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pests When killing aphids with soap... Mixture...
- Thread starter Nitro
- Start date
All I can tell you is you won't get rid of aphids this way. Oh, you'll knock off and likely kill some adults, but they reproduce at an incredible rate - you can't get the eggs this way. You'd have to spray the plants several times a day for several days in a row before you truly began to make a dent in the problem. If you're looking for an organic solution, either buy some ladybugs (buglogical.com is where I get mine) or get an organic pesticide. Most people have fairly good luck with Neem oil.
Things about Ladybugs: Ladybugs eat both adults and eggs, and are pretty efficient about getting rid of the aphids. Only thing is you won't be able to buy less than about 1500 ladybugs, but don't worry about that - if you let them loose outside they'll go about their business. Just follow the directions that come with them - give them a drink on a soaked cotton ball when they arrive, and don't let them all loose the first day - let some loose over a series of days.
Things about Ladybugs: Ladybugs eat both adults and eggs, and are pretty efficient about getting rid of the aphids. Only thing is you won't be able to buy less than about 1500 ladybugs, but don't worry about that - if you let them loose outside they'll go about their business. Just follow the directions that come with them - give them a drink on a soaked cotton ball when they arrive, and don't let them all loose the first day - let some loose over a series of days.
i actually have quite a few ladybugs around my plants here and there...
locally i have been searching for Neem oil, but yet to find any... i found only a few aphids... but wanted to start killing before they explode.... i am worried, about sparying too much soap... or whatever, and killing the plants....
locally i have been searching for Neem oil, but yet to find any... i found only a few aphids... but wanted to start killing before they explode.... i am worried, about sparying too much soap... or whatever, and killing the plants....
Many recommend around 1 teaspoon per pint of water, but some soap is more concentrated than others so I would err on the side of caution and use 1/3rd that much and if too dilute, keep increasing the ratio a little at a time. It's also recommended to rinse the soap film off the leaves after a few hours, spraying straight water should suffice.
Nitro, you gotta be kidding me! I came here looking for an answer to the aphid invasion as well. Must be a WPG thing.
I noticed the problem starting in early July and isolated one badly affected plant early on (about 3 weeks ago) and I had it under control. Now they are everywhere, all over the leaves, pods, in the flowers. I tried Water mixed with Cayenne powder, manually removing them, diluted soap water...
I emailed the largest garden centre in our area asking if they had ladybugs or lacewing eggs to sell, no response. Maybe they think I'm nuts.
Someone elsewhere suggested I use a few drops of a strong antibacterial soap in a spray bottle full of water. I may try it, I'm desperate.
I noticed the problem starting in early July and isolated one badly affected plant early on (about 3 weeks ago) and I had it under control. Now they are everywhere, all over the leaves, pods, in the flowers. I tried Water mixed with Cayenne powder, manually removing them, diluted soap water...
I emailed the largest garden centre in our area asking if they had ladybugs or lacewing eggs to sell, no response. Maybe they think I'm nuts.
Someone elsewhere suggested I use a few drops of a strong antibacterial soap in a spray bottle full of water. I may try it, I'm desperate.
Pine oil soap+cooking oil and water mixture is effective at killing various pests.
0.5dl of pine oil soap, 0.5dl cooking oil and 1 litre of water. When spraying the mixture, make sure to shake the container often, so the oil will not rise to the surface. The oil will leave a shiny coating to the surface of the leaves and the pests dont like it.
0.5dl of pine oil soap, 0.5dl cooking oil and 1 litre of water. When spraying the mixture, make sure to shake the container often, so the oil will not rise to the surface. The oil will leave a shiny coating to the surface of the leaves and the pests dont like it.
If you use dish soap use a mild no fragrance kind as harsher ones will burn your plant. I have a mix I found online that had soap, water, garlic, isopropyl and called for cayenne, but i had a ghost lying around and used that instead. I'll try to find the exact recipe and post it later.
As Pepperhead said:
Last year I used the following ingredients, which worked surprisingly well. (however there were not so much aphids on my plants)
2 garlic cloves
1 or 2 teaspoons of dish soap
1 litre of water.
Boil the garlic cloves in the water for about 10 - 15 minutes.
Remove the garlic from the water and add the teaspoon of soap.
Spray on the plants/aphids.
Last year I used the following ingredients, which worked surprisingly well. (however there were not so much aphids on my plants)
2 garlic cloves
1 or 2 teaspoons of dish soap
1 litre of water.
Boil the garlic cloves in the water for about 10 - 15 minutes.
Remove the garlic from the water and add the teaspoon of soap.
Spray on the plants/aphids.
You can buy cold-pressed Neem oil on Amazon for a decent price along with Safer brand veggie soap.
I had a minor aphid infestation in June and I found that this ratio worked very well:
1 Tbsp (about 15mL) vegetable soap
1 Tsp (about 5mL) Neem Oil
1 gallon (3.7L) de-chlorinated warm water
Thoroughly mix and apply with an atomising mister on both the top AND BOTTOM of leaves after the sun has gone down for the day. Repeat about every other day until pests are gone.
I had a minor aphid infestation in June and I found that this ratio worked very well:
1 Tbsp (about 15mL) vegetable soap
1 Tsp (about 5mL) Neem Oil
1 gallon (3.7L) de-chlorinated warm water
Thoroughly mix and apply with an atomising mister on both the top AND BOTTOM of leaves after the sun has gone down for the day. Repeat about every other day until pests are gone.
I believe soap is the key word here. Not dish detergent or beauty bar or moisturizing cream or anything else but plain ass hard to come by soap. The stuff is not fun to wash with so people just don't use it much any more and a bar may cost you six or eight bucks unless you are lucky enough to find some at your local buck-a-rama for a dollar (in which case you should stock up as it may not be there the next time you want some).
I grade about a couple of tablespoons of bar soap (you can get liquid for about sixteen dollars a pint) into a bowl, add a little hot water and mix into a thin past. I add this to a couple of tablespoons of neem oil into a hose end sprayer and fill with with water and set it to a low setting. I then blast away at only the plants that I find aphids on after looking at all plants. I hold the plants with my left hand behind or real close to where I am spraying and I don't give much mind to how hard I hit the plants as long as I'm not tearing them.
(DISCLAIMER) I have to keep after it every few days so perhaps I'm doing it wrong but it's the best I know without spending more
money or time.
I grade about a couple of tablespoons of bar soap (you can get liquid for about sixteen dollars a pint) into a bowl, add a little hot water and mix into a thin past. I add this to a couple of tablespoons of neem oil into a hose end sprayer and fill with with water and set it to a low setting. I then blast away at only the plants that I find aphids on after looking at all plants. I hold the plants with my left hand behind or real close to where I am spraying and I don't give much mind to how hard I hit the plants as long as I'm not tearing them.
(DISCLAIMER) I have to keep after it every few days so perhaps I'm doing it wrong but it's the best I know without spending more
money or time.