Im not exactly a pro, but I do have a greenhouse and I have also had trouble with aphids the last couple years.

I don't know if dish soap will burn the leaves, but I use insecticidal soap and if I leave it on the leaves for more than 5-8 mins it seems to burn the leaves and stunts the plants.

So what I do is treat only about 6-8 plants at a time.

I've had non-stop aphid problems this winter.
Every few weeks I've been treating my plants with a soap-product called Concern. It's pretty mild...

If you use dish-soap, use a soap without scent/perfume or other non-essential ingredients.

If you spray your plants, don't put them in the sun while wet.

If you see leaves beginning to wilt, rinse the plant with room-temp water.

Josh

Thanks for the tips....They are spreading really fast it seems like. I noticed them on two plants, three days ago, now they are on about 20 out of 70 plants. I have been hand picking them off, but they just keep coming! The number of aphids per plant does not seem too high, but they are defiantly spreading to other plants. Any other ideas out there? I think it is too late to isolate the plants.

Thanks
Sam

Go to your local Home Depot (or comparable store), buy a 1, 2.5 or 3 gallon hand-held pump-pressure insecticide sprayer. Get some insecticidal soap and add the recommended amount of water to dilute; don't waste your time with dish soap; it's not the same thing. Then AT NIGHT go out there and spray the s*t out of your plants with lots of hand-pumped pressure. Get under the leaves, where the aphids hang out. Spray them over and over; make sure you've pressure-sprayed every inch of every affected plant - especially under the leaves. Then go away for an hour. Then put your garden hose on a gentle setting and wash them off. Repeat this around once a week for 2-4 weeks or until the aphid problem is under control.

Soap will not get "rid" of aphids. It's a war of attrition in which you can't score a decisive, complete victory. You just keep plugging away and wear them down.

Now, here's the thing, it is VERY important to get that soap off the plants before the sun comes up. Don't forget to wash those plants off after you've given them the insecticidal soap treatment. It will burn the plants. Even if you wash it off it'll leave some residue which will cause a little leaf burn. That is just the cost of taking it to the aphids. But get as much of the soapy stuff off your leaves as you possibly can before the sun comes off and bakes the soap into the plant.

I've used a mixture of one teaspoon dish detergent per gallon of water for aphids on pepper plants and it seems to work fairly well. I usually dip my seedlings in the mix, but if the plant is already planted in the garden I'll spray it.

If you're not letting the soap dry on the plants then you're spraying them for nothing. The soap makes a film over the aphid and when it dries it cuts off their air supply and kills them.

I also mix a little plant food with my spray mixture to feed the plant while the soap works on the aphids.

Alan

Another option if you want to go the all natural way, which might not be best if you have a bad infestation because it is time consuming, is you can go and get a hand pump sprayer 2 gal or so, as MegaChili already pointed out, and just use the water pressure to blast the aphids off the plants. But try to make sure the aphids are landing somewhere safer away from other surrounding plants.

What I do is hold my hand in front of the nozzle, behind the plant that im spraying and try to catch the aphids in my hand and then squash them.

I would recommend this if your problem isn't to serious, if they are seedlings, and or if you have the time to complete the water pressure spray treatment.

Ditto what Fiedlermeister said...er....showed lol.

A few online sources for ladybugs:

GardeningZone.com

MarchBiological.com

Only thing that really works for me.

Rick

Last winter, I had a bad infestation on close to 500 plants. Like megachili, I used a pump-up sprayer. Mixed safer soap with Neem Oil at the recommended doses and if I saw a single aphid, I blasted the plants and all those close to it. Took maybe three days and I have not had an aphid since.

I did not wash it off - Safer Soap and Neem Oil will not harm plants at all, unless one goes ballistic with adding too much to water.

Mike

I do not endorse any pop-ups or links to sites this forum adds nor do I like the policy.

Well: Now we know that all those accusations made about poor ants(that they are farming aphids, etc) is just false and they are innocent of all charges.
CASE DISMISSED ! lol

Well if you want to get technical about it, No Safer Insecticidal Soap will not actually burn the leaves to where they turn yellow and die per say, but it can stunt the growth of the leaves and therefore stunt the growth of the plant to where it has to put forth new shoots in order to survive, this is what happened to my plants before.

The leaves will stay the same color but will look very sickly and may look burnt around the edges and tip.

This is why you should take some precaution when deciding whether to leave the soap on or not.

And if you do leave it on the leaves and it dries, and in the future you happen to get the leaves wet, or they happen to get damp or wet from being inside the greenhouse while its sunny out this will further your chances of burning the leaves.

Thanks for all the advice.... I think I like the ladybug idea best. I am a little hesitant to spray my plants with insecticide soap. I am still trying to hand pick them off, and rinse them off in the sink with the spray hose. My plants are all seedlings in my home made grow box, which is a 4 x 4 enclosed box. The smallest order of lady bugs is 300, can I just let them go in the box? Anybody ever use lady bugs in an enclosure?

Again thanks for all the help
Sam

I too have a very nasty aphid infestation on my outside plants and that's understandable. But what's driving me nuts is how the hell are they getting in the house and inside the domed enclosure?

This afternoon I pulled the lid off to look at my seedlings and found babies and eggs all over the undersides of the leaves. How are they getting in???

Follow up:
I just placed an order with Brad @ marchbiological but was immediately informed that he is backed up and cannot ship until March 8. He referred me to a friend of his but I declined since I chose to do business with him and can wait. For those that have a bad infestation and cannot wait, his friend Nathan @ www.naturescontrol.com can ship ASAP.

-ras

I am about to order 300 ladybugs, does anybody have any advice about releasing them in my 4 x 4 enclosed grow box?

Thanks
Sam

Spray your plants first as they will be thirsty.

john

Ras~ They are not getting in, one or a few got in and now they're multilpying.

"* Posted by rockguy 6 (My Page) on
* Mon, Mar 1, 10 at 8:51

Ras~ They are not getting in, one or a few got in and now they're multilpying"

OK, so how do they come in? Do/did they have wings? I'm stumped as to how they got on my seedlings which are sealed within the clear dome that only gets opened once a week. I also wash my hands before opening the container.

-ras

Possibly eggs in the soil. Some aphids do fly in the spring. The real problem is they have more than one way to multiply so the population explodes.

Thank you, rockguy.