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Aphids

posted by [personal profile] emperor at 10:34am on 04/10/2011 under , ,
A while back, a friend gave me some chilli plants. Sadly, they came with free aphids. I've tried moving the plants outside, bring them in with a ladybird on, and a fruit-and-veg bug-killer spray (which contains Pyrethrum). There are still aphids. They had a bit of a field day while I was away, but while spraying seems to kill most (all?) of the obvious aphids, if I wait a few days, they appear again.

I'm not quite sure what to do - should I try spraying more often even if I can't spot any aphids in the hopes that'll kill any small ones before they reproduce, or move on to other approaches? To be honest, I'm less looking for control and more for maximum deletion, as the Cybermen would say...
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There are 9 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] smileyfish.livejournal.com at 09:46am on 04/10/2011
Eugh, I too have had trouble with aphids on chilli plants. Mine survived, but it took a lot of work and they looked pretty rough for a while! I found physical removal worked best (running your fingers over the plant where the aphids are and squishing them), coupled with spraying with soapy water.

Getting your plants into favourable conditions should also help, and lacewings are much better predators than ladybirds.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] 1ngi.livejournal.com at 10:30am on 04/10/2011
Maximum deletion on a food crop at this stage is difficult.

If the pot is reasonably portable, you can do a manual removal by holding the plant under the tap and gently washing most of them off. Wrap the pot itself in a plastic back to stop the soil getting washed out.

Then make your own spray by crushing several cloves of garlic into water in a spray bottle and use it *daily*.


Edited Date: 2011-10-04 10:31 am (UTC)
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lnr: Halloween 2023 (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] lnr at 12:04pm on 04/10/2011
We had that too, with one given to me by my dad: we didn't find a solution: we tried soapy water and managed to just make the poor plant look more ill.

This year's crop grown from seed has been kept carefully isolated from the outside world and thankfully they haven't got in!
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hooloovoo_42: (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] hooloovoo_42 at 01:56pm on 04/10/2011
Derris dust or soapy water. My chilis have been remarkably aphid free considering how many there were on the tomatoes
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] aiwendel.livejournal.com at 03:02pm on 04/10/2011
I think ladybird larvae eat significantly more aphids than the adults.

I'd try to avoid control that'll kill the predators, as the next time you get one there's nothing to eat it.

Out here we've been lucky. Hardly seen an aphid (none this year in fact) but there have been billions of lady bird larvae and adults and lacewings.

I have had success with washing them off (tap or hose) and the soapy (ecover, degradable) water techniques. I think getting every last one off is the key, and hose/tap + squishing might be the best way on a small plant.

Do make sure your chemicals are safe to eat on food crops; I can't remember which are and aren't off the top of my head....

You can buy natural predators here:
http://www.just-green.com/c/978/Aphids---Greenfly-Blackfly.html

Probably too late for this year though.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] juggzy.livejournal.com at 05:33pm on 04/10/2011
Bring ladybirds into the garden and don't try to kill the aphids - sacrifice the one chilli plant to make sure that the ladybirds get established. I've never much bothered about aphids - they come, you leave them, the ladybirds come, they set larvae, the larvae grow, they eat the aphids, the aphids disappear. Strangely, what may be causing them to carry on being there - and this is only a maybe - is the fact that you are trying to get rid of them.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] ceb.livejournal.com at 07:10pm on 04/10/2011
I am watching this post avidly; I took my chilli plant outside for 5 minutes to report it and now it has many greenflies :-(
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] arnhem.livejournal.com at 08:44pm on 04/10/2011
I suspect the zen-like "control by not controlling" thing is the optimal route.

That said, the best tactic I've found yet is to take a used Ecover washing up liquid bottle, half fill it with water, and shake vigorously. As long as you don't tip it up too far, it will generate an amazing all-covering bubble foam when you squeeze it, which can be used to coat the plant very easily.

This saved my golden rain tree.
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ext_36163: (workinghands)

the disgusting option

posted by [identity profile] cleanskies.livejournal.com at 06:22am on 05/10/2011
Rub 'em off with your thumbs and crush the moment they reappear. Be sure to pick up and destroy the ones that plummet down onto the soil of the pot. Repeat for a week.
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