Happily, it's usually not too difficult to get rid of aphids organically. But you really must catch them early - when there are just a few. The best way to spot them - or any type of gardening problem, for that matter - is to make sure you're in the garden regularly. A stroll every day or every other day, examining plants for problems, is excellent. Then, if you spot aphids...
The First Line of Attack Against Aphids
The minute you spot aphids, get out your garden hose and give them a good, strong spray. It helps to have a nozzle on the hose that you can set for a hard spray. Blast those aphids off, looking especially under leaves and at new growth. This may mean carefully peeling back the center leaves of a cabbage, for example.
For the next several days, check the garden carefully for more aphids. Blast them with water again if they re-appear. But if their numbers seem higher, or if blasting the leaves of certain, tender plants destroys the leaves, move on to another method.
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| You'll often see ants near aphids. Ants will disappear once aphids are gone. |
Other Methods of Controlling Aphids
* Vinegar spray. Vinegar kills aphids on contact, but it can also burn plants, so it should be used with care. Fill a spray bottle 1/3 of the way with white distilled vinegar; fill the remainder with water. Spray directly on aphids. Watch out for ladybugs and other beneficial insects, since they won't like the vinegar-water, either. To be extra safe, I let the vinegar-water sit on the plant for a few minutes, then I spray it down with water.
* Dishsoap. A gentle dishsoap, like Dawn, kills aphids by clogging up their bodies. To a pint of water, add 1 teaspoon of Dawn. I don't recommend a higher concentration, because that can burn plants. Spray directly on the aphids, avoiding beneficial insects.
* Lemon. Like vinegar, lemon kills aphids right away. To make a spray, first grate the rind of a lemon into a saucepan. Fill a spray bottle with water, then pour the water into the pan and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to sit overnight. Strain and pout the liquid into the spray bottle. Spray directly on aphids, avoiding beneficial insects.
* Neem oil. Neem trees produce neem oil - a classic organic pest control substance. The oil works against aphids by making plants taste unpalatable to aphids, and by preventing larvae from maturing. Neem oil is readily available at garden supply centers, or online. Spray it over affected plants.
* Nasturtiums. I love these sunny, vigorous plants! My only gripe against them is that aphids adore them - to the point where they will often (but not always) hit nasturtiums before chomping down on other plants. So nasturtiums planted near edibles often sacrafice their lives for the sake of your edibles. Do note that aphids are extremely difficult to eradicate on nasturtium plants (because there are just so many leaves for them to hide under). And once they destroy your nasturtiums, there's no gaurantee they won't move on to other plants. But ideally - if you don't use chemicals in your garden and you have a reasonably decent ladybug population - ladybugs and their larvea will feast on the aphids while they feast on your nasturtiums, thus eradicating the problem.
What Doesn't Work:
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| A ladybug devouring aphids. |
* Garlic, chives, and onions. Some say planting these keeps aphids away from anything nearby. Again, I don't find that this works. (This year, I have cabbage planted among wild onions and chives. Yet the first plants the aphids attacked were those cabbages.)
* Marigolds. Marigolds are pretty in the garden, but I've never found they keep aphids away, as people claim, even when planted year after year and left to sit in the garden throughout winter.
* Bringing in ladybugs. One year, I purchased ladybugs at a local gardening center and released them among my aphid-infested nasturtiums. They flew away. So I bought another batch and - in desperation - gently sprayed them with Pepsi, which makes their wings stick down, so they can't fly. They still didn't control the aphid population and flew away as soon as the Pepsi wore off. It's really ladybug larvae who eat the most aphids, so a better bet is to encourage ladybugs in your yard by planting lots of flowers they love and never using chemicals in your garden.
* Fantastic soil. Some say aphids only appear on plants growing in poor soil. I have to disagree, since I've seen aphids attack plants in fantastic soil. But I am sure weaker plants are more susceptible to all types of insect pests - and that plants growing in fantastic soil are stronger and more able to fight off aphids.
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