Organic Aphid Control

Organic Aphid Control

by: Home Made Is Easy 

 http://homemadeiseasy.blogspot.com/

photo credit  Wikipedia


No one wants to work and toil to find aphid's eating their harvest. NON- CHEMICAL killing of aphids is easier than you think and better for your health, environment and "good bugs" in your garden. Here's some tips I have learned in my 20+ years of gardening. Use ground or row covers. You can remove covers when plants start to flower.

I use a cheap spray bottle for about $1.00 and mix 1 small quirt of mild (MILD) dish soap into a spray bottle of water. I spray each plant. Let it set overnight then rinse the plant off the following morning.  Don't forget to spay under the leaves. The solution dehydrates the aphids thus killing them. I also spray the soil. If  I  have mulch, I remove it and use solution on it as well. I put mulch in the sun to fry anything in mulch. NEVER leave the soap solution on my plants. This method has always worked in my garden. I want them to live and thrive.


I have made a garlic spray on aphids. I used powered garlic and water letting it infuse. The smell doesn't kill them but drives them somewhere else. Onion solution does the same, it drives the aphids somewhere else and I want them dead.
 
Make a spray of 1 cup white mineral oil (vegetable oil works I have read but I only use Mineral Oil) with 2 cups of water and 2 teaspoons bleach free dish soap. Mix in spray bottle and spray on aphid plants. It will suffocate the aphids. Keep up the treatment of solution and keep ALL plants sprayed with this solution out of the sun or they can burn. I do let this sit overnight but rinse plant the next day. And I re spray solution again, put out of sun and rinse again the next morning. This has always killed aphids in my garden.
 
Introduce beneficial bugs, like lacewings and ladybugs to your garden as a natural way to kill aphids.
Plant fennel, dill, yarrow, clover and dandelions to attract lacewings and ladybugs, these plants are knows as aphid predators. Use these plants around the plants you wish to protect.

You can also grow plants AWAY from you garden that will attract aphids to them: Nasturtium, Aster, Mum, Cosmos, Hollyhock, Larkspur, Tuberous begonia, Verbena, Dahlia & Zinnia.


Some gardeners use a strong spray of water from hose to knock off aphids. BUT, I have done this and it also knocked off starting fruit, vegetables and blossoms. You have to spray every day until the aphids are gone.  Again, I didn't have success with this method.

Some use cedar chips in their garden. Some fruits and vegetables will tolerate this mulch. Do research before using cedar chips. It's normally an effective deterrent, but not all plants do well in cedar chips.

I plant garlic and onions in container gardens and alternate veggie and then onion or garlic container. If I'm doing ground-raised bed gardening I plant garlic and onion in every other row. I also use flowers in every other row to bring in butterfly's and bees. Aphids don't like the smell of garlic, onions. I'm also big on planting marigolds throughout my gardens, container or gardens. Happy Harvest!

Note this is my flower garden. I would only use the marigolds, seen on the left back in my veggie garden.
copyright photo: HomeMadeIsEasyJennyHW