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pests Aphids Observation and Experiment To Try Out

JUR-Z-Devil

JUR-Z-Devil

Not once did i ever see an aphid on my plants outdoors but when brought indoors they would just explode... few years ago i started treating them immediately when they came inside to avoid the problem... Oddly this year, I did not treat them and may have stumbled upon quite an interesting find that i will need to post so others can help me test the theory... I had aphids show up this year... lots of them... BUT, it would seem that aphids have a taste for other plants before peppers...  In with my peppers were all my herbs too...
 
it would appear that every aphid went straight for my peppermint and spearmint plants and never looked back... inches away from my pepper plants and not one aphid on my peppers... left the mint plants there for a few days trying to rid the of the aphids but they kept coming back... finally took the mint plants and all the aphids outside to kill the aphids, and till this day still not a single aphid on my peppers...100% untreated...
 
Seems i baited them to the mints and then just removed them all together... Must be experimented with...
 
yeah perhaps people that cant get live mint plants maybe a few drops of mint oil on some duct tape or something will attract them to get stuck on the tape... im not sure what attracts them so it may not be the smell of mint... but worth a shot... also as i said in another thread started by masher on using tape for aphid control... once you get them to a bait plant or you blow them off your peppers, get some double sided scotch tape (or just regular and wrap it backwards) and wrap the bottom main stem in double sided tape...since aphids dont fly, once you rinse them off your plant the only way back is to climb up... if the bottom is wrapped in sticky tape, they never make it... give it a shot... can also as Mashers post showed... wrap some tape around a pen and pluck them all off then wrap the base in the tape...
 
regular one sided tape is probably best as long as you wrap it so there are no gaps for them to get under it and bypass it.. and you can then remove it easily when you need to change it from being full of aphids or just becoming non sticky over time...
 
 
 
There is no doubt that aphids prefer softer plants.  That's why when you have out of control growth, and plants with soft, weak stems and leaves, the aphids will show up in droves.  (aphids are the one reason why you don't want those unnaturally big leafed plants, with long stretchy stems - that's not healthy growth)  But what you have discovered is an age old method.  There are lots of sacrificial plants that can be used to attract insects, and keep them away from your actual crop.
 
Put your sacrificial plant indoors, and when it gets loaded up with aphids, take it to the sink, plug the sink, use a wand or shower type stream of water to wash down the plant.  When you have thoroughly rinsed the sacrificial plant, add some dish soap to the water in the basin, and make suds.  Then, go put back the sacrificial plant, and repeat.
 
If this were something more nefarious, like whitefly, you'd ideally take the loaded sacrificial plant and burn it, and get a new one.
 
I increased the humidity in my home to 45-50% and my aphid problems went away entirely. Forced hot air makes my home super dry... I was struggling with a major infestation on my overwinters, neem, pyrethins, and azamax were holding them back, but they kept coming back with a vengeance. I broke out my whole house humidifier, and no issues two months later.
 
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