long as they are well established)

Perhaps you could just pull them out, wash them in whatever toxic stuff you want, rinse them off and put them back

Also sticky traps work against aphids. You can buy them at this trustworthy online shop

Just wondering, has anyone tried diatomaceous earth as an aphid fix??
Haven't searched yet, just looking for some ideas on an aphid outbreak..

What about Diatomaceous earth or ground up lava rock?

http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html ;

Diatomaceous Earth may be used as a barrier to control adult flea beetles, sawfly, coddling moth, twig borer, thrips, mites, cockroach, slugs, snails and many other insects such as:
Aphids, thrips, earwigs, silverfish, and ants. Can be used for bedbugs, cabbage root flies, carrot root flies, fleas, pillbugs, ticks and is helpful in dealing with fungus gnats. Indoor and Outdoor Application: Sprinkle a light layer of DE in areas where pests frequent, including under stoves, cabinets, sinks, garbage cans, window and door frames and sills,
entrance ways, sewer pipes and drains, and in cracks and crevices. Repeat treatment as needed.

Ha, you beat me!

Ha ha ha ha.... Sorry about that
Trying a few different methods but might just use the DE in the AP set up as I know it can harm beneficial's as well... Shall make up a Neem, sunlight soap spray as well as a tomato leaf one for the Wicking beds & compare the results... Don't really want to risk exposing the perch at the moment..

In the states I used to buy ladybugs by the kilo. They eat aphids. Do they sell them over here?

Hi johnfenn..
I have seen a few places on line,
http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au/
http://www.goodbugs.org.au/Good%20bugs% ... ilabl.html
http://www.bugcentral.com.au/index.php
These are the ones I found earlier tonight... Will have a good look later..
HTH someone...

Be careful when using yellow sticky traps though, i tried it and all that i caught were the lady bugs that i had previously put in the green house

I live here in Hawaii, and I have a couple potted Hibiscus bushes, and they get overrun by aphids sometimes, I've done the Dawn dish washing detergent and water method, I usually keep the empty bottles under the sink, and the residue left is enough that when I refill the bottle with water, It is a very foamy soapy mixture, seems to kill the aphids on contact, same as it does with fleas...but I am not sure how well it would mix with an aquaponics system. If it was a larger volume of water in your system, and only a teaspoon of soap in a garden sprayer, may be ok, and not foam up your tanks.. but I'd be careful. Ever seen the fountain pranks when someone dumps soap in a city fountain? Takes weeks for it to settle down.. and for days there is foam comming out of the ponds..

no soap in fish tanks/ap systems!

I just had to fight off an infestation of aphids on my pepper plant in the ap system...brought in some garlic chives i picked up at the local shop, and I guess they were infested, and just ganged up on my plant. I had to do the soap and water method, very very watered down, it took care of all the aphids.. but by the time I had gotten the chance to take care of them, the plant is pretty much a lost cause, going give it a couple days to see if it recovers, but probably going to have to snatch it out and toss it away. Makes me sad, was really putting out great banana peppers. No problems with my fish, didnt use enough soap to get washed down into the system looks like. So, I think it is a decent solution.

i haven't been able to totally get rid of them... i was thinking i might remove a bit of the growbed media and flood the GB to drown them and then top it up with hydroton. i have the swirl filter working really well and will just have to keep on top of that with the decreased filtration of the GB