Root aphid ID on red pine?

Forestcat

Yamadori
Messages
67
Reaction score
28
Location
N Cal
USDA Zone
10
I acquired a small red pine earlier this summer at a bonsai show. It didn't look healthy but the vendor gave it to me for free. Today, I was removing the loose soil from the top in order to replace it with fresh soil in order to tide it over until January's repot. As I got father down, I saw white "nits" attached to the end of many fine root fibers throughout the root system. I figured that these were probably root aphids. Since the tree was not in great shape anyway, so I freed it from the pot and threw soil and tree into the trash, of course, bagging up everything.

Did I overreact? The white bodies were very tiny, similar to head lice and they came off the root ends very easily.
 
Messages
491
Reaction score
730
Location
SW Washington State
USDA Zone
8b
You may have overreacted, are you certain it wasn't mycorrhizae?

If it was root aphids insecticidal soap or neem oil will kill them.
 

Forestcat

Yamadori
Messages
67
Reaction score
28
Location
N Cal
USDA Zone
10
Mike - thanks for the response.

No, definitely not mycorrhizae. There weren't masses of them, just tiny white dots at the end of each rootlet. I didn't want whatever it was to infect the rest of the pines. I'll give the Neem Oil a try - it's time to for the fall application and will also look into nematodes. Can't hurt.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,407
Reaction score
10,629
Location
Netherlands
Root aphids are about the most sensitive aphids that exist. Most insecticides do a good number on them.
I found root aphids recently, and just sprayed the soil with pyrethrin based stuff. A day later they were dead.
 

Bnana

Chumono
Messages
641
Reaction score
672
Location
The Netherlands
USDA Zone
8
Doesn't sound like root aphids to me. It's crucial to know what's wrong with a tree before starting to throw chemicals at it. Make some photos for a start.
 
Top Bottom