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Aphids--green ones, black ones!
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Posted by szozu z9 SE France (My Page) on Wed, May 19, 04 at 8:47
| I'm having a hell of a time with them this year, especially on my kalanchoes. One day there are a few and the next day the plants are completely covered. Although I prefer to control pests organically, I've resorted to spraying with insecticide, but even that doesn't work. The population on the miniature roses is not too difficult to control and I can pick a lot of them off by hand, but in the case of the kalanchoes it's absolutely impossible. Any ideas? I've tried showering them off, but the water pressure is not strong enough.
None of my moonflower seeds germinated this year, but I've got three morning glories that seem to be off to a good start.
I planted some anagallis arvensis around my pelargoniums, but they've come up in a pot with aloe saponaria instead. I have no idea how, as there are so many pups in the pot that I would think it would be difficult for the seeds to make their way into the soil!
Now I'm just waiting for the budworms to attack my pelargoniums!
Lana |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Aphids--green ones, black ones!
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RE: Aphids--green ones, black ones!
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Aphids as well as other pests; white-fly, spider mites, etc., are eradicated by home-made garlic and Murphy Oil Soap spray...
Here's a recipe I had in my notes (source unknown):
How to Make: Soak 3 ounces of finely minced garlic cloves in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil, canola oil, neem oil, or soybean oil for at least 24 hours. Slowly add 1 pint of water that has 1/4 ounce of pure castille soap or Murphy's Oil Soap mixed into it. Stir thoroughly and strain into a glass jar for storage. Use at a rate of 1 to 2 Tbsp. of mixture to a pint of water. If this is effective, try a more dilute solution in order to use as little as possible.
How to Use: Spray plants carefully to ensure thorough coverage. To check for possible leaf damage to sensitive ornamentals from the oil and soap in the spray, do a test spray on a few leaves or plants first. If no leaf damage occurs in 2 or 3 days, go ahead and spray more.
Spraying Basics:
1. It is best to use any type of spray in the early morning or the cool of evening. Do not spray when temps are above 80 degrees Fahrenheit! Your plants may "burn" or have a reaction to what you are using in excessive heat. This is known as "phytotoxicity."
2. Always perform a test on a small portion of the plant material first. Wait 24 hours to observe any negative reaction. Proceed if there is no damage.
3. More is not better. If you are not getting good results don't increase the strength of these remedies without testing first.
4. Target just the area you need to treat. Be careful... try not to harm the good guys! You don't want to run off your allies.
5. When working with sprays or dusts always protect your exposed skin and face. Some of these ingredients can be very irritating to your skin, eyes and mucous membranes, especially any hot pepper sprays. |
RE: Aphids--green ones, black ones!
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- Posted by szozu z9 SE France (My Page) on
Thu, May 20, 04 at 8:12
| Thanks for the recipe. The little buggers have just discovered my snapdragons! I didn't have such problems last year. Mostly I just had them on my roses and they were controllable. It's the black ones that seem to be the worst! Lana |
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