aphid problem

lofty · aphid problem

after more careful inspection i have realised that my crinkly chilli leaf problem is actually an aphid problem what do i do does anybody know

quarryman

Soapy water. Just pour some over the plants, works for green fly infestation too.

lofty

thanks for that i have 15 chilli plants washed it was a total infestation. What happens to the eggs will they hatch out if there are any left

quarryman

If they are still sticking to the leaves and stems try rubbing them off but usually the come off with the soapy water. Have a look round the garden and collect any Ladybirds you can find, the love aphids and their eggs.

blowin

Beggin to differ but I reckon that soapy water is a waste of time * because half of them just climb back up again ( unless they are Wooly aphid , which don't survive outside of their fluff ) . I would squish between finger and thumb if the colonies are small and dense , otherwise use a proprietry greenfly & aphid spray . You can get so-called non-toxic and ladybird-friendly ones .
* Having said that I have discovered that the glass-cleaner spray from Lidl is more effective than fly spray when it comes to killing the midge which rise up in heaps at the bottom of the window frames ( apparently they breed in whatever was once used to keep the glass in ) . I don't think you'd call it soapy tho' .
Why would you want to grow chillis anyway ? Blah !

quarryman

Works for me and is relatively organic. The detergent helps stop the eggs attaching to the plant.

Ladybirds are still the best option but I haven't seen too many this year.

Moonwaves

The soap thing apparently only works if you use 'real' soap - can't recall exactly which component of soap it is which is effective but I remember this coming up on a few discussions last year. Will try and find the reference.

lofty

as far as i can see they were all killed .they got a good drowning in the stuff i will have to keep an eye on them though

tringle

Moonwaves

Yep, found one reference to the same thing anyway, it was actually a comment left on my blog after this post:

http://livingthesimplelifeiwant.b...06/how-does-your-garden-grow.html

tringle

Im of to grate a bar (one of those guest soaps from a hotel)

tringle

Just washed down the broad beans, it does seem to have done something so will check them in the morning

lofty

well when i checked yesterday evening after washing the chillis down the evening before, it wasnt the eradication that i had hoped for there was still a few die hards about. Very frust rating i think the only true answer must be the lady birds

tringle

Greenfly are all gone, a few dead ones left caught in the leaves which I have been trying to shake off.How much did you use Lofty, I have a full bar of soap to a watering can and used all of it to wash down about 10 broad bean plants. I had watered them fiest and there was no rain for about 12 hours after

lofty

i have a feeling i havent used enough soap i have been picking the little feckers off every day since

tringle

Dis mine a second time and now no greenfly at all on the broad beans. (I havent really seen any signs on anything else)

killerflies

To make it relatively eco-frendly..................a dilute solution of ecover washing up liquid works a treat. Be careful not to make it too concentrated however, that can cause other problems.

wayland

Just a thought about real soap. It seems to be made of a lye of caustic soda and veg oil. How organic is that?. I try to be organic but when it comes to perhaps loosing a crop I dont mind using sprays as a last resort.

MrsL

Graney

I know I'm going to bring all kinds of thunderbolts raining down on my head, but if I'm going to use a chemical to get rid of a pest or disease, I'd prefer to use one that is designed to do the job and will target the problem and deal with it. Seems preferable to me than sloshing all kinds of chemicals that may or may not do the job and may do all kinds of other things that aren't very desirable.

As far as I know, soap is not normally recommended as suitable for human consumption - nor is it particularly good at getting rid of aphids. A bar of soap for 10 broad bean plants? Blimey, not surprised they curled up their toes. They probably would with any chemical put on at that concentration. Wink

MrsL

That concentration is very high; I would only use a few gratings of bar soap, or a quick squirt of Ecover or similar.

lofty

i know this subject has been battered to death but i went home at lunch time and low and behold i had bunches of aphids on my chillis i check them everyday and there always seem to be a few i spray with a tabasco/fairy liquid mix which i have been told does the trick but obviously not for me. it has me driven daft now at this stage that i cannot get rid of them. Is there anything else that i should be using

blowin

Graney