Aphid Control and Prevention

North America is home to more than 1,300 species of aphids. Some of them target only one type of plant; others are less particular. They also attack the grass. Your clues that they've arrived: The grass blades turn yellow-orange and grow poorly, and ant hills suddenly appear. Mow your loawn, and spray it with aphid control pesticide. Aphids can be almost any color, but they're all tiny (less than 1/10 inch long), pear-shaped, and usually wingless, with soft bodies and mouths that can pierce right through even the toughest leaves and stems. Aphids are famous for the honeydew they produce (sweet, sticky stuff that ants love so much).

In the cold regions, aphids hatch in May and June from eggs laid the previous fall. Then the female gives birth to live nymphs every 2 weeks until the weather turns cold. Some nymphs born late in the summer grow wings as they mature. Then they fly to trees and lay eggs that overwinter in the bark and hatch the following spring.

APHID FACTS

-- Suck the juices from plants, leaving them wilted, discolored and stunned.
-- Often spread viruses
-- Produce a sweet, sticky honeydew that attracts ants
-- Reproduce prolifically as long as the weather stays mild

CONTROL TIPS

-- To control them use the garlic spray
-- In early stages, dislodge them with a blast of water
-- Spread aluminum foil shiny side up, on the ground under your plants. The reflected light will scare the daylights out of aphids.
-- Aphids can't stand bananas. Just lay the peels on the ground under your plants, and aphids will keep their distance. As an added bonus, these skins will break down fast and enrich the soil with valuable potassium and phosphorus.
-- Like many insects, aphids are drawn to the color yellow. Hang yellow sticky traps on your plants
-- Go easy on the nitrogen. A plant that is getting too much nitrogen is a magnet for aphids and other sucking insects. In particular, avoid synthetic/chemical fertilizers, which deliver nutrients directly to the plant's roots in highly concentrated form. Instead, use a natural/organic fertilizer, which adds essential nutrients to the soil, where they become available to the plants as they need them.
-- Encourage predators like ladybugs and lacewings

 

Aphids love nasturtiums and marigolds, but they hate other plants with equal passion. Include plenty of these winners in your garden:

Basil Catnip Chives

Fennel Garlic Mint

OTHER OPTIONS FOR CONTROLLING APHID
Sprays
Hot Pepper Spray	Chop or grind hot peppers into fine particles. Mix the ground-up peppers with water, then strain out the particles to form a clear solution. Spray twice, 2 to 3 days apart. Make sure contact is made with the aphids.
Coriander and Anise Spray	Coriander and anise oil, mixed to form an emulsion, will aphids.
Oxalic Acid	Found in spinsch and rhubarb leaves, oxalic acid is poisonous in high concentrations. Mix a simple rhubarb spray by first cutting up 1 pound of leaves and boiling them in 1 quart of water for 30 minutes. Strain and bottle the liquid. To help it stick to the leaves, add a touch of soap, not detergent.
Tomato-Leaf Spray	Tomato-Leaf spray may also kill aphids. Pack 1 quart of leaves into a crock or bucket; pour 1 quart of boiling water over them. Let steep 1 hour, then strain through a cloth, squeezing leaves to extract as much liquid as possible. Refrigerate in a capped jar until needed. Before using dilute with a gallon of water.
Traps and Mechanical Control
Sticky Trap	If these cover a large enough area, sticky traps can be used as control devices for aphids. Bright yellow pannels about 10 by 10 inches in size should be coated with sticky material such as TackTrap, motor oil, or petroleum jelly. Place traps adjacent to, not above, susceptible plants. Do not leave these traps out for more than 3 or 4 weeks, or beneficial insects, as well as pests, may be traped.
Botanical Poisons
Neem	Purchase a commercial neem product and mix it according to label instructions. Apply the spray to aphid-infested plants twice, at weekly or longer intervals, until pests are under control. Spray carefully to thoroughly cover all plant parts. The spray will be most effective if you apply it in early morning or late afternoon. Neem is generally fairly harmless to beneficial insects, but it may have an effect with repeated use. Save it for use against serious infestations, when milder measures don't work.
Pyrethrum	Apply pyrethrum directly to aphids in a spray form. Coat the undersides of the leaves as well as the tops. Two applications are recommended, 3 to 4 days apart. Remember, pyrethrum also harms beneficial insects, so use it only as a last resort.
STEPS TO PREVENT APHID
Fall Cleanup	The fall garden cleanup is the best way to prevent aphid problems. Get rid of aphids overwintering as eggs on bark and garden litter. As soon as you harvest each crop, remove all old plants and overgrown weeds, leaving soil completely bare. Cultivate soil 6 to 8 inches deep, using a hand tool or a rotary tiller. About 2 to 3 weeks later, cultivate just 2 inches deep. In early spring, about 2 weeks before planting give the garden another 2 inch cultivation, and cultivate again at planting time.
Preventive Sprays	There are a number of preventive sprays you can use to reduce aphid numbers early in the season: horticultural oil spray, insecticidal soap, seaweed spray, etc. Don't spray much past a month after last frost, or you will be killing a lot of beneficial insects.
Intercropping or Companions	Some gardeners recommend interplanting vegetables with chives, garlic, mints, onions, and petunias to repel aphids. Anise, coriander, nasturtiums, penny-royal, petunias, and southernwood are mentioned for controlling aphids in the orchard. Some clover species support parasites of wooly apple aphid.
Animal Predators	Chickadees, nuthatches, purple finches, warblers, chipping sparrows, and toads are some of the common aphid eaters.