Whether you are a commercial grower
looking to expand or a flower
and plant enthusiast who
would like to bring your summer
garden indoors – The Root
in Brookfield, Illinois can help!
Bad Bugs
We
suggest you utilize beneficial insects, or "good bugs", to
eat "bad bugs", which keeps your produce free of harmful
pesticides. Although bringing in good bugs to eliminate a
bad bug problem might not always solve the problem, you
might have to resort to a pesticide. In cases like this,
our staff is very educated and can direct you to the best
product to use.
When possible, it is always recommended to use "Good Bugs"
to fend off the "Bad Bugs" that might take home in your
hydroponic garden.
Aphids
Description:
They are very small with light colored bodies. They leave
a sticky residue on the leaves. Treatment: Remove
damaged leaves, wash plant leaves with warm water for a
week then spray an insecticidal soap onto leaves.
Cockroaches
Description:
Small dark colored insects with beetle like bodies.
Treatment: Pick off by hand if you can catch them. Remove
any organic debris from the base of the plant. Set out
roach traps.
Cutworms
Description:
Small worm type insects that curl up into a ring shape.
They eat through plant roots and topple the plant.
Treatment: Not too common in hydroponics - if found, spray
with insecticide.
European Corn Borers
Description:
Small, 1 inch long caterpillars who bore into plant stems
and eat them from the inside out. Treatment: Spray with
insecticide.
Fungus Gnats
Description:
The hatched offspring of tiny black flies. The maggot
offspring attack plant roots. Treatment: Discard any
damaged plants, spray with insecticide. Not too common in
a hydroponics garden.
Leaf Hoppers
Description:
Small, 1/8 inch long, wedge shaped insects that suck the
sap through the plant leaves. Treatment:
Pick off by hand and apply insecticide if needed.
Mealybugs
Description:
Small bugs create white, powdery masses on leaf stem
joints. Treatment: Scrape off and spray with
insecticide.
Root Maggots
Description:
Fly larvae that hatch at the base of the plants
and eat the roots. Treatment: Not too common in
hydroponics gardens. If found, spray with insecticide.
Scale
Description:
Tiny waxy growths on the underside of leaves and on stems.
Treatment: Scrape off and isolate plant, if possible. Wash
leaves with warm soapy water and apply insecticide if
needed.
Striped Cucumber
Beetle
Description:
Small, very destructive, striped back beetles 1/4 inch
long. As adults, these plant pests eat leaves, and as
larvae eat roots. Treatment: Use insecticidal soap.
Tarnished Plant Bugs
Description:
Small beetles about 1/4 inch long with tarnish-like
markings on it's back. They inject plants with a substance
that deforms leaf tips and stem joining. Treatment:
Clean off all nearby organic debris and spray with
insecticide.
White Flies
Description:
Tiny, white flying bugs Treatment: Very
resilient. Spray with insecticide or something stronger.
Also spray all surrounding plants.
Colorado Potato Beetle
Description:
Inch long striped beetles and their larvae will eat
everything on a plant. Treatment: Pick off by hand and
optionally, spray with insecticide.
Earwigs
Description:
Small dark brown centipede-like insects with a pincer
tail. Treatment: Pick off by hand (they usually come
out at night).
Imported Cabbage Worm
Description:
Small velvety green caterpillars that eat plant leaves.
Treatment: Spray with insecticidal soap.
Mexican Bean Beetle
Description:
Small, 1/2 inch beetles will eat roots and
leaves, leaving only the veins. Treatment: Wash with
soap.
Spider Mites
Description:
Red, yellow or green microscopic bugs forming cobwebs.
Treatment: Isolate plant if you can, wash leaves with
warm, soapy water and spray with insecticide.
Thrips
Description:
Very small and slender bugs leaving dark blobs on the
leaves. Treatment: Remove bugs by hand, wash leaves
with water and spray insecticide.
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