Aphid guide

[ChrisK]

From Bayer Crop Science.

WOW! That's more than anyone needs to know about aphids!

[kath]

I was kind of surprised that the tomato family wasn't in the chart.

[Nd2020]

Fantastic, thanks for the link.

[ChrisK]

Me too. You'll notice it is UK based as well. I didn't see anything similar on their U.S. based site. Still has good general info.

Originally Posted by kath

I was kind of surprised that the tomato family wasn't in the chart.

[ddsack]

The big aphid magnets in my garden are my peppers, they never seem to be a problem on the tomatoes, or even the lettuce. They are the pale green kind, can't quite identify them on the chart, two possiblities. Thanks for posting!

[clkeiper]

I have never seen so many aphids as I have this year. I think they must have been blown up here by the last tornado in the midwest. They are EVERYWHERE! Black or red or green. The black ones have covered and curled the lambs quarter. The green ones are on my tomatoes ( I noticed this today), I found an entire golden rod covered in red aphids....GRRR! My apple trees are covered in green ones, or they were until we sprayed them. I don't think there are enough ladybugs in the state to control this population of them.

[crocee]

I just found an entire colony of the red ones on my plants. I guess I'll have to go back to the nursery for a liquid prep since the only thing I have is a premerthin based dust. It doesn't stick too well to the stems unless I toss it at them. Too wasteful in my opinion. I've also not seen any lady bugs this year.

[Norval]

This article appeared in the local newspaper this week.
The author owns a large greenhouse near Edmonton.

Edmonton Journal, 2013-06-22, page I6
Article by Jim Hole of Hole's Greenhouse.

Sweet alyssum is a beautiful bedding plant loved for its delicate carpet of
tiny, fragrant flowers.
But it also has a not-so-sweet side, if you happen to be an aphid.

If you guessed that alyssum is toxic to aphids or somehow repels them,
guess again. Alyssums’ potency lies in its ability to attract insects that love
nothing better than to dine on aphids.
One of those aphid-loving insects is the hoverfly.

Hoverflies are easy to recognize because of their wasplike yellow and black
stripes and for their habit of — as their name suggests — hovering over flowers.
Unlike the wasps they resemble, hoverflies are incapable of stinging or biting
humans, and prefer instead to chew their way through juicy aphids.

What makes sweet alyssum so alluring is not only its fragrance, but also its
pollen and nectar. After feeding on this rich food source, hoverflies are
capable of producing a lot of eggs, which they lay near aphid colonies and
eventually hatch into voracious larvae.

The relationship between hoverflies, alyssum and aphid control is becoming
well established in some commercial vegetable and orchard businesses.
Alyssum is intercropped (strategically located in fields) with the sole purpose
of being a place for hoverflies and other beneficial insects to feed.
In our greenhouses, we grow alyssum in pots with ornamental peppers as
part of our biological pest control. To date, the results have been excellent.

Now, the great news for home gardeners is that attracting hoverflies isn’t
difficult. Simply plant alyssum, and Mother Nature does the rest. For best
results, strategically locate a few pots around the yard to encourage hoverflies
to lay eggs close to the plants you want to protect. And don’t worry about an
army of hoverfly larvae lurking in your plants. They only occupy the undersides
of leaves and are very inconspicuous — you’ll be lucky to see them!
The larvae look like very tiny, yellowish worms that many gardeners erroneously
assume are pests.

Growing alyssum couldn’t be easier. They’ll do well in full sun or in part shade.
They do tend to go to seed during the summer months, but a simple trimming
of the old growth is all it takes to encourage new blooms. I like a new series
called Clear Crystal that’s particularly aromatic and has larger flowers than
many other alyssums. You’ll also like that the purple alyssums in this series
are well matched in size to the white ones.

So, what word describes a plant that’s highly fragrant, pretty and great
for controlling bugs? Sweeeet! Allysum.

I'm not certian how long this link will be available.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Plant...410/story.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly

[clkeiper]

What an excellent article and how simple to help control the aphids. I see the hover flies all the time, but didn't realize the larvae were voracious eaters of aphids. I will keep planting alyssum as it is one of my favorites anyway!