Aphids!

As I've been catching up on work, I haven't had much time to take care of the plants aside from a daily misting and biweekly watering.  I noticed, however, the pepper plants that I'd brought in were getting a sort of fuzzy appearance which I at first attributed to a large, secondary flower bloom under their new HPS light. When I thought about it a bit more though, I looked closer (underneath leaves in particular) and noticed that I had an aphid invasion on my hands! After doing some research and a bit of thinking, I came up with my (mostly?) organic fix.  In a 32 oz. spray bottle, I mixed 18 oz. of coffee (not piping hot!), 1.5 teaspoons of 70% neem oil and a splash of OMRI listed insecticidal soap spray topped off with RO water. The coffee and soap are certainly organic but the neem oil did not seem to be. Perhaps there is something about the remaining 30% or the manufacturer did not go to the bother of being OMRI listed? I'll have to do more research. Coffee contains caffeine (of course) which the plant produces to protect it from insects.  What gives us a nice morning pick me up overwhelms the insect nervous system causing death.  On inspection of my coffee plants, I did not find a single aphid on them, possibly due to the plant's defense. I did notice they had made their way to the loquat seedlings which makes me think that the softer, less waxy leaves are more appetizing to these critters. The neem oil is a natural extract of neem tree seeds that deters insects from biting the plant and causing those that do to die from a variety of effects. The soap helps to emulsify the neem oil which is naturally hydrophobic.  I sprayed down the infected plants to dripping on both the top and bottom of every leaf and hope that this acts to stop my pest invasion.  If not, I will give it a try in one more week. DISCLAIMER: I have not read before about mixing these products and take no responsibility if this harms your plant.  This is a test of a broad organic pesticide that works through numerous mechanisms.  I will update this post in coming days/weeks to discuss its efficacy both in terms of ridding the plants of aphids as well as any potential side effects. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment on my solution (pun intended)!

Paludarium Construction (Update - 3)

 It has been a while since I've updated as I was out of town at a conference in LasVegas this past week. Unfortunately, due to some combination of a light failure and the heat coming on in my apartment, I think one of my lime plants may not make it.  All of the leaves are dried and have fallen off, save for a few.  I'm hoping a fixed light, more water/humidity, redirecting the heating vent, and some TLC will bring the plant back!  The paludarium is in the final testing stages right now.  I simplified the waterfall and humidifier so it isn't quite as impressive looking as I'd intended but I'm hoping with a little finish work that it will be an amazing little project with things I had on hand (except for a few here and there).  If everything continues to go according to plan, I'll likely have a miracle fruit plant acclimating in there in a day or two!  I am hoping that I can get the humidity up into at least the 70% range and keep the temperature below 85F. I want to make sure that the foam wall has more chance to stabilize before I completely change the water, install the internal filter pump, and add the substrate to the water section. Then it is time to aquascape, cycle, and get some fishies!  Then I'll have to find a new project to tackle. ;-)

The fogger does a fair bit of splashing as well.  When the top has been closed for a bit, it is hard to see the temp/humidity gauge through the fog!