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pests Aphids Returning. F my life.

MegaSpokaneMan

MegaSpokaneMan

Hey all,

So many of you read about my struggles with aphids; leading up to me cutting my plants all they way back. My garden is just now starting to put off new growth, and F me gently with a chainsaw the buggers are coming back. Any ideas how I can make them stop from coming back full force ? Ladybugs seem to die immediately in my basement so I think that option is out.

- Mega
 
My first thought is actually about your basement and the statement "ladybugs seem to die immediately in my basement" - have you checked to ensure there isn't something going on in your basement, like possibly a gas leak, radon, fumes of some sort, or something else? If you obtained your ladybugs from a reliable source, they shouldn't be dropping dead like that. Which leads to the second question - just where did you get the ladybugs from? There are likely others here who have obtained ladybugs from the same source, and you can compare notes - if everyone else with the same source is having success, then you may have other factors to consider.
 
Its certainly something else... I have ordered ladybugs from three sources all considered reliable.... Plants were doing fantastic ! Shame the aphids took over ! I should have taken pictures... it was nasty... seriously nasty.
 
ladybugs have a useful time frame, take them out of that time frame and they are useless. i have tried for years but have finally realized that a ladybug has a sleep period that has to filled, trying to introduce it earlier or later is just a waste of time. diapause is the correct terminology for insect hibernation. i have put ladybugs on my plants and watched them as aphids have crawled over them.

don't waste you money on insect soap brands, get something with pyethrin. i have safer's insect soap and all it is doing is smoothering my plants. i have my own juice of dishsoap, garlic, hab powder but all it seems to be doing is causing my eyes to turn red and everyone in the house is coughing - i soaked an aphid with it and all i could hear is slurping - must have tasted good. the juice with pyethrin does the job, i have read about neem oil but haven't tried it yet. saw some cheap neem oil in an east indian grocery store, apparently a hair product, but i wasn't sure if it would work, it was cheap though.

good luck on the aphid front and just know everyone that overwinters, at some point, will fight with aphids.
 
Those damn bugs have caused me some stress......

I have had some sucess with serra natural science SNS 217. Repeted treatments were necessary.

Good luck
 
Pyrethrin[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]-based sprays are the way to go - spray all plant surfaces top and bottom. It's effective on a wide variety of insects. I've never had a lot of luck with neem oil or neem-based products. [/background]
 
Stick a Hot Shot no pest strip in your basement for a few days/until the aphids are gone.
Put the hot shot in a zip lock and use it again later if needed.
 
i rarely get flying aphids, my bet is they are the female clones. the stickies look so convenient, put them in the container and the yellow attracts them.......... to good to be true. back to squishing.
 
When I had aphids on my peppers it was definitely the ants farming them. It actually started on some nearby herbs and spread to my peppers. I treated it by spraying my whole front yard area with malathion and putting out ant baits all over. I spray my peppers with spinosad which seems to work well. I haven't had any problems since. Hope this helps.

John
 
This thread is in the wrong forum, the same questions have already been asked /answered in the corect forum no?

Mezo.
 
I had the same problem this season, I f**ked them up with mouth wash (Listerine ) mixed with water, sprayed the plant and they are gone, give it a.try doesn't cost u anything extra right? do it for 3 days, worked for me, no harmful chems in the house, remember the air circulates inside ur house
 
Burning Colon said:
ladybugs have a useful time frame, take them out of that time frame and they are useless. i have tried for years but have finally realized that a ladybug has a sleep period that has to filled, trying to introduce it earlier or later is just a waste of time. diapause is the correct terminology for insect hibernation. i have put ladybugs on my plants and watched them as aphids have crawled over them.

don't waste you money on insect soap brands, get something with pyethrin. i have safer's insect soap and all it is doing is smoothering my plants. i have my own juice of dishsoap, garlic, hab powder but all it seems to be doing is causing my eyes to turn red and everyone in the house is coughing - i soaked an aphid with it and all i could hear is slurping - must have tasted good. the juice with pyethrin does the job, i have read about neem oil but haven't tried it yet. saw some cheap neem oil in an east indian grocery store, apparently a hair product, but i wasn't sure if it would work, it was cheap though.

good luck on the aphid front and just know everyone that overwinters, at some point, will fight with aphids.
Click to expand...
That's not true...if overwintering is done correctly you won't have aphids. Why wouldyou say that?
 
simple because i am looking at a plethora of aphids! i am looking at a ladybug bug that is sitting on top of a quintisho plant and hasn't moved in 3 days. no, it isn't dead.

for my dwc plants, i have been pulling them and washing them in water pail baths. my soiled plants, i am now using Shultz's insect spray with pyrethrin daisy.

i have tried using Safer's insect soap and the aphid problem got worse. i decided to make my own soap, with garlic and habanero powder and that hasn't seemed to work, it just smothered the plants in soap.

since i am a stay at home dad, this is all i do, tend to my plants, from 6am to 9pm, squishing aphids. and when i think i have squashed all the aphids, sterilized the soil, i come back and they have returned.

there are many members here that will not overwinter due to aphids and the time needed to invest in the plants. i however have lots of time on my hands and with a 3 months growing season depend on every advantage i can draw from.................... that is why i would say that!
 
Burning Colon said:
simple because i am looking at a plethora of aphids! i am looking at a ladybug bug that is sitting on top of a quintisho plant and hasn't moved in 3 days. no, it isn't dead.

for my dwc plants, i have been pulling them and washing them in water pail baths. my soiled plants, i am now using Shultz's insect spray with pyrethrin daisy.

i have tried using Safer's insect soap and the aphid problem got worse. i decided to make my own soap, with garlic and habanero powder and that hasn't seemed to work, it just smothered the plants in soap.

since i am a stay at home dad, this is all i do, tend to my plants, from 6am to 9pm, squishing aphids. and when i think i have squashed all the aphids, sterilized the soil, i come back and they have returned.

there are many members here that will not overwinter due to aphids and the time needed to invest in the plants. i however have lots of time on my hands and with a 3 months growing season depend on every advantage i can draw from.................... that is why i would say that!
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your aphid problem......two ways you contracted them were either from an infected outdoor plant brought indoors or from the soil you used.
If it was a pre-exsisting problem then you may have some issues with perhaps a
house plant or two. I see you sterilized your soil, but it looks like you did that after
the problem occured not before.
Unfortuneately, the eggs don't necessarily have
to be layed under the plants leaves. They could be in any part of the grow room
under shelves, walls, even on the pots or trays............. :tear: ............I hope you find a
cure with your aphid battle...........just to reclarify not everbody that overwinters
has to deal with aphids or other pests...
 
I've been spraying my plants with rubbing alcohol every couple of days and it seems to be killing them off for me. I heard grain alcohol also works.
 
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