O/T to gardners - APHIDS

[AK dog doc]

Okay, don't ask ME how I got aphids in my house in the middle of an Alaskan winter, but I did. I have this (cayenne) pepper plant which I have somehow managed not to kill for more than 2 years now. This in itself is a bit of a shock, as I'm notorious about this sort of thing... I do okay in the summer, when I'm garden-crazed, but over the winter things get a bit more iffy. I'm SURE the dark has no influence on plant survival, of course.

 

At any rate, I thought this plant was toast about February, when my Toyo stove shut off one day while I was at work. It was 40 degrees in the house when I got home. Since it was -40 outside, that seemed pretty balmy to me, but evidently the pepper plant was less sanguine and all its leaves fell off. One of the canes died completely, but the other came back. However, ever since it started to bud back out, it's had aphids. Tons of them. I've used an aphid spray by Schultz, which appears to kill them, but they keep recurring. The plant is covered in flowers and is sprouting leaves like mad, but I just can't seem to get rid of those @#*&% aphids! GRRR!

 

It seems there are a fair number of gardeners here, so I'm asking - any suggestions? I don't think I can get ladybugs this early in the year. I can get them later, I'm pretty sure, but until then I'm trying to keep the little green plague under control. I have a ton of starts in the house and am hoping that I can keep them all from getting aphid-infested. So far the poor pepper plant is taking the brunt, but I don't want the munching green horde to start branching out. So to speak.

 

This is outside my area of expertise, so I'm open to suggestions. I'm a bit of a neophyte gardener - I've only been at it for 3 or 4 years in AK. I don't even have a greenhouse. (What a maroon! What is WRONG with me?)

[Black Watch Debatable]

Most insecticides used on aphids kill ALL bugs. To keep good bugs around try removing aphids from buds with sharp streams of water or a mild soapy spray (1 squirt dish soap + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil + 1 quart water). Insecticide soaps and narrow-range oil sprays are also available in stores. Don't give up after one try. Instead repeat treatments and keep knocking off the pests to buy time for the good bugs to do their job.

Link.

 

A Google search on aphids + dish soap should turn up a bunch of links. Good luck! [Why, yes---my dad was president of the local garden club! LOL :cool: ]

[Allie Oop]

I've used the dish soap with pretty good success, but you need to repeat spraying it every few days until the aphids are gone.

 

What I usually use is probably not too practical for either Alaska or inside home use -- ladybugs. I go buy a package of live ladybugs from the local home improvement garden center or nursery and they work great.

 

If you are able to get the ladybugs, however, you might buy some fine gauge netting and enclose the pepper plant in it. Open the package of ladybugs and shake them into the open end of the netting. Once they are all inside you can tie off the netting. That way the ladybugs will stay put and the pepper plant can still get light and water.

 

Good luck!

[emmetteabrakai]

The soap combination has worked for me. What worked best was a sprayer with a fairly fine mist. It did take repeated applications for it to take effect. Good luck, but you may have record on your hands. Aphids in Alaska in the dead of winter :eek: Sorry couldn't resist.....

andrea d.

[JacknKegsDad]

Here's another recipe...

 

http://www.abc.net.au/centralvic/stories/s1455745.htm

[AK dog doc]

Thanks, guys! I knew there had to be SOMEONE here whose dad was prez of the local garden club!

 

I'm happier with the dish soap than the insecticides as a general thing, since I have a tiny forest of sweet basil growing nearby and I intend to eat every last leaf of it, eventually. I'd rather not be spraying too many toxins on it by accident. My preference would be the ladybugs - and thanks for the tips on how to use them - but I'll have to wait a little to be able to get them up here, I think. They don't stock them at the local greenhouses this early, as I recall. I don't care if I end up with ladybugs loose in the house - you can always catch them and put them outside - but I'll feel bad if I take them outside for release and they die in the cold.

 

Meanwhile, I'm going to make up recipes tomorrow for aphid genocide (sorry, aphids, but I've gotten fond of that pepper plant. It has personality. Maybe I'll name it "Steve".)

[Meg's mum]

Just a bit of an environmental note here. Please consider wending your way to the nearest health food store/co-op/health food section and get 'castille soap'. Dr. Bronners has a liquid and bar form but there are a few others. You can use it on edibles as long as you rinse them and your local garden ecosystem of which you and your pups are a part will thank you for it.

[AK dog doc]

Ooh, I have some Castille soap already (use it when camping.) Good idea.

 

I'm quite curious about the rhubarb thing, but that'll have to wait til we actually HAVE rhubarb up here... although once they start growing they look like something out of the Jurassic era, absolutely dinosaurian proportions; bet I could kill a fair few aphids with THAT harvest!

[hoku's mum]

A soap spray will take care of the aphids, but be sure to spray under the leaves and all the stem parts, too. The soap sufficates soft bodied bugs. Aphids are difficult, they are born pregnent! (Yikes!) So do it every couple of days, or wash the plant with a firm stream of water daily. They also go for stressed plants, which the pepper is. Try feeding with a mild fish and kelp fertilizer. Potted plants need regular feeding, as the potting mix doesn't have the nutrient base that mineral soil has. The kelp has a lot of macros in it, which are kind of like 'keys' to a lot of the plants processes (photosynthis, and lots of other very complex systems). I find it really helps stressed plants get strong and then the bugs bug-off! Good luck! - Kristin

[AK dog doc]

Hmm, good idea on the feeding, haven't done that for weeks now. I'll mix up a batch of plant food tonight for the morning water; it now takes a good 20 minutes to water everything I've got in the house, so I try to have a couple of watering cans filled and ready to go. I wish it'd stop freezing at night, I want to start putting things OUT. I am running out of space! And very soon both the pumpkins and the sweet peas will be so big I'll need an octopus and a fork lift to get them outside!

 

On the other hand... I'm SOOOO satisfied having green things all over my house. I was getting terrible spring fever before stuff started coming up. I'd be in a bad way without the plants, since it's now getting light about 5:30 (which unfortunately makes me get up whether I want to or not) and staying light til 10:30, but it's still freezing at night. If my house wasn't sprouting green things in every corner I'd be gnawing holes in the drywall right along with the dogs....

[leahluvsherpups]

We have a greenhouse that we grow hot peppers in and aphids are a huge problem. We buy ladybugs by the thousand, they're cheap, and release them into the green house. Lots of them escape and take care of the aphids outside as well as inside the greenhouse.

[AK dog doc]

I think the peppers are the biggest aphid magnets I've ever had, except for the fuscias. They seem to ignore my sweet basil and my tomato plants, and most everything else. I'm just DREAMING of the day I have a greenhouse. And some sheep. Today a client told me she'd board sheep for me if I wanted to get some. This is NOT making things easier! I keep thinking: Hmm, now how much would this cost...? Maybe I could put in fence and keep them here, would that be cheaper...?

 

Gads, I am just insane. This is madness. I have to stop thinking about this RIGHT NOW. I should just think about aphids. Aphids. Aaaaaaaphids. Yeah. That's it. Focus now, foooocus... you can do it... do aphids have wool? DANG! Now stop that. Aphids, that's it, aaaphids..... there you go...