pests Dealing with aphid damage

[Capt Poopiepants]

I found aphids all over my pumpkin hab about 10 days ago, and started treating it right away but as you can see in the pictures, they did a good amount of damage. Now that I've killed them all (haven't seen any in about 5-6 days) do I need to trim all this damaged growth off? The few buds it had dried up before blooming and easily fell off so I clipped them all and some of the most damaged leaves, but would trimming more, or all, help it rebound quicker? Hopefully I can still get some peppers from it this summer.

 

[sicman]

aphids suck,,,,spray a regular dawn mix,if you only have small amount of plats. spray chemical if you have lots of plants. lady bugs also do wonders.

 

[Dave2000]

If the leaves start to rot, mold or mildew then cut that off. Otherwise, whatever remains is still giving the plant energy, putting a new cut on a leaf will just make some more leaf dry out where the cut is.

 

[GreenTea]

If the damaged leaves seem like they are too badly hurt, just pluck them off and let the plant put its energy into growing new ones.

To control aphids, I went the natural route, and made a garlic, onion, and olive oil spray.

- Half a big onion
- One full garlic bulb
- Table spoon of olive oil

Chop it all up, or blend. Put it in a 1 litre bottle, fill with water, and let it sit for three days. Strain out all the garlic and onion chunks. Pour the liquid into a spray bottle.

It makes a very potent smelling spray that aphids do not like. It worked well on my plants, but use it outdoors only, because it will make your house smell it you spray indoors.

 

[FarmerGuy]

I use neem oil and a little castile soap with great results on aphids. Here's a cheap source: http://www.amazon.com/Dyna-Gro-Neem-Oil-8-Ounce/dp/B0012BGXVQ/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340499132&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=neem+dyn

Works great on most other pests. It isn't "instant' knockdown, but it actually makes the bugs "forget" to eat. Perfectly safe and certified for organic use as well.

 

[Jamison]

If it was me I'd take em off. Trimming foliage just leads to stockier plants with way more foliage. Every leaf that is attached to the main stem you pluck off you'll get a new chute growing out of the crotch. To me you can't go wrong with that. Plus it will focus more on new growth and not put energy into the damaged foliage.