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pests In need of some serious help. Aphids.

MegaSpokaneMan

MegaSpokaneMan

Hey all,

I have been posting about an aphid problem for the last few week; they just wont go away. I have tried the hot pepper spray, lady bugs... bonide. I checked my garden today and I have more aphids than ever. HELP !!!
 
Ladybugs worked for me in a contained environment like a room in the house and the greenhouse. Not sure how to control them in an outside garden. I would at least carefully spray each plant with the garden hose to temporarily remove many of the little devils to knock the numbers down. I have a feeling the cold temps are coming to Spokane soon and they won't be around for long then.
 
+1 on water treatment. I had aphids so bad, I couldn't get through the garden without having sticky white specks all over me. I tried everything...including about 10k ladybugs...for over a month. Finally, in an effort not to get sticky, and lay down cover fire for all the wasps...I took the spray nozzle, and as I picked, sprayed tops and bottoms...knocked them all off...drowning them, and they haven't been back in 2 months. The remaining ladies polished off any left. Afterwards, the plants took off like maniacs.

Give it a shot...spray nozzle, somewhere between cone and stream...enjoy their destruction.
 
I feel ya man. My aerogarden that's INside the house has aphids. I ha plants I was hardening. Got infected and infected my aero. Sucks. Feel like just soon a trim and get all te leaves off
 
I would bust my ass to get them hydro'd...dude...it works. They physically can't hold on...it cleans all their crap and ant dew off the leaves, and drowns the piss out of 'em.
 
I sprayed the hell out of them with a hand held sprayer and then hit them with safer brand insect killing soap. It worked good for me.
 
I got rid of a horrible aphid infestation by using dish soap and water. I used a lot of soap. I scrubbed all the plants with it and rinsed them off with water after.
 
Once you go chemical, there's no going back.
It's a bit like when growing plants using compost and bone meal and other organic ferts, you can't really water with tap water and MG soluble ferts later, they don't mix. Likewise using shitty potting mix and expecting organic fert additives to break down and work.

Once you drop chemical bombs, then the plant is smothered and no helpful bug will go near it. Choose one or the other and stick with it.
Choosing helpful bugs is difficult choice now after you tried other things, unless you have a natural environment that attracts them and keeps them around. An established garden with heaps of things, then go lacewings and ladybugs. Balcony or potted courtyard already bombed with chemicals, may as well keep that route or write the plants off if you want a change...


MegaSpokaneMan said:
ordered another round of ladybugs and lacewings... anyone know if its good practice to use these both at the same time ?
Click to expand...
No problem with both, both of them appear in my garden by themselves. Edit; along with hoverflies, apparently hoverfly larvae eat aphids too.
 
I planted a bunch of marigolds......hoping that will gring in some good bugs. Hated to use the chemicals but my plants were taking a licking.
 
With the colder nights/mornings here last three weeks i noticed all the ladybugs gone, seems they can't stand the colder temps as much as the bad guys..
 
I've had good luck controlling aphids with weekly spraying with M-Pede ( potassium salts of fatty acids) which is about the same as Safer soap at a rate of 2 oz/gal. When mites show up, I add 70% isopropyl alcohol to the mix at a 2:1 ration ( safer soap mix: to alcohol ). Spray early in the AM with dew still on the plants and no direct sun. The longer the mixtue stays wet, the more effective it is.

Craig
 
Well ive been battling them all winter (millions of them) its a daily job hand flicking them off my plants, ive tried white oil & all it did was kill about a hundred plants so right now as i type im trying a boiled up solution of chilli powder, garlic & mint.

When that fails (and it will) im going with the soapy water method.

And remember its ants that bring them in, so some ant powder around will also help as well.

Mezo.
 
I know it will probably offend the purist organic growers out there, but for those of you in a green house or in the house, there is really no reason not to use the cool chemicals that the chemists have labored over. They work better and faster than pepper powder, garlic and soap and as long as you get the brands that are safe for vegetables, you are good to go.

I had a hoard of Japanese beetles gnawing on my pepper and grape plants last year, and after I tried the home remedies, a bottle of Sevin took care of them and the plants lived happily after after. Ortho is another brand I trust and makes some great products for ahhids too.

Notice I said greenhouse or house. You organic growers out in the garden will not like my suggestion, but in the house, you don't really have to deal with benificial bugs.
 
I'm not a purist; I grow ornamental plants for a living and have any number of chemicals on hand, but most I wouldn't use on what I am going to eat because they are systemic But for me, the M-Pede works on aphid , is cheap and there is little concern about residuals...none really as it is essentially a soap.
 
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