Praying mantids wouldn't have much interest in the aphids, sorry to say. They like more active prey. Anything that flies, jumps, and scurries will trigger the mantids attack response. Sluggish ol' aphids, not so much.

The most commonly employed controls for aphids are certainly the most harmless and 'organic'. Most of us use a strong spray of water to dislodge the insects. Others will simply use their fingers to squish them. Or BOTH! This will need to be done on a regular basis in order to keep these rapidly reproducing insects under control.

Insecticidal soap applications are considered organic, though not harmless. You'll need to direct your sprays to the aphids and not drench the entire garden. The good part of insecticidal soap is that once dry, it cannot harm or discourage beneficial insects.

By the way, there are many other benefical and parasitic creatures that will work with you to control aphids. The list would include teensy parasitic wasps, ladybugs, lacewing larvae, predatory midges, longlegged flies, and lots of others.

The easiest, and least toxic, means of controlling Aphids when you have them is that sharp water spray to knock them off your plant. Some people think you need to use a garden hose but a spray bottle works with less potential damage to the plants.
This link talks about control in greenhouses but the same principles apply everywhere else.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aphids

I ignore them. In a few days, their predators will show up and eat them.

Aphids are mainly attracted to plants high in nitrogen. I like the ignore them and the predators will show up idea . This is great but can be iffy , since aphids will reproduce very quickly.
Slow down on the nitrogen.
Spray with a sharp stream water, concentrating on the stems and underside of leaves.
Use a mixture of veggie oil or mineral oil ( I dont remember which, look online thru google), and dish soap. The oil will soften their shell and kill them , the soap helps mix the oil and water.
Keep a eye on ants, for me little black one, they will herd the aphids and move them around your plants.

A sharp stream of water will do the trick but you should do it every day until you see the apids lessen and then you can do it every few days.
A good sharp stream of water will actually help with a lot of pest.

g'day sevenal,

plenty of good advice, when we get aphids which isn't often we dislodge them with a strong spray of water then as is the case most o the time, deal with the ants that bought them in the first place.

hopefully along the way you can attract some of the lady bugs that eat them.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

I hear that the ants will propagate the aphid population by farming them.
Odd the ground is covered by a couple hundred feet of thick straw that is quite often soggy. I can dry up in the 90 plus degree days of full sun light though.
Still you would think the ants would pick an easier victim.
They were probably nesting under the straw prior to planting.

A easier victim? It does not get any easier than aphids for ants. The ants are pretty smart, the aphids do 80% of the work.

Aphids aren't victims in the ant/aphid relationship. Rather, they are partners: the sugary honeydew excreted by the aphids is payment for the ants' protection.