Getting rid of aphids, those tiny creatures who . . .

. . . love to suck the juice out of growing tips and leaves on your roses or other tender plants and ruin your flower gardening efforts, is a must.  These flower gardening tips outlines 6 methods which can be used to get rid of these unwanted tiny creatures.

Getting Rid Of Aphids

© Marcelle Snyder

Aphids are very small pear-shaped creatures that appear in great numbers on the rose cane tips in May and early June.  While sometimes the young have a pink cast or the off one is black, the majority are a lime green.  They multiply extremely rapidly, suddenly appearing in such great numbers that it seems as if a huge migration has arrived overnight.  If you don't at least control them, they can quickly destroy your plants.

Ants "take care" of aphids because ...
. . . aphids excrete a dark sticky substance called "honeydew" which ants prize.  The ants will move the aphids to less populated leaves, treating them as seemingly prized livestock for food production.  So if you see a lot of ants going up and down the stems of roses or other plants, you may want to check for aphids and get rid of both ants and aphids before the ants have their "ranch" on your prized plants.

Ways of getting rid of aphids in your flower garden:

1.  The fastest and easiest way to get rid of aphids is to squeeze them with your fingers and knock them off the canes or wash down infested plants with a brisk spray from the hose.  Some research indicates that once sprayed off, aphids do not find their way back to the canes and recolonize.

2  You can spray insecticidal soap (found in any nursery or some hardware stores) on infested canes and foliage.  The soap does not leave any residual toxicity that would harm beneficial insects.  NOTE: The insecticidal soap must be reapplied every day or two until the infestation is reduced.

3.  Rotenone applied either as a dust or as a wettable powder spray also works well.

4.  Any pyrethrum-based sprays will work.

The first four ways mentioned above are probably the most effective, but the following are other options.

5.  For aphid control you can apply diatomaceous earth, a powder made from the fossilized remains of tiny sea creatures called diatoms.  Its advantage is that, unless it is inhaled, it is harmless to humans and pets while to soft-bodied insects it is razor sharp and tears their exterior casing.  The disadvantage is that diatomaceous is easily washed off leaves and canes and must be reapplied after a rain.

6.  Adult ladybird beetles and larvae consume large quantities of aphids.  If you can somehow attract the lady beetles to your back yard, you've got it made.  However, buying ladybird beetles can be a waste of money because they can simply fly away (and help themselves to your neighbour's aphids instead of yours).

Gardening tip:

When using sprays on aphids or any other insects, it is best to alternate materials.  If you use insecticide soap initially, you might follow up with rotenone, then the third treatment could be done with pyrethrum and then rotate back to your insecticide soap.

Why?  Rotating control methods keeps the insects from developing resistance to a particular toxin.  If a spray is used exclusively and regularly, the insects that survive live to breed and pass on their resistance, creating an ever larger resistant population.

Usually after the first infestation has been reduced by doing the above, natural predators such as ladybird beetles, wasps, predatory mites, and hummingbirds can help keep the aphid population in check.

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About the Author:
Marcelle grew up on a farm in New Brunswick where the norm was to plant and grow large gardens, and she continued with backyard gardening after she moved to Ontario. To read other gardening articles, please visit http://superorganicgardeningtips.com, http://plantsandgardeningtips.com, and http://pestcontroloptions.com.