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Aphids

19 years ago

Here we go already.....

I am helping a friend by keeping a couple of her tropical plants in my house over winter. She had no additional space and travels quite a bit. One of the plants (a mandevilla vine) is loaded full of aphids. I am using the 3 in 1 systemic Bayer products with no results yet. If I am already seeing pests, I foresee a VERY long winter ahead. What do all of you do to get rid of Aphids & Spider Mites?

So far none of my tropicals have any signs of bugs and I don't want to see the bugs move on to my beauties. ;)

Comments (2)

  • 19 years ago

    Of course, the optimal thing to do is spray for bugs before you bring them in. Start in early to mid Sept, planning on bringing them inside mid Sept. Tropicals resolve transition shock from outside to inside better then, than waiting until the last day possible outside.

    That being said, you are not alone in your problem. First, do keep all newly brought in plants quaranteened away from your other indoor plants, until you know they are insect free. Systemic applications take a while to work, usually 2-3 weeks. Meanwhile for an immediate result, spray them down (all above ground surfaces) with insecticidal soap(best) or a mix of around a quarter teaspoon of dishwashing soap to a gallon of water. Maybe someone has the actual recommended dosage here. Apply 3 times at 5-7 day intervals to catch hatching inscects. If you only have aphids and spidermites, you will be OK.

    If you find you have white fly too, if they were my plants I would throw them. Since they aren't yours, I would do my best to kill the insects, but then seal the plant in a large clear plastic bag to completely quaranteen it from your plants. White fly are very infectious, and extremely difficult to get rid of inside. I would have no qualms telling a friend that while I can deal with aphids and mites that accidentently spread to my plants, I can't risk white fly infections, and I can't take the plant back again unless the plant is white fly free. So now that I have run on about the white fly scourge, hopefully you don't have any anyway, but don't count on it.

    Rick

    P.S. Anything in a sealed bag in strong direct sun can heat up and cook, so a sealed environment needs to stay out of strong direct sun.

  • 19 years ago

    Rick,

    Thank you for the information. I don't see any white flies and at this time only have aphids. In past I've had spider mites. I've used liquid dish soap, water and amonia but can't seem to get a handle on the aphids yet. It's such a large vine that I can't seem to get all the nooks and crannies. I'm hoping to see results from the systemic applications soon this will be week two of treatments.

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