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pests Aphids!!! Don't go away even after spraying

F

flexy123

I am spraying my seedlings for more than two weeks straight with Insecticidal Soap and Neem oil mixed in.
What I always used for spider mites and other aphids with success.

This time, they are VERY un-impressed. They seem even to be getting more.
I am baffled since I otherwise swear by insecticidal and Neem...but this time..NOTHING.
What else can I try? It's masses of them, some as big as elephants. (Almost).
Some seedlings have literally sorts of "nests" with tons of them on it, including eggs and even other insects who seem to support and encourage them in their undoings.

I know that Neem doesn't work instantly...but at least they should not get more...
lll.JPG
 
I've never had much luck with neem or safer soap for aphids. At most it knocks them down a bit but never gets rid of them. Azamax kills them dead. It is derived from neem but significantly more effective than neem oil.
 
I use a mix of SALs suds and Neem oil and I say it takes more then once or twice but it kills
Them

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Bonide Fruit and Nut(or something like that).  Get the concentrate and mix it yourself.  Takes care of the aphids quick.
 
I've heard pyrethrin works really well. I have a bottle of concentrate for the next outbreak. Hopefully won't need it for a very long time. I hate aphids.
 
Use ladybugs! They work fast and are completely safe and natural! One adult ladybug can consume as many as 50 aphids in a day. Good luck to ya. I had aphids too and the ladybugs took care of them and fast!
 
I haven't had any luck with safer soap. Lady bugs is where it's at. Especially if they lay eggs. They absolutely destroy aphids. They can be a little harder to come by though.

Neil
 
Well what I am using is pretty much the same thing as "Azamax", although this time a different brand. All those products are Azadirachtin (basically concentrated Neem, the main ingredient) in some concentration. Maybe THIS particular brand I am using is crap.

juanitos said:
Pyrethrin
Click to expand...
 
That's what I'll be looking into next.

Greenguru said:
I use a mix of SALs suds and Neem oil and I say it takes more then once or twice but it kills
Them

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
I know! But I am spraying for at least two weeks, and sometimes 3-4 days apart. All I am seeing tho is them being "stunned". I sprayed today again, the pic was actually taking an hour after spraying and ill observe them closely, especially those plants with the "nests"....and then if I don't see any improvement I'll use Pyrethrin
 
EDIT: My understanding is that insecticidal soap SHOULD actually kill them on contact, at least the adults...
 
Ladybugs.

I used Safer Soap, then a dunk of Safer Soap plus Neem oil. Slowed the nasty little things a bit, but 100 live ladybugs (and their offspring) completely eradicated them.

I supposed one could use pesticides, but I, personally, am trying to do the organic thing.
 
     +1 again for ladybugs or lacewings. Order some of them and go buy some marigold starts. After the ladybugs eat all the aphids, they'll want to screw and lay eggs in an area that will support a future population. Marigold flowers produce pollen (ladybugs' second favorite food) all summer long. If you grow plants that attract beneficial insects all summer, you'll always have a resident population in your garden ecosystem waiting for some poor, stupid aphid to try to start a family. Ha! Wrong neighborhood, dumbass!
 
 
 
edit: I bought a couple of sweet peppers from a greenhouse a while back and discovered when I planted it out three days ago that it was covered in aphids. I mean I couldn't even see the upper new leaves or flowers. Just crusted with them. I made a point to not touch one of them just to see how long they would last in my garden. 
     I checked the plant today and It is covered in aphid-free new shoots and it is growing fast. A few of the leaves that were covered in aphids are kind of deformed, but it looks very healthy. There are only about 40 or 50 aphids on the entire plant and every time I look, the number decreases. Aphids have a horrible time in my garden.
 
Pyrethrins and azamax are both organic & OMRI listed. Organic doesn't mean non-toxic or pesticide free.
 
I prefer the green lacewings.
 
If you use ladybugs you might consider putting some netting over the area to prevent them from flying away. In my experience they tend to leave very quickly even when you follow directions to a T. You just need them to stick around long enough to lay eggs (it's the babies that massacre the aphids).
 
TXCG said:
Pyrethrins and azamax are both organic & OMRI listed. Organic doesn't mean non-toxic or pesticide free.
Click to expand...
 
fwiw. pyrethrins and azadirach... are fairly toxic to bees, and aza does not break down readily in sunlight like alot of biosynthetic/synthetic pesticides to. so its possible to accumulate aza in flowers and nectar and pollen.
 
i think it takes about 1 week for the aza to beakdown so i would not spray more than once or twice a week if you are concerned with bees.
 
its a non systemic too so get the undersides and consider using a spreader sticker adjuvant. in practice aza is probably more toxic to bees than neonics given the frequency with which it needs to be sprayed.
 
I've had great success with pyrethrin. If you go the insect route I recommend lacewing over ladybug as well. I've had hit and miss success with ladybugs. All seems to depend on the batch and who you get them from. The ladybug larvae are the ones you really want but they don't sell larvae or eggs. If you can get ladybugs to stick around long enough to lay eggs you're good. Green lacewing are great. It's the larvae that eat aphids, the adults eat/drink nectar. Lacewing larvae are actually nicknames aphid lions. You can also get great success from parasitic wasps. They take a while to work though.
 
You might even be able to blast some off with water. Not sure what you have them planted in. If in small pots you could put a piece of cardboard over the dirt and turn the pots upside down in water and gently swish the plant around. Would only work if you still had them in small pots.
 
didnt someone on this forum... like a year ago demonstrate a mosquito net tent that you place over plants?
 
if i were to shell out like 20 bucks for lady bugs, id sure as hell put a tent over the plants to keep them inside until they do their job.
 
If the plants are indoor but could go out, that might help a great deal.  I tried spraying with hot pepper infusion indoors, did nothing.  I do it outdoors and it helps a great deal.  I think what happens is they migrate to better tasting plants when they can.  If you want to go with chemicals (yuck) my wife has used Bug B Gone on house plants and it worked well. 
 
So the one company which makes a Pyrethrin spray/concentrate (Neudorff) also makes a particular Anti-aphid product, but it's really just 2% insecticidal soap. (Which I have a ton here). So I made another insect. soap solution, 2% like this product (this time I measured), and also in warm water to dilute it better...and added some Neem again and sprayed AGAIN yesterday, just to be sure. Checking on them right now with a loupe.
 
By the way, related: I can't test this right now....but someone should test making a nano emulsion w/ insecticidal soap with an ultra-sonic cleaner. This might possibly be VERY effective against aphids. (This is I think what "mighty wash" is, a nano emulsion).
 
I have a basil which is so far working quite well as a sacrificial plant at the moment. But the aphids have already tried their luck at my lemon balm as well as lavender.
 
Thankfully my outdoor seedlings have been safe from aphids so far.
 
One landed on my outdoor kratky mystery-Chinense... I squished the aphid and hopefully that little bastid had not spawned anymore.
 
i use a mixture of 1 cup lemon scented joy dish soap (non- anti bacterial) 1 cup of brown mouth wash in a 20 gal. hose in sprayer and spray everything. works like a charm every time. sprayed Wednesday and yesterday they were all gone. ;)
 
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