gerasimos christoforatos

Root aphids have got to be one of the hardest pests to deal with in the garden.  They are not to be taken lightly.  They are born with tons of babies ready to be born.  They don't have an egg cycle.  They seem to be taking over in Northern California at the time.  Some think it's coming from the coco fiber being shipped from Indonesia.  Others say other varieties of root aphids are coming from the vineyards.  They produce very rapidly and one needs to get on top of it before it wreaks havoc.  Most people can't afford to lose their whole crop.  It can happen cause root aphids bring other root diseases with them.  Imagine I found something kept piercing it's needles and sucking the life out of you constantly.  That's what happens on the root zone.  They are hard to see in soil.  Easier to notice in potted plants. Some things that work on root aphids are beauveria bassiana strains of fungi, the predatory Dalotia (Atheta) coriaria aka Rove Beetles, the predatory mite scimitus (formerly called Hypoaspis miles) is a soil dwelling, generalist mite which feeds on the eggs of root aphids and also nematodes are good, trichoderma species of fungi as well.  Beauveria bassiana only works when the pest comes across the spores.  Otherwise it doesn't work.  Reapplication is a must on everything listed above.  Azadachtirin, best product Azatin-o with 4.5% azadachtarin, will make the pest stop reproducing.  But again, reapplication needs to happen.  All this can get expensive for a small farm.  Natural predators?  Are there any?  I haven't found it yet in Northern California. I'm looking.  Some pests eat the smaller root aphids, not many eat the adults.  The issue, they mass reproduce.  Which makes it hard to stay on top of it.  Some people are suggesting a chemical attack.  This goes against the grain of my life.  But then I'm told sometimes people have to take antibiotics.  Or they have to go and have the tumor cut out, or do chemo.  What is the right thing to do here?  Nature always has a way to deal with situations by creating balance right?  So how do we work with nature to restore or keep the balance so that issues don't get out of hand?

I've used pallets to make walls to beautify my IBC Tank Aquaponics systems.

Here's a photo or head over to my Facebook page for a video here:
https://m.facebook.com/aquabioticsystemscorp/videos/?ref=bookmarks

You guys would like this video:


http://www.theplaidzebra.com/this-man-singlehandedly-planted-a-tropical-forest-larger-than-central-park/

North eastern India, this man has been planting trees since 1979. Amazing individual.
In 2009 local photographer and journalist, Jitu Kalita, discovered a dense forest at the centre of Majuli Island’s barren western shores. As Kalita explored the shoreline, he was nearly attacked by a man who had mistaken him for a poacher.
After learning that he was a photographer, the man apologized to Kalita explaining his personal investment in the forest—namely, 30-plus years of singlehandedly planting each and every tree in the 1,300 acres of pristine tropic woodland. The man’s name was Jadav Payeng.
Payeng—who lives in a small hut in a nearby forest with his wife and three kids—began planting the forest in 1979 at the age of 16. Over the years, the North-East Indian forest has become home to 115 elephants, 100 deer, numerous rhinos, Bengal tigers, apes, rabbits and vultures.
Payeng first became interested in planting the forest after noticing the effects of desertification on the island’s wildlife.
According to the Water Resources Management journal, “An estimated 175 Mha [million hectares] of land in India, constituting about 53 per cent of the total geographical area (329 Mha), suffers from deleterious effects of soil erosion…”
2__man planted a tropical forest
Majuli Island sits in the body of the Brahmaputra River and is home to about 150,000 people. Every year, monsoon season brings the water level over the walls of the island, eroding the shores and encroaching upon the shrinking landmass. After the flood, the heat dries up the land, making it brittle and susceptible to further erosion—thus the cycle begins again. Since 1917, Majuli Island has shrunk to less than half of its original size.
Payeng and local government have tried numerous times to get the forest listed as a UNESCO world heritage site to no avail.

Haven't read the full thread so excuse me if I am repeating, but one thing to also consider about Greece... Where my family comes from in the Ionian islands, on the islands of kefalonia and Zakinthos, but particularly in Kefalonia, as well as many other islands and the mainland, goats are left to run wild, destroying everything in their path. There has been a long history of this and they have literally eaten the country to nothing. So this tends to be a great challenge to reforestation projects in many places. What you have accomplished sound's amazing and I hope to visit and see what you have accomplished in person. Thanks for all the hard work!