on my roses and hibiscus I have found the best thing to do is blast them with a strong shot of water from the hose . . . kind of have to forget about damaging any blooms that may be present though :-D

No stain of BT kills aphids, so not surprising that didn't work. BT can even cause there to be more aphids.

Oil/soap seems counter productive. Soap removes oil. Soapy water can be effective if applied often, like a couple of times a day. But it depends...aphids can go away suddenly so some people apply soap once and never see aphids again.

Oil can be effective. I use Pam on water lily pads and it works like magic. But that doesn't mean it would work on other plants. Pretty easy to spray a lily pad and get good coverage.

I personally have never had any luck with blasting them off with water. But I guess it depends on lots of variables.

For non-food plants I like to use a systemic pesticide.

I've also just smashed them with my fingers. I really like this when there are a lot of aphids since I can really do a lot of damage fast. And often a large outbreak will also produce a lot of aphid killers. When I smash say 50% of the aphids that gives the killers fewer to eat and maybe clean them out. I don't really know this is true, but I've been surprised how well smashing seems to work.

"When it all started about a month ago, I sprayed the bush regularly with neem oil/soap (home made) and insect killing soap (bought in store). Then, when it did not help, I tried BT. Obviously, that did not work either.
What do I do? Hibiscus looks horrible!"

That's part of the problem ... if there were any predator insects starting to control the aphids, you killed them.

As hard as it may be for you to do, leave it alone.

Here's how it works ... ladybugs and lacewings and syrphid flies are attracted to plants with existing aphids. If they don't find enough aphids for their offspring to mature on, they look for different plants.

So when you see the first aphids, panic, and bring out the pesticides you not only kill off most of the aphids, you kill any baby ladybugs and lacewings you might have had or discourage the adults from laying eggs ... and you are stuck the rest of the year spraying poisons around the garden.

Wait and see what happens - I can have some plants encrusted with aphids early in the year and then see almost none the rest of the time as soon as the aphid predators come.

Also, hummingbirds are voracious aphid eaters. I've seen them stripping aphids off a heavily infested rose bud like a squirrel taking kernels off a corn cob.

I have an outdoor cat. No hummingbirds :(
Also never seen any ladybugs here, at all, ever.
Thanks for your replies, guys.

I also had major problems with these whitish grey flying insects the size of aphids wiping out my hibiscus. I tried one product from Home Depot which worked but was expensive. Now I use Monterey Horticulture Oil. Be sure to spray the underside of leaves also.

I bought Bayer 3-in-1 to water the bush. Hope it will work. Havent watered it yet because of all the rain.

It'll work if you keep up application. Personally I prefer just a systemic pesticide rather than a kill everything type product. Killing the creatures that help you along with the ones you don't want can create other issues down the road. I like fewer issues.

And when a single pesticide is used for a specific reason things get simpler. For example 3-in-1 has to be applied every week or two...kind of a lot of work for me. If I just use the systemic component I only have to apply one a year. That's easier to me. And application is easier, just sprinkle on the ground and water in vs spraying the whole plant, both sides of leaves...pain. The reason 3-in-1 is more work is because you're having to apply for the hardest component, the fungus killer...which you don't even need.

These types of products are appealing to people because 3-in-1 sounds better than 1-in-1, but really it's more work, more expensive, and less effective because many people who buy such products don't generally keep up spraying every week or two or applying correctly because it is a pain.

If you find you're not applying every week or two you can still apply just a systemic. Apply once an you're good for a year. Kind of hard to screw up.

A systemic won't kill every aphid. They die after eating the plant. The idea is to stop them from reproducing to levels that a real problem.

I hear you, Waterbug_guy! Could you please recommend an exact product?
The reason i bought 3-in-1 is that i searched this forum and this is what people recommended.

Any systemic that targets aphids will work. I'd just go to wherever you buy this kind of thing, read the label to make sure it's a systemic and targets aphids, and read the label to see which application directions appeal to you and all things being equal buy the cheapest. Price is based more on marketing than results.

I wouldn't spend a lot of time searching for a specific brand.

3-in-1 does contain a systemic. Wonder if pouring that on the soil and letting the roots take it up would work? Don't know.

spider mites are NOT SPIDERS ...they are mites ...

crikey

ken

that was an informative post ken, without the final snarky comment. That one word killed the kindness of information sharing. Crikey.

So I had to search for "spider" to see what ken was talking about....the only thing I found was the OP saying "spider web in the middle of the bush (made me think of spider mites" Is this the point of the snarky comment?

Spider mites DO CREATE WEBS....that's why thery're called SPIDER MITES.

Or is the big problem that you think the term "spider web" is exclusive to webs created by Araneae? It isn't. "Spider web" is used a lot in architecture. It's used in custom mortorcycles and cars. It's used to describe any web looking structure created by any animal (including humans). The reason for this is because it accurately conveys meaning in very few words.

Maybe on a final test for an entomology degree you'd get dinged for saying "spider web". In the rest of the world...pretty sure it's OK to say spider mites create spider webs.

Going around the web (world wide...not spider...I mean Araneae) looking for people to correct is a popular hobby. I enjoy it too. But take some pride in your hobby and put in some effort. At least find something that is actually incorrect. When you correct someone who isn't wrong you don't just look like a tool, you look like an ill-informed tool. It's not very impressive. And that is the goal right? To impress us that you know that spider mites are mites? I'm pretty sure if you asked enough people whether a spider mite is a spider or a mite that 50% of people would guess right. So not that informative.

So after just 1 application of Bayer, 90% of aphids were gone within two days. I think cold weather did the job, too. Now it is aphid free.
I will keep spraying now and then when it gets warmer.