Green house pest management

Green house pest management can be an overwhelming problem; especially in an aquaponic system.   But these fungi are not limited to soil less gardens or greenhouses.



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I'd like to thank Forestry Images for thier wonderfully helpful site.
With great photos to help identify various problems,  microscopic slides and petri dish samples they have made identification much simpler.

Pythium diseases
brown spot
Phytophthora blight Fusarium wilt
blue mold   powdery mildew leaf scorch sour rot
white ear rot and seedling blight of maize bitter rot and anthracnose

Jon Parr and Vlad are some of the best contributors to the aquaponic  forums.
Here's a little advice they have pasted on that I appreciate.

Link to discussion

GH (Green House) pest management has three strategies, and which is best is really open for debate.
1- intentionally low pest security, meaning wide open large screens for honey bees, pests, and pest predators. This works pretty good for lazy folks like myself, especially if you are planting beneficial plants to attract the predators. No fuss about pollination, and no big concern about sterilizing everything.
2- moderate pest security. This one is fine for new greenhouses, and light traffic GH's with cleanly guests. Once a pest gets inside, though, trouble trouble.
3- high security, meaning positive pressure and HEPA filters, thrips screening, humidity and temp control, haz-mat suits and dissinfect routines. Just the thought of all that work spoils my mood, but is probably the smartest long term plan for commercial use.

I'm a low security type guy. Address the pest directly. Mold? Increase airflow and temp, decrease humidity. Spider mites, fungus gnats, white flies, aphids? Allow predators, spray with tea, nuke them with CO2. Nasturtiums are awesome for the garden by the way; trap crop or aphids, pest predator magnets, repel white fly and spider mites. Yep. And borage, and multicropping.

 Vlad Jovanovic
Link to discussion.

You can use the 'ol 3-5% oil + 0.5% dish washing detergent remedy...works well but you have to be real careful to get as little of the concoction into your system and take measure to cover up your FT to protect from overspray. And even this low % of oil will burn pepper plants if you have any...won't damage them beyond repair or anything, just don't be freaked out by the necrotic lesions that will be left on their leaves. peppers seem especially sensitive to this type of treatment.
A better/easier/more fish safe bet might be a naturally occurring fungus called Beauvaria bassiana that will take care of a whole host of common garden pests...spider mites included (and then some). B. bassiana can be purchased under the trade names Botaniguard, Naturalis-L or Mycotrol-O the later two being ok'd by OMRI...and more importantly it is fish safe (unlike any kind of oils or most soaps).
Whatever you spray with make sure to repeat after 3 or 4 days...then again after 3 or 4 days...and then once more...since most of these sprays wont kill the eggs that they've laid...so make sure you get the bastards that have hatched...and spray the under-sides of the leaves...Good luck. Spider mites are a royal PITA.

Here is a link to another in depth discussion about Botrytis cineria and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Botrytis blight 
Sclerotinia rot

A Close Look

Paul Holowko is the Host and Producer of the TV show 'Gardening Rhythms'
'Gardening Rhythms' shows natural gardening methods,
scientific technology and organic methods for land & soil
creation and regeneration.  See website for times and
channels.

www.GardeningRhythms.com
Follow onTwitter  @pholowko" 

He has made many excellent presentations.  Below are a few of my favorites

Soil Food Web – Predator-Prey Protists Bacteria Fungi Microarthropods in an Aerobic Environment

Paul has also made a very nice web page for identifying garden bugs  CLICK HERE to identify pest by pictures

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Video 1.

Published on Dec 28, 2012

The thin layer where soil and litter meet is especially crucial to this process. This layer of soil is the most biologically active; many species of microarthropods thrive only in the interface between soil and litter.

Video 2.

Published on Dec 28, 2012

Microarthropods video for a fly larva.
Microarthropods are important components of the soil decomposer food web. Organic matter is a major influence on microarthropod abundance and diversity. Conservation practices that increase soil organic matter improve soil quality by supporting the development of the soil biotic community. Microarthropods and other small soil animals are visible (sometimes barely so) but miniscule; most require some level of magnification for identification. Many microarthropods, especially springtails and soil mites, are responsible for breaking down organic material into a form that bacteria can consume, and are fundamental to the creation of humus and the formation of soil.

The thin layer where soil and litter meet is especially crucial to this process. This layer of soil is the most biologically active; many species of microarthropods thrive only in the interface between soil and litter.

Video 3.

Published on Dec 28, 2012

Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms. Protozoa were regarded as the partner group of protists to protophyta, which have plant-like behavior like photosynthesis. Below are some videos showing Protozoan in action. All videos are taken at 400X magnification. Some have flagellum (whip like tales) and others have cilium (hairy edges). As a cysts (can go dormant in bad times), protozoa can survive harsh conditions, such as exposure to extreme temperatures or harmful chemicals, or long periods without access to nutrients, water, or oxygen for a period of time.

Video 4.

Published on Dec 28, 2012

Bacteria are vital in recycling nutrients, with many steps in nutrient cycles depending on these organisms, such as the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere and putrefaction. In the biological communities surrounding hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, bacteria provide the nutrients needed to sustain life by converting dissolved compounds such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S)and methane (CH4).

Video 5.

Published on Dec 28, 2012

The nematodes or roundworms are traditionally regarded as the phylum Nematoda. Nematodes, (small worms) have successfully adapted to nearly every ecosystem from marine to fresh water, to soils, and from the Polar Regions to the tropics, as well as the highest to the lowest of elevations. The oral cavity is lined with cuticle, which is often strengthened with ridges or other structures, and, especially in carnivorous species, may bear a number of teeth. The mouth often includes a sharp stylet, which the animal can thrust into its prey. In some species, the stylet is hollow, and can be used to suck liquids from plants or animals.

Video 6.

Published on Dec 28, 2012

Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotic organisms. Protozoa were regarded as the partner group of protists to protophyta, which have plant-like behavior like photosynthesis. Below are some videos showing Protozoan in action. All videos are taken at 400X magnification. Some have flagellum (whip like tales) and others have cilium (hairy edges). As a cysts (can go dormant in bad times), protozoa can survive harsh conditions, such as exposure to extreme temperatures or harmful chemicals, or long periods without access to nutrients, water, or oxygen for a period of time.

Take a look at Dusan Beno's Bug Portraits Gallery.
Click this link then place your cursor on the pictures and click on the arrows to see all 20 pictures

Black Soldier Fly by Dusan Beno

Buzzer Midge by Dusan Beno

This is my favorite site for insect identification.  http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

Midge AKA Chironomus riparius not Camallanus!

Thank you  John Malone and  Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.  for your persistent help with this. 
You are correct.  It is Midge AKA Chironomus riparius not Camallanus!
I think the tell tale features are the body segments and the narrow pointy tail.

       Camallanus                               This is my worm                        Midge AKA Chironomus riparius

These worms are really small.  I had to take about 20 pictures to get just a couple that were any good.  These worms are so hard to see I had to wait until I could use full sunlight.

This is focused through the extra high magnification spot of a magnify glass.  My camera is set at maximum zoom and I still had to make it bigger with the computer!

I still moved the fish from the fish tank over to the raft tank.   I looked carefully to sex the fish, and looked for protruding camallanus.  None were found.    I was not very successful at determining the sex as they all seemed to have two holes.  Maybe it's determined by how close together those holes are. 

In any case I'm very happy to have them in a tank where I can view them.  I plan to rebuild my 800 gallon tank to a depth of only 18" with an extra 8" to the top edge of the tank.  That will make a 340 gallon tank. 

Two of the largest fish or maybe one really stupid fish jumped out today.  Dang that must have hurt because it's 4' to the floor. Is there a rule of thumb about how high the sides must be?


After reading about Midge I became absolutely certain because my grow room has been filled with what I thought were mosquitoes. Hundreds of them; I thought it strange that I never got bit.  They do not fly away when I place my finger on them, so I have been feeding them to the fish one at a time.

Thanks again for your help!

Camallanus Worms False Alarm

See my next post. 
This turned out to be Midge AKA Chironomus riparius not Camallanus!

Just one more learning experience.

Any advice?

Pictures of Camallanus Worms @ http://inkmkr.com/Fish/CamallanusTreatment/

UPDATE:

Comment by Jim Troyer

Found this Bob:

from:  http://plecoplanet.com/?page_id=48
How to treat for Camallanus Worms For more information on worms you can also check out this article http://www.plecofanatics.com/articles/showentry.php?e=321&catid=2