Aphids Anyone?

I have a 3 year old plumb tree that every year gets covered with aphids--I mean so covered that they eat all of the new growth. Is there an organic way of getting rid of these buggers? I've tried lady bugs and praying mantis' but with no luck. I've also tried spraying them off with water, but they keep coming back! Please help. Thanks,

Lindsey :)

Had millions of aphids in the greenhouse. Entomologist suggested keeping supply of Lady bugs in refigerator all summer and only releasing a handful every 5 days at the base of each plant. took two weeks but those &*&^(( are gone from my 94 tomato,50 eggplants, and 40 pepper plants. Good luck

Lindsey, that sure sounds like millions of aphids! Mercy! You might want to check for ants as they'll tend to herd the aphids (and will even babysit them in their underground homes during the winter months). If you see many ants then get rid of those first.

You could also spray a soap spray at the first signs of aphids, then do so again a week later. That will certainly slow down their population growth and help keep them more manageable and in check.

As an aside, again, are you sure they are aphids? Usually they won't "eat" the new growth but rather will suck the sap out of the leaves causing them to wrinkle up, yellow and wilt, then fall off.

Yes, thats what they do, they don't eat the leaves. I just purchased some safer soap and I am going to try that. Thanks for all of your help.

Lindsey :)

Great! Check back and let us know how everything goes!

Wishing you good luck! (I love plums!) :>)

Check the root flair of your tree. If you don't see the tree trunk get wider before it disappears into the ground it is too deep. This is stressful to the tree and makes it more likely to host pests.

No thanks, plenty of aphids of my own. Try soapy water and you can add a little bit of orange oil too. Insecticidal soap usually will do the trick. Hoverfly larvae also eat aphids, so plant things to attract them. I have read that Santolina attracts them, thus the only reason the 2 plants I have are still here. I have tons of milkweed that attracts the aphids faster than the little larvae are eating. I'm going to order some lady bugs since I've only seen 2. Tonight I've been out squishing them with my hands, in gloves of course.

PamzillaTX, I know who you heard that from! Thank goodness when we first planted our baby trees, we took into consideration that the ground would settle and the tree would sink down some, so our trees are not too low.

Forgot to say that someone just posted today that Cilantro really attracted Hoverflies.



This message was edited Jul 8, 2005 11:26 PM

The safer soap worked like a charm. My only complaint is that I also killed two lady bugs in the process of killing the aphids. Thank you for all of your suggestions and help.

Lindsey :)

Lindsey, something else you might try for the long haul, is planting Asclepias tuberosa, Mexican Milkweed. It is an aphid magnet! The aphids don't really bother the plant, but they will go to that plant rather than anything else you have. I've had them for two years, and haven't seen a single aphid on my roses or antything else. As a bonus, they attract ladybugs and other beneficials (it's a free buffet!), the flowers are pretty, they're drought tolerant, and they attract butterflies (in fact, they are a host plant for Monarchs).

Here's a pic showing the flowers (they also come in yellow) and the aphids.

Maggiemoo, I've always wondered about that. I have tons of the A. tuberosa, which you know naturally attracts the aphids. But I've wondered if it would attract them away from anything else, like roses, but wondered if the roses etc. had a different kind of aphid. I got rid of all of my roses because I could never control the black spot, so I don't know about those. I don't have any other plants that have aphids, but not sure if anything I have would normally get them. This sounds like it is a project that Lindsey should be in charge of. :)

Thank you for the plant info. I can't wait to get my hands on some of that milkweed. Thanks again,

Lindsey :)

I first heard about the Mexican milkweed from a guy down here who was speaking about natives in the landscape. He told us about them attracting the aphids away from the roses. He didn't have to say it twice, I was on it! :-)

Lindsey, I've got plenty of seeds if you'd like them. Let me know.

I'd love some! SASE or trade?

How about I just send them to you, one gardener to another? I'm happy to do it. Are you listed on the address exchange? If not, just d-mail me.

for future info for whomever, would tanglefoot also work?

and sunflowers are a great trap crop, the ants seem to prefer them, and the aphids don;t do much damage

gonna check the ytrunks of my fruit trees tomorrow, thanks!