Forum
« Solar Thermal - Steel Beams? Mosquito Magnet Placement »
May 20, 2008
black aphids
I think I have black aphids on my rose of sharon bushes in my backyard. It's a major infestation -- every leaf (on the underside) looks black! Anyone know an effective and safe way to get rid of them without having to ban my children from the back yard? They haven't seemed to spread to my other plants.
Comments
I was in a few different garden supply places that had live lady bugs for sale on the counter - shannon's and gowanus nursery. They're the natural predator.
The usual advice is to blast them off with a hose. That seems to work for a few, but not for an extreme infestation. You can also place several drops of dish soap in some water in a spray bottle and spray that mixture all over the affected areas. Repeat every day for a few days. It won't hurt the plant.
Posted by: guest at May 20, 2008 1:10 PM
Gowanus were out of ladybugs on sunday afternoon... so maybe call 1st to check.
Posted by: guest at May 20, 2008 1:28 PM
While I was at Gowanus on Sunday afternoon, no less than three customers purchased lady bugs. The only problem with lady bugs is that there's no guarantee they'll stay in your yard. Hopefully, they'll discover the "feeding spot" and stick around. In the meantime, try hosing down your shrubs with a good strong flow of water. I'm currentluy using an organic rose spray on my ("regular") rose bushes, and it has helped effectively eradicate aphids like nothing else I've used in the past. I don't remember the name of it, but I purchased it from the Gardener's Supply catalog (www.gardeners.com). It's worth a try...an aphid is an aphid is an aphid regardless of its host plant.
Posted by: guest at May 20, 2008 1:49 PM
Squirrels they eat everything.
Posted by: guest at May 20, 2008 3:08 PM
I second ladybugs, they are family friendly, chemical free, often come back over the years, and eat many nasty plant eating bugs.
Posted by: guest at May 20, 2008 3:32 PM
I have the same problem on a small cluster of Rose of Sharon's I planted in a pot. Following instructions from someone on the garden web I sprayed hot dishwasher liquid laden water on each leaf and wiped stuff down. It was kind of gross but seemed to work.
Posted by: guest at May 21, 2008 10:59 AM
I have bought ladybugs every summer to rid my yard of aphids -- they are great and cheap.
There's an organic store in Queens off LIE (also a beer making supply store) and a garden center on the west side, 11th Ave? that I bought them last year. Def call before going to either. They all sell out quickly.
The guy at the organic store told me to spray sugar water on them so they can't fly away, but I've found they eat all the aphids in one night and the aphids don't come back until the following year. I assume the LB move to another infestation... I don't mind sharing.
Posted by: guest at May 21, 2008 11:17 AM
Jackson and Perkins sells a product called "aphid chaser". It worked on my roses like a charm.
Posted by: herkimer at May 22, 2008 2:01 PM
I wrote about this recently on my blog as a project for a Pest Management class at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Aphid Control.
http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-are-aphids-so-hard-to-control.html
All the commenters' suggestions (except squirrels) will work. However, regular household soaps are not the same as the fatty acid soaps used as insecticides. They may interfere physically, but they're not as effective.
Posted by: Xris at June 29, 2008 9:44 AM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.