Mewste ,if it is only on A few leaves,Pick the leaves,put them in A Ziplock bag and throw it away.

Smush them on your fingers. Save a ziploc.

I'm getting them, right now, too. The little red ones that like new leaves. (The big black ones are easier to kill with soap because they don't hide as well.)

Having given up on soap, I tried using ladybugs this week, a box of them I bought from OSH for $7. Not that impressive...

I'm getting better results using my fingers, although it's a strain on my eyes looking for them. Hopefully the ladybugs will catch the ones i can't find.

Wait a few more days without doing anything, Mother Nature will come along and send ladybugs to eat hem up.

Someone last yr. (can't remember who but thanks) advised me to spray them down with water as hard the plants can take.

It worked and I didn't notice any more the rest of the season.

I tried using ladybugs this week, a box of them I bought from OSH for $7. Not that impressive...

Lady bug larvae are much better than lady bugs. Plus, if
you didn't provide them a source of water, they probably
flew off to find that.

Lee

Like llaz said, they can easily be blasted off with just water - a hose on established plants or just a spritz bottle on seedlings.

Garlic spray is 2 cloves crushed in a quart of water. Soap spray is 1 teasp. mild dish detergent in 1 gallon of water. Never spray in the heat of the day or in direct sun.

Dave

MEW,
I cant speak for everyone else, but personally, I sprayed them with diazanon, got rid of them in SECONDS, and NO return.

i know you can plant marigolds all around your garden. it keeps insects away and fleass too. it works
good luck

Used this to bring back a Ficus that was about to go under to scale. Mix 1 Tbs of Murphy's Oil Soap and 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol in 1 qt water- spray all sides of the leaves and stems. Same mix works on aphids and scale. This worked wonders on my Ficus and I would use it on anything. It will knock your aphids into the middle of next week. I use Murphy's Oil Soap on saddles, chaps, boots, shoes, floors, cabinets and why not plants. works great.

Someone above mentioned diazinon. It's been unlawful to sell diazinon to home gardeners since 2004. With good reason. The symptoms associated with diazinon poisoning in humans include weakness, headaches, tightness in the chest, blurred vision, nonreactive pinpoint pupils, excessive salivation, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and slurred speech. Doesn't sound like a real fun day to me.

Best solution to aphids I've found. Greenlacewings. Release lacewing eggs and say goodbye to your aphids in a week or two. No mixing. No repeat spraying. You can't get poisoned by them. Easy and it works. You can breath easy and know your helping your offspring enjoy a better place to live.

bigdaddy,

Where can you purchase Greenlacewings? I've never seen this at our local Nursery. Sounds very effective though. I do prefer an organic solution.

Thanks everyone for all the replies!

Raybo

You can buy them as larvae or eggs. And you can go on a program where they ship you eggs every week. I'm on something like that for fly control around my horses using tiny little wasps.

Here is a link that might be useful: You can buy lacewings here:

I get them from Garden's Alive. Other places sell them cheaper but if you use the 50% off coupon it's a good buy.

They ship them as eggs. Some have hatched already but most are still eggs. They ship EXACTLY when you want them. For me it's first week of June. You want to apply them just after the bad bugs start showing up. Couldn't be easier. In two weeks you can actually watch the nymphs eating the aphids like crazy. Spidermites, aphids and whiteflies used to be a problem for me but that was many years ago. Green lacewings are my number1 garden helper...:)

i may have to give the green lacewings a try.

i have used malathion for the most part the last few years, i can get diazinon but i reserve it for teh skeeters. but since my daughter is VERY prone to pick and eat right there inthe garden i am going to try to switch to as much chemical free as i can this year, only bringing out the nukes if full blown war erupts.

chemicals are fine as long as you follow the directions, but most people just hap hazzardly soak everything without reading a word of instruction. i have always waited a little more than the recommend time between spray and harvest, but now that she can get out there easily i will have to stop so she does not get sick from it.

I just gently rub each affected leaf between my finger and thumb and they all turn to a wet spot on my finger.I have less than 10 pepper plants in any one year. They are only a problem when my plants are small and they don't last long. I do think this method could help spread disease between plants, but I don't seem to have too much trouble with disease, so it's not an issue with me.

I'm starting to get annoyed. I still have some ladybugs left in the pint container, but I'm not getting much results from the ones I have released.

These little red aphids I have never had before. They seem to congregate around the growing tips and, especially, around the blossom clusters, which makes it hard to pick them off without harming flowers and young fruit.

This is a copy of what I wrote to Flopsy above, about white flies (it's also effective on aphids of all stripes):

I've had very good luck with both of these: (1) insecticidal soap and (2) a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water (2:1) with some soap flakes added as a surfactant. Spray both, every ten days or so, especially the undersides of leaves, to the point of runoff.

These things are cheap, lethal to the bugs but non-poisonous, and easy.

GaryStPaul

I had some Pineapple Sage growing in my greenhouse,,,trays of them. They were loaded with aphids, so I sprinkled garlic powder on the plants,,and the aphids jumped ship !!. Never to return that season. It worked extremely well..OR, you an put garlic cloves down into the soil of the pot the plant is growing in,,as well as spraying with the garlic spray like mentioned earlier. Garlic seems to be one of the best and SAFEST solution so far. Aphids hate it !!.

The best way to get rid of aphids is to use ladybugs.
They love aphids for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It's the best organic way to do it.
I have tropical indoor plants, got aphids, tried many chemicals, ended up killing the plants and not the aphids.
The best way I got rid of aphids is by using ladybugs.
Sold at nurseries or on line.

I don't think that buying and releasing ladybugs has any guarantee that will work. They've got wings and can fly away.

I think garlic dust can work. Another remedy : Fine Wood Ash. It is just as good as Sevin dust. What it does, is to creates a fine layer on the leaves. not that wood ash kills them. Evidently the aphids don't like wood ash..

I have used light solution of NEEM oil and tried to wash the aphids with it ( using a jet spray of mister) . So the Neem oil does TWO things: One blasts them off, TWO: drives them away and maybe kill them two. I think soap solution can be effective but you have to be careful. I have used strong solution of soap water on ants hill. It will kill ants on contact.

Quick and dirty Googling suggests 4400 species of aphids and 5000 species of ladybugs. Just curious, how do you know the ladybugs you are buying find the aphids you are serving to be good to eat?

@ litifa, "The best way to get rid of aphids is to use ladybugs."

Quick and dirty Googling suggests 4400 species of aphids and 5000 species of ladybugs. Just curious, how do you know the ladybugs you are buying find the aphids you are serving to be good to eat?

4400 species of aphids

The U of Kentucky says:

"Two species of aphids are common on tomatoes, the potato and green peach aphids.

"Although similar in size, about 1/8 inch, these aphids vary in appearance. The potato aphid is pear-shaped and may be solid pink, green and pink mottled, or light green with a dark stripe. It has a long slender pair of tail-like appendages (cornicles). The green peach aphid is pear shaped and pale yellow to green in color. The cornicles are much shorter on this species."
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef313.asp

The University of Florida mentions the silverleaf whitefly (which most of us probably think of as an aphid) and the previously-mentioned green peach aphid and potato aphid.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in169

The other eastern state sources I looked at mentioned only the green peach aphid and the potato aphid.

Oklahoma State University and the Walla Walla County Extension (WA) both mention "several" species of aphids feeding on tomatoes.
pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/ docushare/ dsweb/ Get/ Document-1392/ HLA-6012web.pdf
wallawalla.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Tomato-Pests.pdf

UC Davis mentions the ubiquitous green peach aphid and "several other species."
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r783300711.html

So not so many aphid species sucking tomatoes in the lower 48: maybe only 6 or 8 total.

I've found ladybugs do well but they need moisture to get them to stick around.

What I do is wait until sunset, then hose down the garden *extremely well* (/cringe...I do not like overhead water unless mother nature brings it but this I do) and then release the ladybugs at the base of the affected plants. As long as the following day(s) are not incredibly warm, they will stick around long enough to notice the food, lay eggs and once their "aphid lion" larvae hatch, your aphid problem will be over. They are quite possibly the best natural aphid killer in the natural universe.

Lacewings are wonderful too, when I notice them, it always brings me a smile, but I have never ordered their eggs.

=)

Everyone so far has told you to treat the symptom. Why not solve the problem by giving your tomatoes less nitrogen?

Wow Barnhardt! What a great idea! I had a ton of aphids on my broccoli plants because I overdid the nitrogen. The trouble is that once they are there, it's difficult to get rid of the darned things.

My Swiss Chard became infested with them. I was growing several chard plants in a pot so, after dousing the plant in soapy water a few times, I left it outside for several days in below-freezing temps, and that seems to have taken care of them without killing the plant!

Linda

I have never had any aphid problem with my tomatoes. I had some on my eggplants last year.

I know of few ways to deal with them:

CHEMICAL TREATMENT:

I have used both Sevin duster and Neem Oil spray. Neither was a sure fire:

NON-CHEMICA COMBAT:

A good jet spray with household type bottle filled with plan water, to knock the heck out them . It takes time but is more effective than the chemicals.

Fine Ash (from your fireplace or grill) is just as effective as Sevin duster. What it does is to cover the leaves with dust and making life miserable for the aphids. This works best if the aphids or on the top of leaves.

With the chemicals, I prefer NEEM oil spray, as it is organic and less harmful to the micro organisms in the soil

So I have been gardening for many years and have always had an Aphid problem Primary just with My Roses!! The only thing that has really worked Consistantly That I have Recently learned, is Garlic Powder water Spraying the roses, Planting the Garlic bulbs in my Rose pots and checking each plant daily! So far Im kickin their Ass!!!! Use Garlic for Roses! Spray them down with the powder guys, it truly Wards Off the Masses of those Damn Aphids ruining our Sweet plants!!!!

Another vantage thread.

Plain water jet, soap water jest, Sevin dust, Neem oil, ..the list goes on.
But I have yet to see aphids on tomatoes.

Sey

Yes I agree, here in the PNW there always seem to be other things in the garden the aphids like more... I had mixed lettuces and they really went for the red leaf! I think we are lucky, there seem to be less tomato pests and diseases here. I guess that helps make up for our lack of heat :)

I get the point that for some reason this thread was re-born for discussing roses info on a tomato forum. But if you have never seen aphids on tomatoes then you have been quite lucky.

Dave

Agree with what Trudi said 7 years ago. Wait and see if the predators arrive. Since this thread was somehow turned into one about roses I guess I'll share. :) About two weeks ago the new growth on my roses were covered in aphids. Last week I noticed that a ladybug was eating an aphid. Today there are no aphids left that I can find. Same thing happened last year with my gooseberries. There were aphids, ladybugs found them, and the aphids were gone without my doing anything.

If you aren't willing to wait then just blast them off with a hose. Repeat as needed. If that doesn't work and you see no predators then use insecticidal soap.

Like seysonn and wormgirl, I haven't seen aphids on my tomatoes yet. But maybe they get taken care of naturally before the population becomes noticeable.

Rodney