What are Aphids?

Aphids (aka plant lice) are soft- bodied, pear-shaped insects that feast on your plants. Outdoors they are most prevalent during the spring and summer seasons. Aphids are common garden pests – the green variety is the most well-known, although they can also take pink, brown, yellow and black forms. In all, there are over 200 species of aphids. Some varieties are quite specific to certain plant groups, whereas most are not that fussy and will munch on a wide variety of different plants. Aphids are capable of asexual reproduction and can spawn throughout most of the year, sometimes producing nearly 100 young per aphid in the course of just one week! Indoor growers need to be especially wary of aphids. If you don’t spot them early, a relatively small intrusion will soon turn into a massive infestation unless you act quickly.

What’s the Damage?

Aphids injure your plants by puncturing plant stems and stalks with their skylets – powerful suction devices built into their mouths. Their goal is to find some plant sap which, once located, they suck mercilessly, gorging themselves at the plant’s expense. Prolonged aphid attacks will considerably weaken your plants. Common telltale signs of aphid damage include curled, discolored, and deformed leaves. Also, keep an eye out for “sooty mold” which is caused by mold colonies feeding off the sticky waste the aphids leave behind after their feeding frenzy. If all that isn’t enough, aphids can also spread incurable plant diseases. In short, aphids SUCK big time!

October 23

The wind began gusting with enough force to knock down my outdoor tomato plants. In order to save them, I had to continually move them in and out until the gusting ceased. It didn’t take long until the task of moving 40+ pots from the front yard into my two-bedroom apartment became onerous and inconvenient. Confronted with a living room and kitchen full of plants, I had no other place to put them than right in front of the door to my indoor garden. There (and everywhere in the house), my outdoor plants were spared from the 50-mile/ hour winds outside. I left them there for just over an hour. The strong winds passed so I proceeded to return all the plants outdoors. Little did I know that this would be the dumbest, most destructive thing I had ever perpetrated on my beloved tomato plants.

October 24

I woke up and began my regular morning watering of my outdoor plants. During this activity it’s not uncommon for me to spot the occasional caterpillar or earwig enjoying its breakfast, but today was different. Instead, I stumbled upon a family of aphids nesting on my tomato leaves. Temperatures had begun to hang in the 50s and 60s, and I was expecting the usual aphid wave that comes in the fall. So when I saw the little critters, I thought “well, the wave is here. I’ll start squishing aphids and wipe them out with some neem oil. No big deal.” And so I focused my attentions on pest control for my outdoor plants. And it worked! In less than two days’ time, my tomatoes appeared to be completely pest-free. Fortune, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

October 28

Today was reservoir change day, always a logistically challenging endeavor considering how little room I have to move around in. First step is to empty my indoor garden of plants so that I stand a chance of reaching the ebb and flow table positioned against the far wall of my walk-in grow closet. As I moved and inspected the plants from the mid-section of the room I began to notice some light green bumps on the leaves of my sweet banana peppers. I got up close and saw these shiny, six-legged little critters standing on the leaves, their antennae bent towards their backs, gross-looking, and engaging in some serious sap-sucking. APHIDS! And if experience told me anything I knew that there were probably plenty more to be found. Sure enough, my heart sank when I discovered that all of the pepper plants on my ebb and flow table were populated with aphid “families.” Everything from my Dorset Nagas, my Ajíes Dulce and Caballeros, my Bhut Jolokias, and (oh, noooo!), some pimento plants that came from seeds saved by my late Grandmother – everything was covered in aphids! Panic eventually gave way to pragmatism. The remainder of the day was mostly taken up with bug-squishing and a frenzy of neem spraying. The reservoir change was postponed for another day or two. I had more pressing matters to attend to!

October 31

(photo courtesy of Flagstaffotos)

I woke up determined to get that reservoir change out of the way. I ventured into the bowels of my indoor garden and began to remove the plants from the tray as before. This revealed just how badly infested my plants were: colonies of aphids had pitched tents all over the plants’ leaves, stems and shoots. All of the lower leaves were suddenly looking really crappy: some had begun to show brown spots and the spotting looked like it was creeping upwards toward the plant canopy. Now I had a disease to identify on top of my aphid problem! It was not long before I identified the leaf spotting to be Anthracnose, a viral plant disease (for which there is no cure), which is often carried by aphids. That’s when the seriousness of the matter really struck home. My beautiful pepper plants were screwed. Even if I were to effectively eradicate what was now a full-blown plague of aphids, I’d still be left with sick plants! I’d screwed up royally by breaking that one important rule: Never bring outdoor plants into your indoor garden! If you absolutely have to, make sure they first undergo a lengthy quarantine period!

The plants had to be destroyed. Man, I was gutted. It didn’t matter so much that my Nagas were in the midst of setting fruit or that my pimentos had a special significance — all my infected plants had to be killed. So I took my camera and snapped a few shots of the unwanted guests and, without making too much of a stir, began to hack and bag branches until only the plants’ stems were left. All the containers were dumped – substrate n’ all – into a reinforced garbage bag. All infected plant matter was then doublebagged and immediately thrown in the dump outside. The reservoir was emptied and bleached thoroughly. The rest of the plants in my indoor garden were thoroughly inspected. Some contained one or two aphids, and were cleared of all visible pests and removed from the indoor garden. I sprayed a 10% bleach solution on the walls, floor and ceiling. All equipment inspected and sterilized. An hour of sparing an outdoor plant from wind damage had already compromised my whole indoor grow. This time I would leave nothing to chance.

After my indoor garden was cleaned, I re-checked all the plants and decided to just do away with any seedlings that showed signs of aphids or anthracnose. It would not be worth the time, effort and money to raise a plant that was doomed from the start. The rest of the plants were sprayed with neem oil in order to slow down the life cycle of any aphid youngling I could not catch. Inspections were performed daily until the problem was under control; I scheduled neem oil treatments every 3rd day, but this ended up being performed every other day due to the resurgence of young aphid colonies. Some leaves were beginning to appear rather leathery – probably because of the excess spraying of neem oil. At the end of that week I discovered some aphids nesting on the young shoots of my baobab tree. No other aphid affront had been this cheeky. I don’t mind admitting that the sight of more aphids at this point tipped me over the edge. It was time to call in the big guns.

November 2

I marched to my local hydro shop and made a beeline for the pest control aisle. There I picked up the largest can of pyrethrin-based spray. The store owner seemed surprised to see me buy a can of bug spray because I am a neem-type guy, so I let him in on the battle that was taking place in my indoor garden. He assured me that I had done all I could and that the bug spray would definitely take care of the problem. Once back home, I inspected all the plants and manually killed as many aphids as I could spot – only a handful at this point. This was good news as it indicated to me that the bulk of the infestation had been eradicated by disposing of the infected plants. Now my task was to prevent a re-infestation. In order to achieve this I had to do more than merely reduce their numbers: they needed to be obliterated!

The pyrethrin spray was applied after the lights went out, using short bursts and kept 1-2 ft away from the plants. This would ensure a more ample, gentler coverage while still delivering the pyrethrins to any potential pests. I sprayed my plants once again during mid-week and decided to wait a few more days and re-evaluate its effectiveness. My concerns about burning the plants dissipated throughout the upcoming week, as none of my plants showed signs of contact burn. Not only that, but I was seeing fewer & fewer aphids around the area, and my baobab tree exhibited none by the end of the week. Having seen good results from the pyrethrum spray, I decided to incorporate it into my pest control program. From then on, I would be lightly (but thoroughly) spraying my plants on a weekly basis.

Lessons Learned

There are lessons to be learned and relearned from our mistakes. My first mistake was the breaking of this most-important rule: Never bring outdoor plants into your indoor garden without first undergoing a quarantine period. You can also say that I screwed up by not destroying the pepper plants immediately after finding the first aphids indoors. But then again, no signs of Anthracnose were initially observed. I should have erred on the side of caution and assumed that where there are aphids, diseases follow. My third mistake was over-applying neem oil. Neem did not burn my plants, but it certainly turned my leaves hard and leathery (and I do not know if that is a good thing for their tiny, delicate stomata). However, all in all, I think I was lucky to have been able to control it by using pyrethrin; otherwise, all my plants would’ve been for the trash!

Moment of silence for Eliab’s loss. Now … got an aphid-assaulting tip or horror story you care to share? Post it below!

Source: Institute of Science in Society

“Major crops genetically modified for just two traits – herbicide tolerance and insect resistance – are ravaged by super weeds and secondary pests in the heartland of GMOs as farmers fight a losing battle with more of the same; a fundamental shift to organic farming practices may be the only salvation.”

- Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, Institute of Science in Society

Two traits account for practically all the genetically modified (GM) crops grown in the world today: herbicide-tolerance (HT) due to glyphosate-insensitive form of the gene coding for the enzyme targeted by the herbicide, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), derived from soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and insect-resistance due to one or more toxin genes derived from the soil bacterium Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). Commercial planting began around 1997 in the United States, the heartland of GM crops, and increased rapidly over the years. By now, GM crops have taken over 85-91 percent of the area planted with the three major crops, soybean, corn and cotton in the US [1]] (see Table 1), which occupy nearly 171 million acres.

Table 1. GM crops grown in 2009 in the USA

The ecological time-bomb that came with the GM crops has been ticking away, and is about to explode.

HT crops encouraged the use of herbicides, resulting in herbicide-resistant weeds that demand yet more herbicides. But the increasing use of deadly herbicide and herbicide mixtures has failed to stall the advance of the palmer super weed in HT crops. At the same time, secondary pests such as the tarnished plant bug, against which Bt toxin is powerless, became the single most damaging insect for US cotton.

Monster plants that can’t be killed

It is the Day of the Triffids – not the genetically modified plants themselves as alluded to in John Wyndham’s novel – but “super weeds that can’t be killed” [2], created by the planting of genetically modified HT crops, as seen on ABC TV news.

The scene is set at harvest time in Arkansas October 2009. Grim-faced farmers and scientists speak from fields infested with giant pigweed plants that can withstand as much glyphosate herbicide as you can afford to douse on them. One farmer spent US$0.5 million in three months trying to clear the monster weeds in vain; they stop combine harvesters and break hand tools. Already, an estimated one million acres of soybean and cotton crops in Arkansas have become infested.

The palmer amaranth or palmer pigweed is the most dreaded weed. It can grow 7-8 feet tall, withstand withering heat and prolonged droughts, produce thousands of seeds and has a root system that drains nutrients away from crops. If left unchecked, it would take over a field in a year.

Meanwhile in North Carolina Perquimans County, farmer and extension worker Paul Smith has just found the offending weed in his field [3], and he too, will have to hire a migrant crew to remove the weed by hand.

The resistant weed is expected to move into neighbouring counties. It has already developed resistance to at least three other types of herbicides.

Herbicide-resistance in weeds is nothing new. Ten weed species in North Carolina and 189 weed species nationally have developed resistance to some herbicide.

A new herbicide is unlikely to come out, said Alan York, retired professor of agriculture from North Carolina State University and national weed expert.

Glyphosate-resistant weeds from widespread planting of HT crops

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the US and the world at large. It was patented and sold by Monsanto since the 1970s under the trade name and proprietary formulation, Roundup. Its popularity shot up with the introduction of HT crops. Data from the US Department of Agriculture indicate that the use of glyphosate on major crops went up by more than 15 fold between 1994 and 2005 [4]. The EPA estimated in 2000-2001 that 100 million pounds of glyphosate are used on lawns and farms every year [5], and over the last 13 years, it has been applied to more than a billion acres [6].

It did not take long for glyphosate-resistant weeds to appear, just as weeds resistant to every herbicide used in the past had appeared. The Weed Science Society of America reported nine weed species in the United States with confirmed resistance to glyphosate [6]; among them are strains of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), common waterhemp (Amaranthus rudis), giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida), hairy fleabane (Conyza bonariensis), horseweed (Conyza canadensis), Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense), rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), and palmer pigweed (Amaranthus palmeri).

Glyphosate-resistant palmer super weed

Glyphosate-resistant palmer pigweed first turned up in late 2004 in Macon County, Georgia, and has since spread to other parts of Georgia as well as to South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri [7]. An estimated 100 000 acres in Georgia are severely infested with pigweed and 29 counties have now confirmed pigweed resistance to glyhosate, according to weed specialist Stanley Culpepper at the University of Georgia. In 2007, 10 000 acres of glyphosate-resistant pigweed infested land were abandoned in Macon County.

Monsanto’s technical development manager Rick Cole was reported saying that the problems were “manageable”. He advised farmers to alternate crops and use different makes of herbicides. Monsanto sales representatives are encouraging farmers to mix glyphosate and older herbicides such as 2,4-D, banned in Sweden, Denmark and Norway on account of links to cancer and reproductive and neurological damages. It is a component of Agent Orange used in Vietnam in the 1960s.

Farmers in Georgia are reported to be going back to conventional non-GM crops.

Weed scientists at the University of Georgia estimate that an average of just two palmer amaranth plants in every 6 m length of cotton row can reduce yield by at least 23 percent [8]. A single weed plant can produce 450 000 seeds. Many fields in Arkansas, Tennessee, New Mexico, Mississippi and most recently, Alabama are also infested.

Paraquat is recommended for use in conservation tillage programmes, mixed with up to three other herbicides, each with a different mode of action. Scientists at the University of Tennessee have seen palmer weeds resistant not only to glyphosate but also to the sulfonylurea herbicide trifloxysulfuron-sodium.

Glyphosate resistance with the greatest of ease

Critics have been predicting glyphosate-resistant weeds before HT crops were introduced, simply through cross-pollination between HT crops and wild weedy relatives. But they had neglected the ‘fluid genome’ mechanisms that can alter genomes and genes in response to environmental stimuli, enabling most weed plants to become herbicide resistant independently of cross-pollination. I drew attention to these mechanisms in my book Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare, the Brave New World of Bad Science and Big Business [9] first published in 1997/1998.

Researchers led by Todd Gaines at Colorado State University, Fort Collins in the United States investigated glyphosate-resistant palmer pigweed populations from Georgia. They found that the gene coding for the enzyme EPSPS responsible for metabolising glyphosate herbicide was amplified (multiplied) 5 to 160-fold in glyphosate-resistant plants compared with glyphosate-susceptible plants [10]. The level of gene expression was positively correlated with gene copy number. Fluorescent staining for the gene showed that the amplified gene copies were present on every chromosome.

Gene amplification is one of the most common physiological responses of cells and organisms to ‘selective’ agents in their environment, known at least since 1980s [9].

Glyphosate resistance has been confirmed in 16 weed species as of 2009 [10]. The mechanisms identified so far include reduced glyphosate uptake, and/or mutations in the EPSPS gene that make it less susceptible to inhibition by the herbicide. Glyphosate-resistant palmer pigweed is the first case of resistance based on gene amplification. It confirms the ease with which resistance to obnoxious agents can evolve [9], and the futility of this ‘chemical warfare’ against nature.

Tarnished plant bug the single most damaging pest for cotton

The tarnished plant bug infested 4.8 million acres of US cotton in 2008 [11] making it the single most damaging pest for cotton. Another insect, the fleahopper ranked 5th, and infested 2.3 million acres.

The Cotton Belt of the United States, extending from the San Joaquin Valley of California to Southeastern Virginia, has largely seen off the boll weevil and tobacco budworm since the introduction of Bt cotton, which now accounts for 65 percent of the area planted with cotton (Table 1 [1]). But, as in India and elsewhere [12, 13] (Farmer Suicides and Bt Cotton Nightmare Unfolding in India, Mealy Bug Plagues Bt Cotton in India and Pakistan, SiS 45), secondary pests are posing serious problems, especially the tarnished plant bug.

The tarnished plant bug (TPB), Lygus lineolaris, has been a cotton pest for as long as records were kept. Before 1995, it was controlled with insecticides targeting other insect pests such as tobacco budworm and boll weevil. According to researchers at the Mississippi State University Delta Research and Extension Center [14], since the widespread adoption of Bt-cotton and eradication of the boll weevil, less insecticide have been used; and as a result, the tarnished plant bug has become the primary insect pest of cotton.

Additional insect control costs are coming from increasing foliar sprays, higher technology fees and pest resistance, said Jeff Gore, research entomologist at the Delta Research and Extension Center, speaking at the 2010 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in New Orleans [15]

In 1995 planting an acre of cotton cost $12.75 to $24; in 2005, planting Bollgard, Roundup Ready cotton with a ‘Cadillac’ seed treatment would have cost about $52 an acre. Now in 2010, with Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex, farmers will be spending $85 or more an acre.

“In Mississippi, we have growers who are spending well over $100 for foliar insect control. You add that onto technology fees and seed treatments, you understand why our cotton acreage is decreasing.” Gore said.

To compound the problem, TPB has become resistant to several classes of insecticides, particularly in the Delta regions of the Mid-South states [14].

While TPB is a pest of cotton throughout the growing season, it is particularly damaging during the flowering period, when the pest reproduces copiously, so both adult and immature stages of TPB feed on cotton during the flowering period. Most feeding occurs on reproductive structures. The pests insert their mouthparts into squares and small bolls. It is not uncommon for TPB to cause near-total crop loss in the absence of effective control in some areas of the Delta.

Mid-South growers consulted Gore about planting a non-Bt variety, especially with the higher costs of Bt technology [15]. “We have a few growers planting small acreages of non-Bt cotton, and they’re probably going to see benefits from that.

“But if we start shifting back to non-Bt cotton, I promise you, the tobacco budworm will come back, and we don’t want to be making foliar applications for resistant tobacco budworms, in addition to treating tarnished plant bugs. The amount of money we would have to spend in that situation would be astronomical.”

TPB has been the No. 1 pest in the Mid-South for the past four to five years, and is driving a lot of cotton growers out of the Mississippi Delta, no longer able to afford the cost of sprays.

Gore revealed that spider mites are also gaining a reputation as ‘budget busters’ in the South, along with aphids and stink bugs.

Like TPB, spider mites are becoming resistant to the insecticides used to control them. “Over the past 15 years, we’ve essentially doubled our application rates with Bidrin and tripled our application rates with acephate. So we’re not only spraying more often, we’re applying higher rates that cost more.” Gore said.

He pointed out that a side-effect of relying on neoniccotinoids for plant bug control is some resistance has developed in cotton aphids. “We’re starting to hear lots of complaints from consultants across the Mid-South.”

More of the same is futile

It is disappointing though predictable that the only official academic advice given to farmers is more of the same conventional practices that created the problems in the first place, spraying more and spraying mixtures of different kinds of pesticides, including those banned for being too toxic. Industry, meanwhile, is ready to sell varieties with more stacked GM traits; up to eight at double the seed price [16].

Disappointing too is the persistent effort by some governments and government scientists to promote the failed GM technology, which as I made clear, was already obsolete since the early 1980s [9]. A Sciencexpress paper (indicating quick publication, probably without peer review) entitled “Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people” [17] co-authored by UK chief scientist Prof. John Beddington among others, while somewhat dismissive of current GM crops, nevertheless holds out promises we’ve heard for more than 30 years. “The next decade will see the development of combinations of desirable traits and the introduction of new traits such as drought tolerance. By mid-century much more radical options involving highly polygenic traits may be feasible.” It went on to promise “cloned animals with engineered innate immunity to diseases” and more.

Glyphosate and Roundup, still advertised as ‘less toxic to us than table salt’ in a pamphlet from the Biotechnology Institute promoting HT crops as ‘Weed Warrior’ [18], is in fact highly toxic as new findings indicate [19, 20] (Death By Multiple Poisoning, Glyphosate and Roundup, SiS 42; Ban Glyphosate Herbicides Now, SiS 43). Thirteen years of GM crops in the USA has increased overall pesticide use by 318 million pounds [21] (GM Crops Increase Herbicide Use in the United States, SiS 45). The extra disease burden on the nation from that alone is considerable.

India has learned bitter Lessons from Bt Cotton [22] in a saga of worsening farm suicides and, in common with the USA, an ecological disaster in secondary and new cotton pests, resistant pests, new diseases, and above all, soils so depleted in nutrients and beneficial microorganisms that they would cease to support the growth of any crop in a decade. Their only salvation is a return to organic agriculture, which has already proven far more sustainable and profitable than Bt cotton [12]. This may apply also to the USA.

A fundamental shift in farming practices needed now

The organic market has been booming in the United States despite the economic downturn. According to a new report from the US Department of Agriculture, retail sales of organic food went up to $21.1 billion in 2008 from $3.6 billion in 1997 [23] (see Fig. 1). The market is so active that organic farms have struggled at times to produce sufficient supply to keep up with the rapid growth in consumer demand, leading to periodic shortages of organic products.

Figure 1 Growth in US organic market 1997 to 2008

Certified organic acres more than doubled from 1.3 million acres in 1997 to a little over 4 million acres in 2005 (0.5 percent of all agricultural land in the US). In the same period, the number of organic farms increased from 5 021 to 8 493, and the average size of certified organic farms went from 268 acres to 477 acres.

So why are US farmers failing to taking advantage of the rapidly expanding market? It is thought [23] that potential organic farmers may opt to continue with conventional production methods because of “social pressures from other farmers nearby who have negative views of organic farming”, or because of an inability to weather the effects of reduced yields and profits during the transition period. This is not surprising on account of the persistent negative propaganda carried out by GM proponents, including government regulatory agencies, against organic agriculture. (See for example the recent attempt by UK Food Standards Agency to prove organic food is no more nutritious than conventional food, which backfired [24] (UK Food Standards Agency Study Proves Organic Food Is Better, SiS 44). The usual claims are that organic agriculture yields less and require more energy than conventional agriculture, and organic produce no more nutritious or healthy, but less hygienic than conventional produce. These false claims are all thoroughly refuted in ISIS report Food Futures Now: *Organic *Sustainable *Fossil Fuel Free [25], with evidence from the published scientific literature, as well as other studies.

Most relevant for US farmers is a study by Kathleen Delate of Iowa State University and Cynthia A. Cambardella of the US Department of Agriculture assessing the performance of farms during the three-year transition it takes to switch from conventional to certified organic production [26]. The experiment lasting four years (three years transition and first year organic) showed that although yields dropped initially, they equalized in the third year, and by the fourth year, the organic yields were ahead of the conventional for both soybean and corn.

Our report [25] also documents the enormous potential for reducing greenhouse emissions – even to the extent of freeing us entirely from fossil fuels – through organic agriculture and localised food (and renewable energy) systems. It is a unique combination of the latest scientific analyses, case studies of farmer-led research, and especially farmers’ own experiences and innovations that often confound academic scientists wedded to outmoded and obsolete theories, of which GM technology is one glaring example.

At about the same time our report was released, the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) was also published. IAASTD was the result of three-year deliberation by 400 participating scientists and non-government representatives from 110 countries around the world [27]. It came to the conclusion that small scale organic agriculture is the way ahead for coping with hunger, social inequities and environmental disasters [28] (“GM-Free Organic Agriculture to Feed the World”, SiS 38).

A fundamental shift in farming practice is needed right now, before the agricultural meltdown is complete.

References

1. Adoption of genetically engineered crops in the U.S.: Extent of adoption. USDA Economic Research Service, 1 July 2009, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/biotechcrops/adoption.htm
2. Super weed can’t be killed, abc news, 6 October 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8767877
3. “N.C. farmers battle herbicide-resistant weeds”. Jeff Hampton, The Virginian-Pilot. 19 July 2009, http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/nc-farmers-battle-herbicideresistant-weeds
4. Who benefits from gm crops? The rise in pesticide use, executive summary, Friends of the Earth International, Amsterdam, January 2008.
5. 2000-2001 pesticide market estimates: usage, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov/oppbead1/pestsales/01pestsales/usage2001_3.htm
6. Glyphosate-resistant weeds: can we close the barn door? Weed Science Society of America, 18 November 2009, http://www.wssa.net/WSSA/PressRoom/WSSA_GlyphosateResistance.pdf
7. “’Superweed’ explosion threatns Monsanto heartlands”, Clea Caulcutt, 19 April 2009, http://www.france24.com/en/20090418-superweed-explosion-threatens-monsanto-heartlands-genetically-modified-US-crops
8. “Paraquat fights glypohsate resistant palmer amaranth”, 30 September 2009,

http://paraquat.com/english/news-and-features/archives/paraquat-fights-glyphosate-resistant-palmer-amaranth
9. Ho MW. Genetic Engineering Dream of Nightmare? The Brave New World of Bad Science and Big Business, Third World Network, Gateway Books, MacMillan, Continuum, Penang, Malaysia, Bath, UK, Dublin, Ireland, New York, USA, 1998, 1999, 2007 (reprint with extended Introduction). http://www.i-sis.org.uk/genet.php
10. Gaines TA, Zhang W, Wan D et al. Gene amplification confers glyphosate resistance in Amaranthus palmeri. PNAS Early Edition 2009, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0906649107
11. ARS survey helps growers track two key cotton pests. PHYSORG.com, 1 December 2009, http://www.physorg.com/news178912351.html
12. Ho MW. Farmer suicides and Bt cotton nightmare unfolding in India. Science in Society 45 (in press)
13. Ho MW. Mealy bug plagues Bt cotton in India and Pakistan. Science in Society 45 (in press)
14. Catchot A, Musser F, Gore J, Cook D, Daves D, Lorenz G, Akin S, Studebaker G, Tindall K, Stewart S, Bagwell R, Leonard BR and Jackson R. Midsouth Multtistate Evaluation of Treatment Thresholds for Tarnished Plant Bug. 2009, Mississippi State University Extension Service, http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/images/p2561_pics/bug_1.jpg
15. “Insect control pushes cotton costs higher”, Elton Robinson, Farm Press, 15 January 2010, http://deltafarmpress.com/cotton/cotton-insect-control-0115/
16. Benbrook C. Critical issue report: the seed price premium. The Organic Center. 2009 December. http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Seeds_Final_11-30-09.pdf
17. Godfray HCJ, Beddington JR, Crute IR, Haddad L, Lawrence D, Muir JF, Pretty J, Robinson S, Thomas SM and Toulmin C. Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Sciencexpress, 28 January 2010/10.1126/science.1185383
18. Weed Warrior Hebicide-Tolerant Crops, accessed 29 January 2010, http://www.biotechinstitute.org/resources/YWarticles/10.1/10.1.3.pdf
19. Ho MW and Cherry B. Death by multiple poisoning, glyphosate and Roundup. Science in Society 42 , 14, 2009
20. Ho MW. Ban glyphosate herbicides now. Science in Society 43, 34, 2009
21. Cherry B. GM crops increase herbicide use in the United States. Science in Society 45 (in press)
22. Ho MW. Lessons from Bt cotton. ISIS letter to Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for the Environment, 4 January 2010, http://www.i-sis.org.uk/lessonsFromBtCotton.php
23. Marketing U.S. organic foods: recent trends from farms to consumers. Carolyn Dimitri and Lydia Oberholtzer, USDA Economic Research Service, September 2009, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB58/
24. Ho MW.UK Food Standards Agency study proves organic food is better. Science in Society 44, 32-33, 2009.
25. Ho MW, Burcher S, Lim LC, et al. Food Futures Now, Organic, Sustainable, Fossil Fuel Free, ISIS and TWN, London, 2008. http://www.i-sis.org.uk/foodFutures.php
26. Delate K and Cambardella CA. Organic production: Agroecosystem performance during transition to certified organic grain production. Agronomy Journal 2004, 96, 1288-98.
27. International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, IAASTD, 2008, http://www.agassessment.org/index.cfm?Page=Press_Materials&ItemID=11
28. Ho MW. “GM-free organic agriculture to feed the world”. Science in Society 38, 14-15, 2008.

I putzed around with Jolokias last year & got hooked on them. I started a few plants indoors & eventually moved them outdoors during the outdoor grow season. The results were acceptable for a first-time grow, but I’m already anticipating better yields on my future runs.

More information on growing Jolokias can be found at http://www.thehottestpepper.com/how-to-grow-bhut-jolokia-seeds.html and at http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Bhut_Jolokia_Seeds. Or you can just read this blog & find out how I did it.

This is how it was done…

Bhut Jolokia: Germination & Vegetative Period

01-30-09: a Jolokia seedling thrives. The seeds are really finicky: too much moisture rots them very easily. Yet, once that first radicle appears, it thrives rather nicely.

Bhut Jolokia pepper holds the 2008 Guinness record as the world's hottest pepper, @ an estimate 1,500,000 Scoville heat units. Basically, you'd need 1,500,000 drops of water to neutralize the heat of a single drop of pepper extract. Can't hardly wait for harvest! Grown with organic tea, in coco coir.

This one ended as a donation to my local hydro shop. It proved incredibly proliferous. Its fruit was regarded by all who tried it as the hottest thing they had ever had the misfortune of trying. Some smart growers asked for sample peppers, surely to harvest their seeds as well. Its high productivity & lack of a timely re-vegging program left it aesthetically inappropriate for the shop's showroom & now sits on a table in the warehouse, under some distant fluorescents, a shadow of its former self but refusing to give up.

Bhut Jolokia: Preflowering

Bhut Jolokia in the foreground.

Bhut jolokia setting fruit. After the initial fruit drop that some Capsicum Chinensis exhibit, the jolokias are beginning to adapt. A tiny pepper has already set; this can only mean one thing: from now on, there will never be enough witch hazel at home.

Bhut Jolokia: Flowering, Fruit Set & Ripening

First (and only) pepper to set. Climactic conditions in my grow room were quite chaotic back then.

Look at that thing swelling up! Notice the Chile Piquin bush in the background, laden with set fruit.

The pepper begins to take its characteristic horn shape.

First signs of ripening.

Red, gold & green. Irie.

Hmmm... not bad, 45 days from set to ripe. The trick is to get them to flower AND set fruit. Its next bloom ought to bear more peppers.

MOTHERF***ER! Uh, sorry. I just tasted Bhut Jolokia for the first time. It was hotter than anything I’ve ever tasted (except perhaps Chinese mustard). It was great! A true rush. Problem was, that I tried washing it off my hands with olive oil & then soap; it didn’t come off. It got onto my right temple, my right brow &, eventually, down into my right eye. That was NOT fun @ all. As a matter of fact, it was freakin’ infuriating! The heat felt like my face had been scraped by a cheese grater soaked in lemon juice. That bad. Those were the longest 15 minutes of my life! Oh, it also got under my right thumbnail. Two hours later, it still feels like someone pulled my nailbed with a pair of pliers. This devil only yielded 5 seeds; they will be preserved for sowing.

…so I did what any sensible person would do: I pickled it! I added some ají caballeros, some chile piquines, cut the jolokia up into 4 long slices & voila! Up it goes on to my pickled peppers collection.

Bhut Jolokia: Outdoors

The Bhut Jolokia plant has been moved outdoors to make more room indoors for more seedlings & young plants. It has been trimmed down as far as safely possible.

There. Nice & ripe. A third green Jolokia was also harvested; it ripened in 3 days.

Three pickled Jolokias & some caballeros & jalapenos. This one was sent to my good friend Clay.

Four Bhut jolokia peppers setting.

...& then there were seven ! Five more have set on another branch & new flowers bloom daily.

Six Bhut jolokias from my outdoor plant. There was a 7th pepper on this branch but a neighborhood kitten knocked it down while pouncing at it. We had cat curry for dinner, later on that evening, hee hee heeeee!!!

Grown in coconut coir & perlite, these Jolokias are fed a tandem regimen of General Hydroponics’ Maxi Series base nutrients (+ Floralicious Plus), Alaska Fish Emulsion, Indonesian bat guano (& other guanos & molasses in an actively-aerated microbial tea solution), & foliar feedings at dusk, using Spray-N-Grow & Bill’s Perfect Fertilizer. Absofreakinglute pest control achieved using a mixture of neem & coriander oils. Extra chi (for increased resistance to extremes in temperature & strengthening of the plant’s cell walls) achieved by the regular addition of PyroSol pyrophyllitic clay to the nutrient solution, high in silicates & micronutrients. The microbes in the guano tea & fish emulsion take care of breaking down whatever salt residues are left behind, thus making them more easily-assimilated by the root zone. In the end, all hydroponic salts are used up, leaving little-to-no root zone exudates. The result? Well, some of the finest peppers I’ve ever grown!

A fusion reactor was used to enable photosynthesis & climate control (the sun!).

Four more Jolokias.

...& just when things were looking good, disaster strikes. Some wicked gusts of wind knocked a few of these peppers off the plant. I decided to wait a few more days. The winds intensified & more peppers continued to fall. Yet in 3-days' time, all those peppers that had fallen off began to change color from green to orange to red. A few days later, I decided to pickle them.

This is what the flames of hell look like when you slice them in half.

Bhut Jolokia were pickled in 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water. A pinch of sugar, salt & a few peppercorns were added as well. It sits untouched. So it shall remain.

Bhut Jolokia Peppers in an Ebb & Flow Hydroponic System

Botanicare's Microgarden set up & ready to rock!

Here we’ll grow some aji dulce, purple bellpeppers, dorset nagas & bhut jolokia. That is, until I run out of space; those suckers tend to get big & tall. Under the tank we have some of Botanicare’s top products: the CNS-17 line & Liquid Karma. Substrate is composed of Bitanicare’s silica rocks & Ready-Grow soilless mix (which is coir-based). A weekly neem & coriander oil spray keeps the foliage lookin’ purty!

Flood cycle.

These are the same plants seen on the first picture stamped 08-05-09. The Microgarden ebb & flow system initially housed 8 plants. But they ran out of space in a little over 4 weeks. Five plants were left in; they are quickly running out of space & have entered their preflowering stage. They will soon be transfered to the larger ebb & flow table, under a 400w HPS lamp.

Two young Bhut Jolokia plants now rest on the lid of the Microgarden, after 10 ass-kicking days of root-exploding flood & drain cycles. They nobly yielded their spot in the tray to other younglings. The Jolokias have exhibited rapid, proliferous growth despite being irrigated less often than their in-cycle counterparts.

Aphids on Chile Pepper Plants

Aphids have nested on the leaves of these pepper plants. Neem oil decimated their numbers, but did not eliminate them completely. The one thing that neem oil did do is turn my leaves leathery from all that frequent spraying. It took a few sprays of pyrethrin-based aerosol to kil them all.

Aphids carry many diseases, among them the anthracnose blight virus (characterized by the leaf spotting shown on several leaves of this picture). Once infected, the plant cannot recover from it. Ever.

All of these plants ended up in the garbage: my Bhut Jolokia, Dorset Naga, Sweet Banana pepper, Cayenne, Grandma’s Pimento, Aji Dulce, Orange Sun bellpepper & a Chile Piquin bush. Lessons learned.

More aphids.

...& yet some more. I. HATE. APHIDS. i hate them i hate them i hate them!!!

The Future

These two young Bhut Jolokia are approximately 8 weeks old. Their stem has begun to bifurcate, lateral growth has begun, & it is full of tiny inflorescences (which will most likely fall off during the next few months of growth). Fruit-setting is anticipated for the end of Feb 2010.

Days-old pepper seedlings of all kinds get their photons. Among them, many Bhut Jolokia seedlings will star in next year’s venture. Growing Bhut Jolokia is addictive; I cannot imagine my grow room ever not having one or two of these plants growing in it!

Want to read more blog posts from master grower Eliab? We’ve got ‘em!

Please note: blog posts are the opinions of independent growers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Urban Garden Magazine or its affiliates. Do you have your own ideas on how to grow Bhut Jolokia? Share below!

Natural predators (aka beneficial insects) have done a great job of controlling insect pests for millions of years outdoors.  It’s the natural balance of nature that we rely on, even at the top of the food chain.  Now consider your indoor garden for a moment.  It’s a tiny microcosm of the great outdoors and, without natural predators, it’s heaven on earth for a would-be plant pest.

Think about it this way:  outdoors, when a posse of aphids are munching on your veggies, they still have to watch their back for an advancing ladybug that’s eying them all up for lunch!  If that same crew if aphids somehow manages to get into your indoor garden, well … can you imagine the look on their little aphid-faces?  They might have well just found paradise!  All those delicious plants to feed on and no natural predators to worry about!  Happy days – for the aphids, at least.  For you, it’s a fast track to aphid overload and a severely damaged or destroyed crop.

Many indoor growers, instead of resorting to pesticides, hire in some natural pest control.  That’s right, you can mail order bags of natural predators, they arrive “live” or ready to hatch, and you dispatch them into your indoor garden!  These bugs are totally safe for humans, your plants, and the environment. The pests gradually disappear, and the good bugs thrive.  Don’t worry, they never become pests themselves, because the right beneficials only eat other pests, not plants. When your pest populations die off, they will too — unless they find more pests to eat.

Predators don’t tolerate most pesticides very well, so it’s very important not to apply residual pesticides (such as Malathion and Sevin) for at least a month before using predators. Temperature and humidity can often be adjusted to favor the predators over the pests, and close attention to recommendations will give better results. Often, these changes can be as simple as adjusting ventilation or watering routines. For example, increasing the  humidity by increased watering, misting plants more often, or merely splashing water on the floor, will often help out the predators. Pests usually get plenty of moisture from plant juices, and they often prefer drier conditions. The small amount of time you spend creating more favorable conditions for predators will be well worth your while!

Remember, you don’t have to wait until an infestation to show up before deploying natural predators.  In fact, many growers buy them as a precautionary measure (especially in high risk times such as the spring), figuring that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!   Keep in mind, your indoor garden is virtually defenseless without these helpful little critters so why not acquaint yourself with some new friends?  They could very well save your crop without you even realizing it!

TARGET: Spider Mites
AGENT: Spider Mite Preds
SPECIAL SKILL: Enjoys high humidity, breeds faster than spider mites.
WEAPON ID: The three main spider mite preds are: Mesoseiulus longipes, Neoseiulus californicus, and Phytoseiulus persimilis.  These are available as a triple-pack from some suppliers.  Highly recommended.
BRIEF: Spider mite predators are small mites that eat only Spider Mites. They not only feed on spider mites and their eggs, they also breed twice as fast! Each spider mite predator sucks the juice out of about five spider mites a day, or twenty of their eggs. Different species of spider mite predators have their own preferred temperature and humidity.  If you use a mix then each type will seek out their preferred “zones” in the plant structure. Predator mites do best with warm temperatures and high humidity. The more moisture in the air the better.  (Spider mites hate high humidity.)  They move quicker and reproduce faster than the spider mites. For best results apply one predator for every five spider mites, so you best catch that infestation early or deploy them as a precautionary measure.

Need extra reinforcements?  Try Stethorus Punctillum.  These specialist spider mite destroyers are actually tiny ladybugs which can eat more than 40 mites per day as adults.  They eat spider mites at all stages and can find new infestations on their own by flying.  Adult female spider mite destroyers lay up to 15 eggs per day.  Just 100 spider mite destroyers are enough to start up a colony to protect an average home greenhouse.

TARGET: Thrips, Fungus Gnats, Cutworms and many more!
AGENT: Predator Nematodes
SPECIAL SKILL: Stealthy soil-borne pest killer
WEAPON ID: Steinernema & Heterohabditis
BRIEF: Predator Nematodes are some of the most useful pest controls to come along in years. They attack and kill more than 250 different insects, including fleas, thrips, fungus gnats, even insects as large as cutworms! Nearly any insect that spends a part of its lifecycle in the soil is likely prey for predator nematodes. They usually come packaged on a small piece of synthetic sponge that you rinse out in water. Then you can use any type of watering can or sprayer to apply them to the soil. Although the use of predator nematodes is well established for soil pests, some growers also use them on foliage pests as well. These (mostly greenhouse) gardeners spray nematodes on foliage in the evening, and then mist foliage throughout the night to keep moist conditions favorable to nematodes.

Special tip:  If you need to get rid of thrips in high humidity conditions (70-85% relative humidity) choose the predator mite (Amblyseius Cucumeris) which is most effective.

TARGET: Thrips, Spider Mites, Aphids, insect eggs.
AGENT: Pirate Bugs
SPECIAL SKILL: Dispatch in darkness.  Perfect for donor plants and plants in vegetative stage.  Great when used in combination with specialist predators.
WEAPON ID: Orius insidiosis
BRIEF: Pirate bugs are general-purpose feeders about 1/20″ long, and both nymphs and adults possess a “piercing-sucking beak” which they use to pierce a hole and suck their victims dry. Pirate bugs prefer thrips larvae, but adult thrips are also killed as well as spider mites, insect eggs, aphids, and other soft bodied insects. Each adult pirate bug can eat five to twenty pests per day, and with heavier infestations even more are killed. Each female lays about two to four eggs per day, depending on the availability of food and the temperature. Over her three to four week adult lifespan, a female can lay 80-100 eggs. Pirate bugs don’t breed well during short day-lengths, so additional lighting may be used to provide a total of 15+ hours of light daily.

TARGET: Aphids
AGENT: Ladybugs
SPECIAL SKILL: Speed, agility, and persistence.  Try a combo hit with aphid predators (Aphidoletes aphidimyza) at 72°-80°F (22°-27°C)
WEAPON ID: Hippodamia convergens
BRIEF: Ladybugs are a good second line of offence for use with more targeted controls. They prefer aphids, but they are general feeders and will eat over 5,000 soft bodied insects and eggs over their one-year lifespan. Their eggs look like clusters of little orange footballs, each laid on edge. After hatching, they look like tiny black “alligators” with orange spots. Extremely fast moving, they grow to 1/2″ long over 2-3 weeks, then pupate, usually on the top of the leaf, into another adult ladybug. One larvae will eat about 400 medium-size aphids during its development to the pupal stage. Ladybugs can be stored dormant in the refrigerator for up to two weeks as long as they don’t freeze or dry out.

Special tip:  If using specialist aphid preds such as aphidoletes aphidimyza be aware that they have a soil-resting phase as part of their lifecycle, so don’t use predatory nematodes at the same time.

TARGET: Almost everything bad!
AGENT: Green Lacewings
SPECIAL SKILL: Lacewing larvae are land mines for pests!
WEAPON ID: Chrysopa rufilabris
BRIEF: Looking like tiny “alligators”, lacewing larvae enthusiastically attack almost any prey they can grab, using pincer-like jaws. After injecting a paralyzing venom, they suck the body fluids from their helpless victim. During the two to three weeks it takes lacewings to develop through the larval stage, they’ll eat up to 200 aphids or other insect eggs, larvae, and adults a week, growing up to 1/2″ long in the process. Then, they spin a silky cocoon, pupate a few days, and hatch into a beautiful yet fragile, light green adult lacewing with large, shiny eyes. Adults range in size from 1/2-3/4″ long, and feed only on honeydew, nectar, and pollen. Adults live between four and six weeks during which time females lay up to 200 eggs. Lacewing eggs are “planted” on foliage at the ends of short filaments, apparently as a means of protection. In a few days, more lacewing larvae (also known as “aphid lions”) hatch out and search for their first meal.

TARGET: Whiteflies
AGENT: Whitefly Parasites
SPECIAL SKILL: Disable young whiteflies and their eggs.
WEAPON ID: Encarsia formosa
BRIEF: Whitefly parasites, over their adult life-span of about one week, eat some young whiteflies (nymphs), and lay their eggs into many more. This kills the whiteflies, and produces a new generation of parasites about four weeks later. Unless you look very closely, you may never actually see adult parasites, because they’re quite small. It’s easy to see where they’ve hatched, though. When a parasite hatches, it chews a tiny exit hole, either on the front or back of the egg. Using a 16x magnifier, examine the eggs closely. When you see the exit hole, you’ll know the parasite has hatched.

Whitefly nymphs resemble small, white, oval scales, and never move. They sit in one place, mostly on the bottom half of the plant, usually on the underside of leaves. Within two weeks of being parasatized, the whitefly nymphs darken from their otherwise clearish color. After the parasites hatch, the blackened nymph “shell” remains behind. By counting the percentage of nymphs that have darkened, you can see how well the parasites are doing. By the end of the first month, 15-20% of the nymphs should be turning black in color, and after a few months good control is 75-80% parasatized nymphs.

Use at least one parasite for every square foot of greenhouse space, or every two plants.  For the fastest control, make additional releases every two weeks for four to ten weeks, or until 80% of whitefly nymphs are black.  Check pruned leaves for parasitized (blackened) whitefly nymphs before throwing any away.  Instead, leave these under plants for a week or two, to make sure parasites hatch first.

Got an intense whitefly infestation?  Try hanging stick yellow traps in your garden about three to five feet apart.  Whiteflies are attracted to the color yellow so these traps can really help to knock down their numbers while your whitefly parasites get to work.

Image copyright: Nature's Control

TARGET: Almost any other insect they can handle
AGENT: Praying Mantis
SPECIAL SKILL: Badassness
WEAPON ID: Tenodera sinensis
BRIEF: Praying Mantis are beautiful insects with a voracious appetite, and are a delight to have in the garden. Being strictly carnivorous, they’ll eat almost any insect of a size they can overcome. Waiting in quiet ambush for hours at a time, when an insect comes wandering by they suddenly jump out and attack – always biting the neck first.

There are over 2,300 different types of Praying Mantis, with about twenty species living in North America. They have excellent vision and extraordinary reflexes. At rest, mantids hold their spiny forearms together giving the appearance they are praying, but that’s just a wayward personification.  Preying more like!  In this posture they are capable of quickly striking prey and holding it in their powerful grip . They will eat nearly any insect they can catch, and have even been known to eat small birds, lizards, and rodents on rare occasions! BAD ASS!

Eggs store in the refrigerator until ready for hatching, which takes two to eight weeks of warmth.

WORDS: Everest Fernandez and Nathan Jackson

The summer months bring sunshine, happiness, escapades and mirth!  But it’s also a time of high risk!  Insects are in abundance and they want to find their way to your indoor plants! We asked our main man Zorro Torro to explain how the war on pests is won through a series of simple preventative methods. Mr Torro, the stage is all yours…

Plant pests and indoor gardens do not mix. The environmental checks and balances that are natural controls out of doors—i.e. weather and predators—are not factors indoors. The indoor garden presents a veritable Garden of Eden to the pest that gains entry. Abundant food, good weather conditions and lack of predators allow them the opportunity to enjoy their two favorite pursuits: eat or suck on plants, and reproduce. Over millions of years they have been self-selecting and are excellent at both activities.

You may remember school graphs and factoids regarding unrestricted reproduction of rabbits: an exponential increase in population could result in one year. Mites and insects have a much faster maturation cycle and produce many more eggs or young than rabbits. In just a few generations, produced in two months or less, a tiny infestation becomes a life-threatening attack on a garden.

There is no stabilization that occurs in nature: in this uneasy equilibrium, pests, plants and predators reach a balance that generates a minimal loss of crop. Indoors, however, the optimum conditions leave their population growth unchecked, bringing plants under siege.

It is for this reason that I firmly believe in a zero tolerance policy for garden pests. (I should probably practice this policy in life too, to eliminate many unnecessary disturbances.) This means that no pests are allowed in the garden. You may have read elsewhere that once your garden is infested it is impossible to eliminate pests. This is wrong. Pests can be eliminated, but it’s a far better idea to keep the growing space pest free in the first place.

Let’s say you purchased some meat that was infested with vermin. You would consider it inedible. Then why would you tolerate eating infested vegetables? Prevention is less costly than cure in material, labor, and injury to the patients—so it is wise to integrate preventative designs and practices for the garden while it is being constructed. If the garden is already in operation it should be retrofitted for prevention.

In 1668 Francesco Redi proved that spontaneous generation was a myth. By covering one jar of meat and not another he showed that maggots did not just appear; they were the result of eggs flies laid in the meat. Organisms don’t just suddenly appear. All pests found in an indoor garden originated somewhere else. Once they wend their way into the garden they find the Promised Land— free food, no species competition, no predators, and a comfortable climate.

There are only a few ways that insects can enter an indoor garden. Blocking their access is the best way to practice preventative medicine and deter plant damage.

THE EASIEST PEST IMMIGRATION ROUTES

• Piggyback a ride on humans.
• Piggyback a ride on pets.
• Ride in on outdoor garden tools.
• Arrive with un-sterile or un-pasteurized soil or planting mix.
• Immigrate with newly acquired plants or clones.
• Fly in through an unfiltered air intake pipe or an open window.
• Crawl in through cracks and holes.

PIGGYBACK A RIDE ON HUMANS

Gardeners should be careful to wear uncontaminated clothing, which can carry pests from outside into the garden.

Insects can catch a ride on humans. When we are outdoors we come in contact with nature. Grass, bushes and trees are all hosts to pests that want to colonize your garden. Mites and aphids are the most likely culprits, but small caterpillars, thrips, fungus gnats and whiteflies also use this route of entry.

All clothing that has had even casual contact with outdoor plants should be considered contaminated. Ninety-nine percent of the time this isn’t true. It is that one bad apple out of 100 that you are worried about. You step on some grass in the crack of the sidewalk and a mite hitches a ride on your footwear. You walk under a tree in the parking lot and a thrips drops on your hat or hair. A pregnant aphid catches on the fiber of your jacket.

PIGGYBACK A RIDE ON PETS

Pets are naturally curious, but should be kept out of the garden because they could be carrying a plant pest.

Pets are worse pest carriers than humans. Fur and bare feet provide good hiding places for the ride into the Promised Land. Pests use dog and cat ears, tails and bellies as handy saddles.

There is just no reason to allow a pet into the garden area. They can provide no useful service to the garden and their presence is harmful. Pets can carry an infection into the garden and transfer it by brushing up against a plant. Their fur is also a problem as it constantly shedding, along with dander particles, which then float in the air with any breeze or air circulation in the garden.

RIDE IN ON GARDEN TOOLS

Outdoor gardens are a hotbed of activity when you get down to the small level. Ants, beetles, and other creatures are scurrying about. Aphids, scale and mites are contentedly sucking plant juices. Whiteflies, gnats and leafhoppers go airborne in their pursuit of vegetation. Underground there is even more activity. Thrips and fungus gnat pupae are maturing for their above ground debut, while fungi, molds and all kinds of micro-life are playing their bit parts in the ecological cycle.

Tools should be cleaned before they are used in the indoor garden to ensure no outside pests are hitching a ride.

Just as plant pests may hitch a ride on you, they can take trips on your tools. All it takes one mite or aphid hiding on a clipper or some thrips pupae or infectious agents on a hand hoe. For this reason tools should not be returned to the indoor garden space after being taken outdoors. Only after the tool is thoroughly washed with no visible plant parts or debris may it be returned to the indoor garden.

IMMIGRATE IN SOIL OR PLANTING MIX

Most planting mixes are composed of either bark or peat moss and other ingredients such as compost, puffed minerals, sand and nutrients. The ingredients have never been in contact with plants or plant pests so they are free of contamination.

Pasteurized or sterilized soils and planting mixes are free of pests and infections. Although soil is not currently a popular medium, a high quality loam can invigorate plant growth when it is included in planting mixes. Pasteurized and sterilized soils are the only ones to use.

Importing unpasteurized planting mixes that contain soil, landscape mixes, or used soil or planting mix can be risky. They all contain a host of microorganisms that may be beneficial but they also may contain insects, their eggs, and other soil dwelling pest and disease organisms. Landscape mixes are not meant for indoor use. Outdoors, the natural balance of nature rules, so insects and other organisms are in a wavy equilibrium. Indoors, these creatures are not subject to natural controls such as weather and predators. When contaminated planting mediums are used indoors the pests they harbor will soon make themselves at home and raise large families—and you know the kids are always hungry.

New plants, even from commercial nurseries, should be quarantined before they are brought into the garden.

IMMIGRATE WITH NEWLY ACQUIRED PLANTS OR PLANTLETS

If you were a plant pest, what would be the most convenient way for you to travel? Hitch a ride on a plant that’s about to go on a journey! All plants imported into the garden should be suspected of harboring pests. Plants from hobbyist gardens, houseplants and outdoor plants are most likely to be infected. Plants from commercial nurseries are supposedly grown in sterile conditions so there is probably less chance of infection from them. Even so, they should be handled with care.

To keep your garden pest and disease free, all incoming plants should go through proper immigration procedures. First, they should be visually inspected. If they show any signs of infection the choice should be made. Are these plants so valuable that they should be disinfected? Even if no pests or infections are apparent there may be problems. For instance, mite, thrips and white fly eggs are hard to find and may be overlooked. They will hatch in three or four days and become apparent.

Using a photo loupe or magnifying glass you get a much clearer look at what’s happening close-up. Any eggs or pests become sharply defined. What were little dots become fearsome creatures with legs, crawling around, messing with your plants.

Quarantine Rules

• New plants should be kept in a totally separate garden area from any clean garden plants. The spaces should be kept as far apart as possible.
• New plants should be cared for only after other gardens are serviced.
• New plants should never be placed with other plants until they are fully certified disease-free.
• New plants should be checked daily. Both telltale marks left by the pest and the pest itself are used as indicators.

FLY IN THROUGH AN UNFILTERED AIR INTAKE PIPE OR OPEN WINDOW

I recently saw an ad for a “travel blind” vacation. You sign up for a tropical weekend and they don’t tell you where you’re going until you get there. Insects travel a lot like that. We’ve discussed how they can hitch rides on people and things. However, they can also become airborne. Swept up by the wind, they travel on air currents. It’s a risky proposition for them and many are lost to inhospitable environments where they drown, roast or starve to death. However, insect survival theory takes the losses into account. Thousands may be lost, but one successful colonization may result in hundreds of thousands or millions of progeny. It’s a risk reward ratio that has helped insects be successful for hundreds of millions of years.

Here’s where the theory literally hits the fan. Gardens are often ventilated using air from outside. On breezy days anything can be caught in a wind current. Even on calm days some pest may be flying around and get sucked into the vortex created by the air intake. The solution is simple. Place filters over all intake tubing. Not only will it protect the garden from pests, but also from dust, dander and fur. Nobody likes to see lint on his or her veggies.

I live in a part of the country that stays mild all year. During the warmest months an open window or door usually suffices to adjust the house temperature. Needless to say, my houseplants are constantly getting infected with scale, aphid and mealy bug infections. Between the breezes and the people walking in and out there’s ample opportunity for pests to get to the plants.

In a serious indoor production garden there can never be an open window. All windows must be kept shut. All air that comes in from outside, whether from under the house, through tubing in the window, or any other outside location must be filtered before it enters the room.

CRAWL IN THROUGH CRACKS AND OTHER OPENINGS

Yards are often a source of infection. Insects that hang out in host plants are only a few feet away from Paradise. If there is vegetation next to the building or house you might wish to change the landscaping. Cover the yard in used commercial carpet, installed upside down. The carpet stops all light from reaching the ground and prevents plants from reaching the light. Cover this with gravel stone or decorative mulch. With no plants growing there’s less chance of herbivore pests hanging out in the back yard. The carpet is thick enough to stop plants from growing through it, but it lets the rain soak through. It is free, and available outside any carpet store. It is convenient to use when cut into three-foot wide strips

Secure the perimeter of the indoor space. Using foam caulking, every crack and crevice should be sealed. Before sealing, place a mixture of 50% each boric acid and cinnamon in the cracks using a small spoon. Boric acid is toxic to many insects if they ingest it. When they touch it, granules stick to the exoskeleton. They lick it off and burn out, inside first. Cinnamon is toxic and repulsive to ants. When the mixture is placed in the crevices it signals to pests, “Don’t crawl here.” Make sure there are no open cracks. Even the cracks in the floors should be sealed to make it extremely difficult for insects to crawl through.

By preventing pests from gaining access to your garden, you won’t have to try to eliminate them later. The old adage proves true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of pesticide…

WORDS: Everest Fernandez

Diatoms have been part of our planet’s ecology since prehistoric times. Over millions of years, their remains have accumulated into large diatomite deposits. These diatoms are mined and rendered into a fine, white powder. Natural diatomite is comprised of approximately 65-80% silicon dioxide, 14-18% aluminum oxide, and small amounts of various other oxides including iron, calcium, potassium, titanium, manganese, and phosphorus. Natural grade diatomite is known as ‘Diatomaceous Earth’ (DE) and is often used as a soil amendment and organic pesticide (more on that later!). Diatoms comes from both salt water and fresh water sources, but we’re only interested in fresh water diatomite for horticulture. The salt water DE has a really high salinity level that’s not suitable for plants.

Organic Pest Control

DE may feel like a smooth powder to human hands, but it’s a totally different story if you happen to be incarnated as an insect. When you look at DE under a microscope it resembles a random pile of tiny razors. These ultra-sharp edges cut through an insect’s protective covering, sucking all the moisture out of them until they die! If an insect is stupid enough to try to eat DE this delightful process occurs from the inside out! So aphids, thrips, earwigs, silverfish, slugs, snails, nematodes and fungus gnats beware! You’re on DE’s hit list. Our friendly earthworm is safe from DE’s wrath, however, which is good news all round. DE is less effective in more humid conditions as its moisture-sapping qualities are tempered by the moisture in the air. Many gardeners don’t even bother mixing DE with their soil mix, instead preferring to sprinkle a shallow layer of diatomaceous earth on top of their soil or coco.

Diatomite and Hydroponics

Our fossilized friends are also available in the form of small rocks, rather than a fine powder. These have been heat treated and sterilized. We are aware of three brands on the market at the moment. One is from a place called Maidenwell in Australia, branded “Diatomite.” Another is from the Andes in South America, branded in North America as “Silica Stone.” The same material that is used to create “Silica Stone” is branded as “Diahydro” in Europe. All work well as a hydroponic growth media. Silica Stone / Diahydro stays a little more moist than Diatomite so it requires fewer watering cycles – this is because it has a larger percentage of silica (94%+ compared to 84% for Diatomite), hence the pure white color and the greater absorbency due to increased porosity. You can purchase all brands in various granule sizes. It’s generally recommended to go for small granules of 3/16 to 9/16 inch (2mm to 7mm) or medium granules of 9/16 to 5/8 inch (7mm to 15mm) for hydroponic applications.

So why should hydroponic gardeners be interested in this stuff? Well, it has all the hallmarks of a first-class growing medium. It’s absorbent, porous, long lasting, environmentally friendly, pH neutral, sterile, natural and reusable! As well as silica, it contains other elemental minerals that are essential for plant growth. The plants will uptake the silicate and grow into heartier, healthier plants with thicker stem walls. Manufacturers of the brand “Diatomite” cite that, in side-by-side tests, a 25% increase in production was observed when it was tested against clay pebbles on pepper plants. However, we recommend mixing it 1/3 or 50/50 with clay pebbles when growing in larger pots for increased aeration and a more varied rooting environment. Obviously adding diatomite to clay pebbles affects how you irrigate it. Diatomite holds more water so floods should be slightly less frequent – irrigations every 2-4 hours are advised. If top feeding via drippers using a 50/50 diatomite, clay pebble mix we recommend avoiding constant irrigation in favor of a 15 minutes on, 15minutes off cycle – easily implemented using a standard segmental timer.

Spare us the hype! What are growers really saying about it?

I know what you’re thinking. If this stuff is so great then why isn’t everybody using it, right? So we spoke to real growers who had used it … here’s what they said:

“Works great as a soil amendment. As a hydro media, I’d mix it with something else like clay pebbles as it stays too wet on its own.” – Harley

UGM says: If you’re using this media for the first time, try combining it with clay pebbles for increased aeration. However, we have come across experienced growers who tested it as a hydroponic growth media on its own in gravity fed systems and they found that NOTHING worked as well as small to medium sized DE rocks on their own. Wash it well first!

“If this stuff has microscopic razor sharp edges, couldn’t it damage fine roots?” – Diz

UGM says: The material is very sharp on a microscopic level, but we’ve seen no evidence to suggest that roots are adversely affected. This may be because plant roots grow slowly and the material is light enough so that there is never sufficient pressure or friction for the roots to be damaged.

“I don’t like all that powder in the bags, it will clog my pumps!” – Randy

UGM says: If you put a sponge filter on the intake pump with enough power you prevent this from happening. And remember, this stuff is also used as filtration aids so you really shouldn’t worry about clogging!

“It makes the nutrient solution go cloudy.” – Dan

UGM says: The diatomite particles (diatoms) do not dissolve in water. Even if the water turns cloudy, the material has not dissolved.

“Can’t I just add silicate to my nutrient solution by using a silica liquid product?” – Lisa V

UGM says: You’re absolutely right – you could! Remember that liquid silica additives can raise the pH of your nutrient solution so you may need to pay special attention to adjusting the pH to optimal levels.

Benefits

• High Silica Content – the slow release of silica promotes stronger, healthier plants that can mature more quickly.
• Absorbent – it can absorb up to 150% of its own weight in water.
• Air penetration – the microscopic porous structure of the granules provides aeration and effective thermal insulation to the plant’s root zone. These physical properties provide air movement and prevent root rot.
• Water Cycles – You can reduce the watering cycles to 5 minutes each, 4 times daily due to the retention of solution within the diatomite.
• Preparation for use – Before using, thoroughly saturate the diatomite for about an hour.
• Reusable – After use, you can thoroughly wash the diatomite and then soak in a dilute solution of bleach (1 tbs/gallon) or an algaecide for 24 hours before rinsing and reusing it.

More Usage Tips

• It can be used to replace perlite, clay pebbles, as well as other commonly used hydroponic growing mediums. You can use it in both pots and re-circulating systems. Simply place the growth media in pots in the same manner as you have used clay pebbles or other media of choice. Place roots or seeds in a safe and stable position.
• On both occasions we advise that the granules are rinsed through with water prior to use.
• When using in recirculating systems, there may be some dust which runs down into the nutrient solution. There is no need for concern. Actually Diahydro / Silica Stone / Diatomite are highly efficient filtration aids, so this means there will be no clogging or loss of flow caused by residual dust.
• In order to stabilize the pH, try running some neutral water through the media and measure out pH of the water that flows out. The pH should be somewhere in the region of 6-7. Once this pH measure has been established you should adjust the nutrient solution accordingly. A nutrient solution between 5.5-6.2 should be fine. For example, if the pH of the water run off the growth media is around 7 (extreme case), the solution should be brought down to around 5.5-5.6. Likewise, if the growth media is lower (e.g. 6.2) then the solution can be brought up to about 5.6-5.8. Desired pH should be around 6 in most cases.

Diatomite in Action

A picture tells a thousand words. So we’ll let them do the talking:

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!

Same nutrients. Same feeding schedules. Same light and environmental conditions. The only difference? Diatomite. Oh, and hugely increased compact growth, shorter inter-nodal spacing and markedly increased overall yield. Get the picture?

Have you got an experience using Silica Stone / Diahydro / Diatomite or any other growth media that you’d like to share with us? Whatever you want to talk about, love it or hate it, tell us about it!