yellow and dying lower leaves in early flower

[gold lion]

it's the 6 bulb quantum t5 in a mixed spectrum but i know they're tiny plants, they started flowering wayyy too early (i've stressed them a bit here and there) and only one of them was 'not a runt' from the start and he is getting hurt by this the worst.

anyway, i think its a bug problem >< noticed tiny little tiny tiny tiny white bugs crawling on the soil when i moved the pots around a bit. they look exactly like hypoaspis miles - but those are supposed to be good bugs? there's no sign of any bugs on the leaves (on top of under), stems, no where. there were no bugs on the actual plant but there were many on the surface, just under the surface, and on the pots themselves!

i thought i'd looked closely before but not closely enough i guess, had to really take my time n look to see them. can they be to blame? i put a layer of diatomaceous earth on the plants anyway cuz they biggest of the 3 is hurting, the other ones don't care too much yet.

anyway it's my little practice grow for the bigger grow i started in a separate part of the house but now i'm terrified they're gonna get bugs now too ><

i don't have a great pic of the bugs or anything but a small vid clip i can try and upload.

 

[gold lion]

http://tinypic.com/r/332tjjt/9

vid of a few of them crawling

 

[gold lion]

aphids? the damage looks like what aphids would do.

if it's aphids I'll trash the plants right away but don't wanna jump the gun

 

[Bl4ckV1per5]

viewed the video, does look like aphid cruising in the video and saw another one further back in the distance, might could try a mild dishsoap treatment before trashing plant

 

[gold lion]

just gonna see what the hydro store has to offer, if i have to let these plants die that's alright, sucks but wouldn't be as devastating as the bugs getting into my other grow... then i'd cry. gonna see what preventative measures i can get set up - taking care of fungus gnats was ez mode, aphids sound like they're the god damn devil xD

 

[gold lion]

before i spend a bunch on a pest killing arsenal, this youtube shows the same bugs i'm looking at

i know there's no way to know what the bug is without a microscope but they appear and move like the ones in that vid (didn't notice how shitty the video that i posted was before)
are the ones in the video root aphids?

trying to figure out if it is for sure the bugs causing problems and not nutrient/ph problems before i go hardcore on them

 

[Mas]

I would be reaching for diatomeceous earth,sprinkled about and watered in, soapy water, a microscope and some mechanical interference.

there will be more qualified people about with a more comprehensive arsenal..

 

[gold lion]

guy at the hydro store said there's no way they're aphids as they're moving too fast, suggested the dying plant is due to distilled water. they didn't have botaniguard anyway (huge hydro store but not many pesticides)
got some pyrethrum stuff to use at least, mostly as a preventative in my other grow.

gonna research a little more I guess :/ I did buy some traps to hopefully catch a few n examine - should've done that before the diatomaceous earth xD

 

[Waira]

:smoking: GL-- those look like either harmless soil mites, or possibly springtails.. poke at one, and if it jumps away, it's a springtail, if not, it's a soil mite,... a nuisance critter, part of the detritus breakdown crew in nature,...