What are your solutions for aphids?

[KathyDC]

Hi all!

I have a regular problem with aphids. This happens every year, and of course it's already happening again.

My usual solution is to release ladybugs and that works well for me all season, but for various reasons that's not an option this year.

I am going to try a Castile soap spray, but have been reading that a calcium spray is even better. Does anybody do this?

Also, does anyone have any cheap solutions for aphid control? I read something about crushing eggshells and soaking them in water to make a DIY calcium spray, but that appears to need to sit for a month.

Open to any suggestions that actually work, and especially if they're cheap!

Kathy

[Notostraca]

I usually use ladybird larvae too, and plant lots of plants like borage that attract beneficial wasps , lacewings, hoverflies etc. But if I have an aphid problem and can't see a lot insect predators around, I sometimes use garlic spray, either DIY by crushing and soaking lots of cloves in distilled water, or I used to use an odourless organic garlic spray bought online. Can't say they are super-effective tbh, but deffo better than nothing .

[NicolasGarcia]

For several years I have been using potassium soap, it is an oil made with vegetable oils as well as organic, this soap is used to wash clothes. Potassium soap is an insecticide and acaricide that effectively fights against aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, thrips and red spider, among others; no toxicity to humans and other animals.In addition, it has a very interesting cleaning effect on the leaves: it cleans the molasses residues generated by insects, preventing the appearance of bold. It is also useful to fight this fungus at the beginning of the infection.
The mites do not escape its effect either, being very competent against the red spider.

[Old School]

I just use the Seven spray. I Get them here or there. They seem to hit different plants each time. The ants farm them. Had them on my Burning Bush, a Yellow flower similar to a Black Eyed Susan, without the black eye, and on a Mr. Lincoln Rose last year. Thankfully not too bad usually although they decimated my Rose of Sharon last year when I didn't realize in time they were there. Still waiting for that plant to come back but sadly I think it will not. Good luck!

[brownrexx]

I just wash the plants with a stream of water from the hose. The aphids are light weight and will wash off and not be able to climb back up. Due to more eggs hatching, I had to do this a couple of times before I got rid of them.

Neem is an organic spray that you can use but use caution because it also kills bees (as do most pesticides).

[b54red]

This year I have been blessed with a bountiful amount of ladybugs and they have kept the aphids in check far better than most years. Usually the ladybugs leave the garden as soon as the hot weather gets here and I have to deal with an abundance of aphids some seasons especially on the new leaves of bell pepper plants. I usually start out with a mild soapy spray and when that isn't sufficient I add a bit of Permethrin which makes it far more effective.

Bill

[KathyDC]

Originally Posted by b54red

This year I have been blessed with a bountiful amount of ladybugs and they have kept the aphids in check far better than most years. Usually the ladybugs leave the garden as soon as the hot weather gets here and I have to deal with an abundance of aphids some seasons especially on the new leaves of bell pepper plants. I usually start out with a mild soapy spray and when that isn't sufficient I add a bit of Permethrin which makes it far more effective.

Bill

How much Permethrin do you add?

[brownrexx]

Originally Posted by KathyDC

How much Permethrin do you add?

Permethrin is also very toxic to bees.

[KathyDC]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I just wash the plants with a stream of water from the hose. The aphids are light weight and will wash off and not be able to climb back up. Due to more eggs hatching, I had to do this a couple of times before I got rid of them.

Neem is an organic spray that you can use but use caution because it also kills bees (as do most pesticides).

Thanks for the heads-up! Right now I'm just using Castile soap and I likely won't use Neem. I'm attempting to be thrifty where I can, and use solutions that I either have on hand or that are cheap. That way I can spend my garden budget on pricier things like fertilizers and garden equipment (still interested in a plug and play watering solution).

I really would prefer ladybugs, but they flew away too soon this year. Usually I have much more in my garden at this point in the season but not this year. And I'm not having much luck finding ladybug stock to purchase.

[KathyDC]

I tried to just wash them off with the hose, but it didn't do much (and I didn't blast them too hard because some of my plants are still pretty small with tender leaves).

I seem to have two aphids on my leaves, -- green-bodied ones that move around and tan-ish colored ones that don't come off easily (I sat and picked them off with my fingers and they were fairly sticky). Are these actually eggs? Or dead aphid bodies? Or something else?

[Notostraca]

Originally Posted by KathyDC

Are these actually eggs? Or dead aphid bodies? Or something else?

Aphids don't lay eggs, as they are hermaphrodites that give live birth to clones of themselves.


I think what you are seeing are potentially aphids infected with wasp larvae?
I get a lot of Aphidiinae wasps in my garden, the infected aphids usually look orange and swollen vs the uninfected green ones. They also move more slowly or not at all.


They are great for my garden and I very much appreciacate thier presence, but it does make me feel a bit bad for the aphids!

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Notostraca

Aphids don't lay eggs, as they are hermaphrodites that give live birth to clones of themselves.

Mostly, yes, but aphids can also lay fertilized eggs. Ants will "farm " aphids by digging up a fertilized egg, attaching it to a plant, and then guarding it until it hatches. The ants then collect the sticky sap that aphids excrete. I have had this happen with peppers, but not tomatoes.

As far as cheap treatments, put some dawn dish soap in a bucket and spray a hose in it to make a foam. That foam will kill any bug on contact. Then hose it off. It is easier the smaller the plant is, but the foam gets up under the leaves better than a spray.

[GrowingCoastal]

Once I see the aphid mmummies I no longer worry about aphids. You can see the mummy clearly with a magnifying glass. I find them stuck to the plant.

[KathyDC]

I can see them without a magnifying glass, they're maybe the size of a sesame seed? Maybe slightly smaller. I'll try to get a picture of one, but we just had a really bad storm and now they're all knocked off my plants. They definitely do feel "stuck." They don't move easily.

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by KathyDC

I can see them without a magnifying glass, they're maybe the size of a sesame seed? Maybe slightly smaller. I'll try to get a picture of one, but we just had a really bad storm and now they're all knocked off my plants. They definitely do feel "stuck." They don't move easily.

that is the last stage of the aphids. now they will emerge as an adult and FLY. I try to pick them off and crush them when I find them.