Organic Pest Control | Aphids
Although it may seem like aphids are taking over your roses (or other plants) they actually do little harm. If you have aphids on your roses the main concerns are that it doesn’t look very nice and if you want to cut them and put them in a vase, you may end up with a few of them in the house.
Aphids do affect other plants but personally I’ve only ever had a problem with them on roses. Although aphids are not a major pest, they do suck sap from the plant and when present in large numbers, can spread diseases and cause damage. If you have a lot of aphids then you might want to find an organic method of controlling them.
How to Get Rid of Aphids Organically
There are a number of organic methods for getting rid of aphids:
- pick them off by hand
- blow them off with a hose
- companion planting
- attract predatory pests
The first things you could try are to pick them off by hand or blow them off using a high pressure hose, being careful not to damage the flowers. This should get rid of most of them or at least move them along for a while.
Companion planting is not always successful but you could try planting chives or nasturtium near plants which are likely to be attacked by aphids. Companion planting and mixed planting works by either deterring the pest via the plant’s scent or by reducing the chance of a pest landing on your plant. It’s a numbers game!
Another way to get rid of or reduce aphids is to attract predatory pests. You can do this by growing a diverse range of plants which encourages a diverse range of insects to the garden.
Natural Predators of Aphids
The most significant natural predator of aphids is the lady bug. Other predators include hoverflies, midges, lacewings, and earwigs. Planting various plants such as flowers, herbs, native plants, and various vegetables will attract different kinds of predators to your garden.
If you want an organic garden you must accept all kinds of insects, both good and bad. Never use pesticides in your garden. Not only are pesticides dangerous for your health but they kill beneficial predatory insects as well as pests. This is the case for all pesticides, including natural, plant based pesticides.
Spraying with a natural pesticide should only be used as a last resort for severe infestations. I still don’t recommend this as in time the numbers of insects in your garden will balance out. I don’t think aphids would ever need to be controlled using pesticide but if you must, effective natural pesticides for aphids are:
- Pyrethrum - can harm beneficial insects.
- Insecticidal soap - can harm some sensitive plants.
- Vegetable oils - can damage the leaves of seedlings, fuchsias, and begonias.
Remember to only ever spray in still weather and wear protective clothing and gloves.
Once your aphid problem is under control, you can then maintain the situation by hand picking. When you see a few on a plant, pick them off or just prune the affected branches.
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This is a great article. You give a lot of great tips and pointers. I realize now that I have been worrying unneccesarily about aphids. Thanks for the information!
It looks like I have “ashes” all over my parsley. What is it and how do I get rid of it?
I really can’t say without seeing it. Perhaps you could take a sample to your local garden centre and ask them. Once you know what it is, get back to me and I can help you with finding an organic method of getting rid of it.
How can I get rid of black weevil on my rhoden…
Thanks
I think the best option might be removing them by hand. Pick off any you can see and prune any infected branches.
Aphids on chillie plants? I thought these may be too hot, but then again it is only the actual chillie that is hot. The leaves must be tasty!
Why are the berries on my strawberries turning black. The plant itself is very healthy, so are the roots, I use worm tea to fertilize. Thanks
Hi,
I have a new chilli plant that is absolutely covered in aphids. I have been trying to pick them off over a few days but seem to be having no impact.
I was digging through a cupboard to find an empty spray bottle to try some of the garlic water or soap water spray treatments, and I came across ‘Pea Beu’ and a few other insect killer sprays. Of course this is not technically an organic way of addressing the problem, but short of going and buying the equipment I need to try the organic sprays…I figured I could try holding the Pea Beu far enough away to spray the plant lightly - just enough to kill the aphids on the plant?
Would this work or would it damage the plant uneccesarily?
Any ideas?
I really think that would be unnecessary and any leftover residues could end up in the chilli I assume you plan on eating. I strongly advise against using chemicals on fruit and vegetable plants.
I recommend you hose them off with water or if the plant is quite small, continue to remove them by hand, as you have been doing. Make sure you kill them and they are not infecting other nearby plants.
Be vigilant and they will disappear in time but if a few do remain, don’t worry, a few aphids won’t do any harm.
Well I deceided against using the insecticide and tried a teaspoon of crushed garlic, and in the absence of liquid soap I used a teaspoon of laundry powder mixed up in water and sprayed onto the plant - my chilli plant is now effectively clear of all aphids!
The only one problem is that now the chilli plant appears to be dying! All of the leaves are drying up and the developing fruit is drooping. I have pruned it back a bit and removed any fruit that is not near full development to help the plant recover. I have also given it a small dose of slow release fertiliser - any other ideas on what I can try to keep ‘lil lucifer’ alive????
Good new about the aphids, not so good news about the plant!
Maybe just give it a good watering and a few days to recover. Fingers crossed!
Getting rid of Aphids, while searching I came across a organic product called Diatect V . Is this a safe product for all concerned, ie. I love birds and don’t wish to hurt them. Aphids are in my flower garden on my brown eyed susans and roses.
When using a hose to wash them off won’t the aphids just crawl back onto the host plants or possibly other plants or does this process drowned them?
Aphids have rather soft bodies…I don’t know if that makes them an easy squish under a water stream or not though….;)
Either way - don’t use laundry powder or crushed garlic mixed with water on anything - it appears to be a contenter for ‘defoliant of the year’…right up there with agent orange
Mojo - I guess it’s best to just pick off and squash the aphids by the sounds of it.
Maybe you can promote the laundry powder and garlic mixture as an eco friendly weed killer instead
I have a plot of helleborus which are so infested with aphids the flowers and new leaves are turning black and not developing.
I am desparate to get rid of them and have started cutting all the old leaves off to leave the very sick and sad flower heads.
I was spraying with my used laudndry water and throught I might put some garlic in with it.
Do you have any other suggestions other than chemical sprays which I do not want to use as this plot is around a fish pond.