Aphids in soil? Aphids on tuber sprouts immediately

Justafewdahlias

I would say most of my tubers have sprouted sometime in the last 2 or so weeks (8b). Today I noticed they have several green aphids down low at the base of the sprout right at the level of where the sprout is poking above the soil. So more on the stem looking part of the tuber sprout vs the leafs of the tuber sprout. Some of the tuber sprouts have only been above the ground 2 days and already aphids have moved in! I wasn’t expecting this. I have a 20 inch raised bed currently no other plants or weeds surrounding it. It’s just a mix of dirt and gravel surrounding the raised bed. However there was TONS of weeds in this area before I pulled them all up. The border of my lawn is only about 2.5 feel from one side of my raised bed. I have the raised bed filled with a garden soil blend I got from a local landscaping company.

As of now I have been picking the aphids off. I’m thinking of spraying them with soapy water. I have looked up other aphid treatments like neem oil, predatory bugs to eat them, plants to repel them, sticky blue and yellow cards, trap plants. Haven’t tried any of those other methods yet.

Earlier this season I potted up some of my seedlings (non dahlias). I filled these 4 inch pots with the same soil I used in my raised garden beds (the landscape supply company’s garden soil).I had these potted up seedlings inside under the grow lights. One day while watering I saw tiny whiteish/tan bugs crawling when I was watering them. I took them outside since I didn’t know what those bugs were but didn’t want to risk having those bugs move onto other seedlings. I only saw these bugs on the plants that were potted up with that garden soil. No bugs on my seeds that were still in seed starting mix or root riot cubes. Maybe I am connecting unrelated events, but part of me is wondering if the heat from the grow light hatched some baby aphids from the garden soil and if my current garden soil is infested with aphids

Questions:

In the future there is anything I can do to try to prevent or reduce the aphids eggs from potentially being in my soil? Or is that impossible/not something to be concerned about?

Any other advice for dealing with aphids in this very early stage ? Is there some method that would work more effectively or have a better impact on getting rid of aphids NOW vs when the plants are large/later in the season? As in are some methods better working for low level or beginning stages of aphid infestation ?

Are aphids known to come after the tuber sprouts asap like this? I have heard “watch out for slugs” related to tuber sprouts but haven’t been warned about the aphids yet. Do aphids really move in this fast ? 2 weeks-2 days post a tuber sprouting up?

I have used soapy water on adult plants to try to kill aphids is this okay to use on the brand new tuber sprouts?

Sorry for so many questions. I recently learned how aphids can spread plant viruses and so I’m extra afraid of aphids coming for my dahlias and aphids having a whole underground empire in my raised beds. This is my first year being intentional and learning more about how to grow dahlia’s vs winging it so maybe I’m worried over nothing. I never thought about aphids or checked for aphids before so maybe ignorance is/was bliss 😅 I just want to be proactive for keeping my plants healthy.

bloomhjelm

If they are greenish in color rather than white/grey it sounds like leaf aphids instead of root aphids. Maybe those that overwintered in soil or lived somewhere near your indoor nursery area.

I think treatments don't vary too much by plant stage. You can use the same foliar treatments in the soil. Neem oil, horticultural oil or soapy water. Or those and additionally 1:1 solution of water and 70% alcohol. Diatomaceous earth will dehydrate aphids and should be used before plants bloom.

Wouldn't recommend sticky cards except for fungus gnats. Beneficial insects are great but can be harder to get and only effective during their life.

Soil drenches and foliar sprays with pyrethrins are organic or borderline organic and can work.

Just keep up the routine application for 2-3 weeks at least.

Justafewdahlias

bloomhjelm upon closer inspection I see in my outdoor beds the same thing I saw inside when I potted up seedlings: the tiny whiteish/beige colored bugs just crawling around on the soil, I don’t see them stuck on the leaves of the plants. I could see them crawling around in the soil after watering, but maybe that is just because that made the soil darker so they stood out better. They are tiny, I will try to include a super unclear photo (too small and fast to capture a photo well of)but it at least shows the color. Would treatment be totally different if it’s root aphids or fungus gnats? There for sure is both green aphids on the leafs and then these lighter colored bugs crawling around in the soil. I didn’t notice the bugs in the soil yesterday because I was so focused staring at the sprouts and these bugs in the soil are tinyyy!

Teddahlia

Aphids occasionally appear here but are the kind that eat weeds in preference to dahlias. I remove them by hand and they seldom re-appear. There are probably many other species that are more attracted to dahlias. When you read about virus vectors, the different viruses have different insect vectors. DMV is spread by aphids. DMV is the virus that has been confusing the scientists as it was not being detected by their tests. Did it disappear or the tests no good?

Justafewdahlias

Teddahlia The sprouts I plucked the green aphids off of last night seem to be looking clear of aphids still this morning. If only aphids preferred weeds in my garden plants, haha now I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have cleared out so many weeds when I was preparing a spot for my raised beds. I watched a video of a presentation on plant viruses and dahlias made by WSU. The presenter described aphids as “flying needles” which is what made me so paranoid about aphids.

However now today after watering I am noticing these tiny white/beige colored bugs crawling around in the soil. Now I’m wondering are these root aphids? Fungus gnats? Something totally benign?

Teddahlia

most insects are tiny.

Justafewdahlias

Ailhad

Justafewdahlias Google root aphids. They are usually white or brown and your pictures look very much like the root aphids I occasionally find on dandelion roots.
I haven't seen them on my dahlia roots - and haven't tried to treat them. They might have been in the soil that you brought in. This site has more info: https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/root-aphid-control/

blown_dry

Justafewdahlias Healthy soil with organic material has a lot of life. The odds are very great that this buggit is just a mite that feeds on dead organic matter. If they are not clustered on your dahlia plants sucking the life out of them, I would not worry about them beyond a curiosity to know more about the life in your garden. 🙂

Justafewdahlias

Ailhad this was my thought or worry also. Since it was on indoor seedlings that used the soil and my outdoor raised beds. My husband misplaced our magnifying glass or else I could probably better diagnose what it is by counting the number of legs or examining the body structure a bit better and looking for the differences between root aphids and soil mites which are seen as benign insects. I dug up one of my cuttings out of curiosity and the roots didn’t seem covered in the bugs, and it said root aphids break down the roots leaving them looking white. So now I’m thinking it’s not root aphids, or maybe it’s too soon in the attack to see those changes 😕 fingers crossed since it seems like root aphids are a heck of a lot harder to eliminate compared to the other aphids

Justafewdahlias

blown_dry I am telling myself they are soil mites until proven otherwise🤞🤞 ( if my plants start to look terrible or grow poorly or whatever). I wish there was a plant doctor who could come make a house call to diagnose my plants!