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overwintering So, Are any of you overwintering folks getting hammered yet?

Downriver

Downriver

eXtreme
...by Aphids, that is. I know I am.:(

I was gonna take photos and such, but Chris did such a good job this Spring documenting his plight, I thought it better (and easier) to point to his thread here:

http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=10372&highlight=aphid+spray+mixture&page=1

I've read time and time again about different homemade and commercial sprays and powders, but in the end, ladybugs were the solution. I used them last year and I just placed an order a few minutes ago for this years plants.

There's a few different places to order, but watch out for the shipping. March Biological will ship USPS Priority, which was fine for me. They arrived in three days last year, none the worse for wear.

http://marchbiological.com/beneficial-insects/ladybugs.html

Less than $12 USD. Pretty cheap considering all the time and money you have invested in your plants already.:)

jmo
 
I'm starting to get aphids too, but I've found that this time of year in my climate the ladybugs usually just want to hibernate so I try to hold off until spring
 
No end of aphids in sight for me either. It's a daily routine to check for them and squish, spray with water and safer's soap. I'm really only holding them at bay because nothing seems to be working. I've tried just about everything and the home remedies do nothing. Ladybugs aren't really an option for me either. I'd like to give them a shot of Sevin, but I don't want to use pesticides in the house. I just don't think it's a good idea. Kinda wish I had a garage because then I could give them little buggers a real treat. But alas I do not.
 
I had a pretty bad infestation last year but was able to handle them fairly easily once I mixed up Safer Soap and Neem Oil and then used a pressured sprayer. Got the tops and bottoms of all the leaves, every time I saw one bug. It took about a week and I was good the rest of the year.

Mike
 
I started all of my plants indoors under HID lights and had a bad infestation that wouldn't go away no matter what, until I went down to the local nursery and bough 500+ ladybugs. I put them in the fridge for an hour and shutoff all of my lights and then lightly sprayed the plants with very diluted sugar water and released the ladybugs onto the plants. I left them that way with the close shut for 2 days and when I opened up the closet to check for aphids not a single one was found. The ladybugs where on the plants for months even after I put them outside. If you can't find any ladybugs in your area locally just order some online.
 
I had huge problems with aphids starting about a month back... I rather selfishly "unhibernated" some ladybirds (they were in the corners of the kitchen window, it freezes, they would have died)... put all 5 on the worst affected plant... they made about a dozen very hungry babies which are now all pupating & my plants are pretty much clear... adults have all disappeared to safer hibernation spots.
 
alistair said:
I had huge problems with aphids starting about a month back... I rather selfishly "unhibernated" some ladybirds (they were in the corners of the kitchen window, it freezes, they would have died)... put all 5 on the worst affected plant... they made about a dozen very hungry babies which are now all pupating & my plants are pretty much clear... adults have all disappeared to safer hibernation spots.
Click to expand...

Now imagine how good of a job they would have done if you had a few hundred ladybugs!!
 
I've read in various places that if food is scarce the larvae eat each other, so more isn't necessarily better?

(Also fewer means the cats are less likely to jump onto the plants while "hunting" larvae)
 
LGHT said:
Now imagine how good of a job they would have done if you had a few hundred ladybugs!!
Click to expand...

2 years ago I went through 10000 ladybugs and could have probably used a lot more. They just don't seem to work for me in the winter or around bright lights which they like to fly into and die.
Food was never scarce, and I even use ladybug food
 
When I don't have ladybugs I use to use a rotation of soap sprays, neem(or other horticultural oils), and pyrethrem sprays as well as some home-made chile sprays but those damn aphids are nearly impossible to get rid of:(
 
POTAWIE said:
When I don't have ladybugs I use to use a rotation of soap sprays, neem(or other horticultural oils), and pyrethrem sprays as well as some home-made chile sprays but those damn aphids are nearly impossible to get rid of:(
Click to expand...

potawie,

Believe it or not but when there was a huge outbreak of buga in cotton and okra in India, farmers sprayed COKE/PEPSI on plants and believe it or not, it repelled all the bugs. It is still used in India as I have read about it.
What is the harm in trying it out on selected plants?

NJA
 
I've heard that but I also heard that Coke can contain traces of pesticide:)
I imagine the coke/pepsi would work by clogging the pests' pours like oils or soaps but you'd likely have to wash the stickiness off all the plants, at least I would with my peppers
 
a flame thrower works wonders but it doesn't do the plants any good... :lol:

I try to stay with mild organic pesticides like neem oil, safer soap, pepper concoctions but when they don't work, I use this...

Bonide Liquid Rotenone/Pyrethrin Spray...says it is organic and works wonders..

http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/rps.html
 
at the moment I am growing solely outdoors, Aphids Have and do fly around my plants laying secretions underneath the leaves on the stomata. AND ALSO CAUSING LEAF curl which really pisses me off. If you Neem Oil once a month on a cloudy day and a safer soap spray everyother day and a quick rinse of water these guys will find another place to hang. Persistance i believe really deteres them to find another feeding ground. I had a hard time getting rid of them then i realized i had a bush with yellow leaves in my drive way i looked under the leaves and they were harboring prob millions of these soo i neemed the hell out of this mecca of aphids and i have had no bug problems at all really also i heard a little mulch on top of the soil helps keep bugs at bay.
 
AlabamaJack said:
a flame thrower works wonders but it doesn't do the plants any good... :lol:

I try to stay with mild organic pesticides like neem oil, safer soap, pepper concoctions but when they don't work, I use this...

Bonide Liquid Rotenone/Pyrethrin Spray...says it is organic and works wonders..

http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/rps.html
Click to expand...

Rotenone is somewhat nasty stuff and has been banned here for many years. Here's a quote from wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotenone
"Rotenone is classified by the World Health Organization as moderately hazardous.[11] It is mildly toxic to humans and other mammals, but extremely toxic to insects and aquatic life including fish. This higher toxicity in fish and insects is due to the fact that the lipophilic rotenone is easily taken up through the gills or trachea, but not as easily through the skin or through the gastrointestinal tract.

The lowest lethal dose for a child is 143 mg/kg. Human deaths attributed to Rotenone are rare because its irritating action causes vomiting.[12] Deliberate ingestion of rotenone can be fatal.[13]

The compound breaks down when exposed to sunlight and usually has a short lifetime of six days in the environment.[14] In water rotenone may last six months.[citation needed]

Rotenone is classified by the USDA National Organic Program as a nonsynthetic and was allowed to be used to grow "organic" produce until 2005 when it was removed from the list of approved substances due to concerns about its safety.[
 
No aphids this year but have had some new visitors. Starting with Whitefly (believe they have been eradicated), spidermites (may also be eradicated) and thrips. Still fighting with the thrips, right now they are not as bad as aphids, but I'm still working hard spraying off plants to rid them of this evil menace.
 
Agreed Potawie...not for the regular gardener...and not recommendied for everyone...

we used rotenone for fish surveys when I was in wildlife management school...you could put it in a stream of average flow and volume and it would kill everything in the water downstream for 100 yds...but after that, it was diluted to a non-lethal dose...
 
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