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!

FEEDBACK

Was the system easy to set up and install?
Yes.

Do you think the operating instructions are clear for all levels of grower?
Yes. What could represent a challenge for the novice (e.g. plumbing fittings) is already pre-assembled.

What growth media did you use?
I used what was included: Ready-Gro mix and silica stones.

What plants did you grow in the system?
Purple bells, Bhut Jolokia, Dorset Naga, & Aji Dulce.

How often were they dripped/flooded?
Flooded every 3.5 hours for 30 minutes, 4 times per light cycle.

Did you use natural light or artificial?
Artificial, under compact fluorescents totaling 7,450 lumens at canopy level.

Were the growth rates satisfactory?
More than satisfactory: it surpassed all my expectations!

Did the system become overcrowded?
Yes, it did, in only 15 days after seedlings were transferred to the system. But that’s a good thing: it translates to rapid, no B.S. growth!

Was it an easy system to maintain? pH, nutrient changes, etc?
Yes. CNS-17, the nutrient sample included, is an excellent hydroponic nutrient & very pH-stable.

SUMMARY

Any tweaks you would suggest to the design?
No, these guys thought of everything! For a system its size, it is one tough pony!

How was the harvest?
I have never tasted more flavorful, redder & fleshy Aji Dulce peppers than those that went into my saucepan today.

Would you use it to grow again?
Are you kidding? This baby’s staying with me for as long as I grow indoors!

Did you use the supplied nutrients with the system? If so, what did you think?
Yes; CNS-17 is awesome. Too bad my local shop does not carry it!

What do you think the ideal application is for this system?
Early veg/rooting cloning (by growing in smaller, shallower planters, removing 2 of the 3 drain extensions & decreasing watering frequency), and for late veg/pre-flowering. Smaller plants like herbs & some orchids may be grown to maturity.

ELIAB RATES THE MICROGARDEN: 100%

For additional grow reports on this product, click here.
To read Eliab’s blog posts, click here.

Culantro (

Eliab Lozada explains his special connection with this little understood herb and how he grows his own all year round in his indoor garden.

Culantro is my undoubtedly my favorite culinary herb.  It takes me right back to my childhood in Puerto Rico, specifically to my Grandma’s house where culantro grew everywhere, bathed by the peppery Caribbean sun, it always thrived, unassisted. It was used in every dish we cooked, and we never had to run to the store to buy an extra bunch or two. That would have been preposterous; and I’m glad to say it still is!

I now live in Philadelphia – certainly not an all year round climate for Culantro, so I decided to start growing my own indoors.  Because of all the memories this herb inspires in me, it felt really good to start trying to grow it and enjoy it with my family.  I wanted to keep its cultivation as simple and natural as possible and, fortunately, it only took one attempt to realize how easy it is to grow highly-nutritious culantro, right at home.

The leaf aromas of culantro and cilantro are similar, although culantro is more pungent. Because of this aroma similarity, writers who obviously have spent too much time teaching and little (if any) time cooking will assume that the leaves of both plants can be used interchangeably in many food preparations. Absolutely not! They do not taste the same! To use culantro in, for example, seafood ceviche will be simply disastrous – it will overpower the dish! And to use cilantro solely as a substitute for culantro in your sofrito will only result in an inferior, soulless green paste with no Caribbean whoomph!

Seeds

Start with some quality seeds. Some seeds take longer to germinate than others.  The average germination time for culantro is anywhere from 20 to 25 days, although I have seen my seedlings germinate in as little as 14 days by maintaining the substrate temperature between 75-80°F (24-27°F) with the use of a heating mat, a 3.5” tall humidity dome, and a thermostat (too much heat is no good for culantro’s germination, though). Caribbeanseeds.com offers the best culantro seeds I have found. Their genetics and germination rate are simply unparalleled. (And no, they are not paying me in cash or seeds for this comment!)

Containers

Culantro grows well in 10×20 nursery trays. If you are lucky enough to find some 10×20s with holes, put one on top of another one that doesn’t have holes. That way, you can bottom-feed your plants by simply removing the top tray, flooding the bottom tray with an inch or two of nutrient solution, and then gently re-placing the top one inside your bottom tray. Do not use cell inserts! Culantro grows best when its roots are not limited by the cells’ walls. A better method is to sow 50-100 seeds directly on the tray, on moist substrate. Do not cover with more substrate. Culantro seeds are tiny and covering with extra substrate will only lengthen their germination period. Because culantro does not transplant well, it is best to leave seedlings right on the spot where they germinate. Therefore, make sure that you spread your seeds evenly. A tray can hold a maximum of 85 culantro plants.

Soils & Substrates

Next on the list is your substrate. Although culantro grows in a wide variety of soils, it does best in moist, well-drained, sandy loams high in organic matter. You can use a variety of high-quality premium soilless mixes, but I like to keep my growing as controllable as I can, so I use a blend of mixed coir with a dash of perlite, for an approximate ratio of 3 parts coir to 1 part perlite. Coir makes a moist, well-drained medium for your plants’ roots to grow, while providing a hostile environment for any possible pests. 2-3 inches of substrate per tray should suffice.

I have also thrown some seeds on a small rockwool cube. The culantro took a bit longer to take off, but now there is no stopping it! I can deduce then that culantro could be cultivated on shallow rockwool mats (for NFT/Ebb and Flow), or on leach tray-fitted slabs. Because culantro is a moisture-loving, perennial herb, the use of rockwool would certainly make for an economical option and worth exploring!

Pests & Diseases

Culantro is relatively pest / disease-free, but some growers report having seen root knot nematodes on plants that have grown for 2–3 years in box containers. A leaf spot problem which appears to be bacterial black rot (Xanthomonas sp.) has also been observed on such long-lived plants. I have yet to see these problems in coir (especially when supplementing with a bat guano-based actively-aerated compost tea, which acts as a natural nematocide), making fungus gnat larvae the only common occurrence in this grow medium. The diligent use of neem oil solution drenches will not only keep your medium pest-free, but the limonelles found in neem will impart a beautiful, vibrant green coloration to your culantro leaves. Neem soil drench is applied at a rate of  1 tbs/1qt water + a few drops of dish soap as emulsifier, followed by a filtered water flush 5 minutes after drenching, once every two weeks. It is the most natural and effective form of pest control I have yet to try.  I highly recommend avoiding pyrethrin-based pesticides on culantro, as these tend to be too strong and will burn you culantro’s prized leaves.

Lighting

Researchers argue that, although culantro grows well in full sun, most commercial plantings occur in partially-shaded moist locations. Shaded areas, they claim, produce plants with larger and greener leaves that are more marketable because of their better appearance and higher pungent aroma. In a study on the effects of light intensity on growth and flowering of culantro, a significant delay in flowering and increased fresh weight of leaves were found in plants grown under 63% to 73% shade. Shaded plants also had fewer inflorescences with lower fresh weight. That being said, my personal experience will contradict most of these points. In an indoor setting, moist and shaded cultivation of culantro is an open invitation to pythium and fungus gnat larvae, which will invariably wreck your delicate seedlings. I have lost many culantro seedling trays by following the partial-shade guideline. Outdoor growing counts with limitless ventilation and alternate food sources for potential pests, which will make possible to grow culantro in the shade, with minimal pest damage (although this is relative to how healthy your outdoor area is). Indoor growers constantly struggle with maintaining adequate levels of ventilation, temperature, and lighting. In order to limit these variables, I grow my culantro under medium-intensity fluorescent lighting (~2000-2100 lumens at leaf level). The warmth of the bright lights keeps opportunistic larvae infestations and fungal rots at bay.

Photoperiod

Culantro tends to bolt inflorescences (a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem) during longer days. These longer days also hinder leaf elongation and delay their harvest. Because of this, it is a good idea to keep your light cycles at 12-12. Any longer periods and prepare yourself to cut off culantro’s spiny inflorescences; any shorter periods would wimp out your plants. But this is, once again, debatable by experience; I have grown culantro at 18-6 photoperiods and although growth was a bit delayed and bolting occurred after three months, post-harvest vigor was more than acceptable, and the extra hours of light helped the recently-harvested plants to re-vegetate faster than if kept at 12-12 cycles.

Nutrition

Brace yourselves, because I am about to open a can of worms here!

Recent research at UVIAES has demonstrated that culantro can be kept in a vegetative mode through summer when treated with GA3 (gibberellic acid) sprays. Culantro tends to bolt and flower profusely under long day conditions; gibberellic acid 4% at 100 ppm concentration was found to be optimum for maximizing leaf production and minimizing flower growth. Researchers also recommend the use of slow-release fertilizers, such as Osmocote (14–14–14). That being said, why on earth would you want to use gibberellic aid on a consumable crop? What good are higher yields if they are achieved indiscriminately and sacrificing nutritional content? I have purchased store-bought culantro in the past, and never did I find it to be up to my expectations. Its flavor and, consequently, nutritional content (as I have found) are greatly sacrificed in the commercial growing process. Personally, I’d rather have an ounce of my own culantro than a pound of store-bought “schwank-lantro”. You can achieve comparable yields and healthier (not to mention tastier) herbs by using a combination of mineral-based hydroponic nutrients and actively-aerated compost tea. My nutrient regimen is quite simple: I use 1 tsp of 10-5-14, 100 ml of Pyrosol® (from a 3-tbsp/L H₂O solution), and 3 tbsp of actively-aerated microbial tea. My 10-5-14 fertilizer provides mineral nutrients, Pyrosol® provides silica and trace elements (which enhance leaf integrity), and the actively-aerated microbial tea provides the beneficial microbes that aid in the breakdown and uptake of the elements necessary for plant growth. As previously mentioned, these beneficial microbes also act as a nematocide. This is my basic nutrient solution; it is used at ¼-strength during the first 2 weeks after germination, at ½-strength from weeks 3-4, at ¾ from weeks 5-6, and at full-strength from week 7 onwards. I flush with plain, filtered water a week prior to harvest and revert to a ½-strength solution for the first two weeks post-harvest. After that, I go straight to full-strength until a week prior to second harvest, using plain, filtered water until it is time to harvest once more. This nutrient cycle is repeated constantly, as culantro will keep producing bountiful yields every 6-8 weeks after each harvest. The secret is to leave the 2-3 youngest leaves on each plant. They will quickly produce more. You can expect your culantro to be ready for harvest anytime after the 10-week mark, but leaving it longer will increase your yields.

Irrigate your trays often enough as to maintain the substrate constantly moist (not waterlogged). The more leaves on each plant, the more frequently you will need to irrigate.

Grow your own culantro; give your dishes a touch of the Caribbean. Happy harvest!

Check out Eliab’s blog post with bonus photographs and grow tips!