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…
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.
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.
Jackson and Perkins sells a product called “aphid chaser”. It worked on my roses like a charm.
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.
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.
I second ladybugs, they are family friendly, chemical free, often come back over the years, and eat many nasty plant eating bugs.
Squirrels they eat everything.
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.
Gowanus were out of ladybugs on sunday afternoon… so maybe call 1st to check.
L A D Y B U G S !! !!!
They will Devour the aphids