OOPS! put aphid infested plant trimmings in my composter!

was dead on my feet and put aphid infested iris leaf trimmings into the composter.

I usually burn iris trimmings because we get so much leaf spot. but these were newly received plants, no spots visible, and I wasn't thinking straight. Was trimming heavy because 2 arrived covered with aphids. Though I washed them thoroughly,before I knew it we were losing leaves right and left to aphids on all of them.

it's a compost tumbler. was thinking of getting out the Bayer rose systemic granules and tossing a couple capfuls into the tumbler and tumbling it a few times. think that would help? it's a big cap, only use one capful per rose...

bonjon - as far as I know a "systemic" pesticide has to be applied to live plants so that it can be taken up through either roots or leaves.

Aphids have very soft bodies, so I would think tumbling them around in the composter would be enough to kill them.

Maybe boiling water would do the trick. Then after it all cools you can toss a handful of unboiled compost in to re-inoculate the tumbler.

that's a LOT of boiled water....

cold won't kill them will it?

bonjon, I too have had an ongoing problem with green aphids on my hot pepper seedlings. I use spent worm compost media for my germination mixes and the problem only occurs with pepper plants. Tomato and onion seedlings growing next to the pepper seedlings never seemed to be bothered, however some of my wife's house plants have become infested. At first I blamed the house plants, but friend Picante tells me the pepper plants are the real culprit.

I have tried misting the tiny pepper seedlings, and more intense water spraying of the later potted up plants. I have turned the pepper seedling four inch peat pots upside down in soapy water, and even hot pepper sprays (like that makes any sense). I have even resorted to carefully pinching the little varmits off the seedlings. Talk about a waste of time. Once the potted up plants are placed in the garden the problem goes away.

I have little doubt that my peat moss based spent worm compost bin media (take a deep breath after saying that out loud) is the true source of the aphids. I once tried sterilizing the germination mix in my small lab oven and the only good that did was to remove the necessary nutrients and micro-organisms and stunt my seedling growth.

I have no plans to chemically treat my indoor or out door compost bins to remove these nasty critters even if that is where they are comming from. My contention is that it would be better to chemically treat the seedlings. As a last resort I may try a Pyrethium spray which I have read works on aphids. I don't use herbicides or pesticides in my garden, and I hate the idea of even using a commercial chemical spray on my pepper seedlings, but it just may come to that. I don't know if the effects of pesticides on pepper seedlings has any health related consequences on the later fruits, and I don't think house plants are bothered by their use. It's just the thought of breathing any of these chemical spays is never a good idea. Call me paranoid!

Of all the things I have tried so far, the best bandaid treatment I have come up with for the larger plants is take them out doors and as gently as possible, spray them with water. I try to do this on a sunny day without much wind and let them dry out before bringing them back inside. Works for a while but the process has to be repeated every few days.

m

well, the irises are outdoors now and I can't say I see any aphids on them. About 1/3 have already sent up new leaves and I'm not seeing any more yellowing or browning of the old.

I did wash the plants and did major amounts of squishing the critters.