Published: January 8, 2025 Last Updated: January 8, 2025
Aphids, those tiny, sap-sucking insects, can quickly infest gardens and wreak havoc on plants. These pests multiply rapidly, forming dense colonies that weaken foliage, distort growth, and transmit plant diseases. But don’t despair! Effective solutions exist to destroy these gardenhome garden A designated area around a residential property where individuals cultivate plants, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants for personal use. It comprises a farming system that combines physical, social, and economic functions on the area of land around a family home, providing a sustainable source of food and other benefits for the household, extended family, and friends. invaders. In this article, I’ll share with you 4 ways I use to get rid of aphids.
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What Are Aphids?
Aphids are very tiny, typically only a 1/8 inch long, and often very hard to see with your eyes. The most common colour you’ll see is white but can also be black, brown, grey, yellow, light green or pink. They have a waxy coating on their pear-shaped bodies. If you zoom up on them with a good camera, they kind of look like miniature grasshoppers.
And excellent way to tell that the pest you’re dealing with are aphids is they feed in large groups and the leaves will typically start to curl up, because they’re sucking the plant’s juices. They may also secrete a sticky substance called “honeydew”. Not the melon but their poop. Insects like ants with be attracted to it, so sometimes you’ll see ants and that’s another sign.
How To Get Rid Of Aphids
1) Spray Them Off With Water
The first method to get rid of aphids is what I would use if the infestation is not big. And it’s simply a hose. You want to just spray them off, trying to get it far away from the plants it’s on. They move slow and will probably not make it back to the plant. Spraying them off will cut down the population by a lot. But you have to spray your plants every day because some aphids may return. This method is best for plants that are grown outdoors.
2) Soap And Water Are Your Friends
The second method to get rid of aphids is really cheap to make. Everybody has the ingredients to make it, and this solution will kill them. A soap and water spray. The soap on the aphids remove their waxy coating and causes them to dry out. To make the liquid, take a 2 litre bottle of water with about a tablespoon of some Dr. Bronner’s Organic Pure Castile Soap. You don’t want to use toxic soaps as it may hurt the plants. Just pour it into the bottle and mix it up.
Once mixed well, pour it out into a smaller spray bottle and then spray the solution on the plants that are infested. Now, after you spray your plants with the soap, you’ll want to wait a few minutes for them to die. Then use a hose and wash the soap off the plants, otherwise the sun may burn the leaves. If you’re doing it on indoor plants, you can just leave it on.
3) Plant Flowers That Attract Ladybugs
The third way to get rid of aphids is to attract predatory insects like ladybugs, specifically the larvae, the number one insect to kill them. The ladybug larvae consume 50 aphids a day and 5000 during their lifetime. And not only that, they’ll also eat other soft bodied pests too.
To encourage ladybugs to come and lay their eggs, you’ll want to leave some of the weed, stinging nettle to grow. Other flowers like dill, fennel, yarrow, marigold, and calendula are also great to attract more ladybugs to your garden. If you’re going to use this method, then avoid spraying the spray because ladybugs will die.
Sometimes, the ants will also partner with the aphids to fight for them, and will kill the ladybugs, so they can continue eating the aphids’ honeydew. You may have to put a few ant traps to get rid of them before you’ll see the ladybugs do their work.
4) Plant Companion Plants To Repel Aphids
The fourth way to get rid of aphids is by planting companion crops to repel aphids from coming to your plants. Plants that give off a strong scent like garlicgarlic Garlic: An onion-like plant (Allium sativum) of southern Europe having a bulb that breaks up into separable cloves with a strong distinctive odor and flavor. Used as a seasoning in a variety of dishes around with world., onion, cilantro, mint and other herbs will deter them. You want to grow these plants where pest may lurk around.
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Final Thoughts
Hopefully these 4 tips to get rid of aphids helped you. Even after you get rid of these pests, they may still come back, so don’t be discouraged by these persistent creatures; with the right approach, you can successfully manage aphid populations and keep your garden healthy.