They just keep going! I'm so sick of them. My philadelphus is just covered in the black ones so that is going after many years. This year seems to be so bad for aphids!
It's been funny weather which has affected the emergence of both aphids and their predators. Assuming you wish to avoid using chemicals, including soap, which will harm useful predators, you need a 3-pronged approach.
Provide hanging bird feeders near your Philadelphus to attract sparrows and tits which will then hoover up juicy aphids to feed and hydrate their nestlings.
Provide insect shelters so the ladybirds, hoverflies, lacewings, wasps et al have somewhere safe to shelter over winter and are then on hand to scoff the aphids and lay eggs which turn into prolific aphid munching larvae.
Buy an adjustable spray head for your hosepipe and set it to jet so you can blast off the worst of the aphids while you wait for the good guys to arrive.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
No bother on ours but they are grown hard - inherited in a mixed hedge so have to cope with soil conditions and rain levels as they find them - and have plenty of ventilation and no sprays in sight so safe for birds and predator insects.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Obelixx, I have seen so few ladybirds this year (just one and a strange long beetle on the underside of a leaf). I was going to buy some larvae, but am cautious. As for birds, I haven't seen them eat any! I will fill my feeder though, just in case. I have tried to spray the shrub with the hose on jet, and I got some off, but they just come back! I've had it with the philadelphus, but it's my roses that concern me. I'm going out everyday to squish them on the buds. I do it as gently as I can, but I worry that i'm damaging the buds.
In Birmingham my buddleia are covered in green aphids never seen it so bad and got no ladybirds. I've got a silly question if any one fancies answering it for me
After the posts on the other thread - I was looking at aphid control - and saw this site - https://www.naturallivingideas.com/12-organic-ways-get-rid-aphids/ - has anyone used the other methods (ie the oil based ) or do most treatments have side effects (apart from the water blasting!)? Are the essential oils 'aphid predator friendly'?
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Provide hanging bird feeders near your Philadelphus to attract sparrows and tits which will then hoover up juicy aphids to feed and hydrate their nestlings.
Provide insect shelters so the ladybirds, hoverflies, lacewings, wasps et al have somewhere safe to shelter over winter and are then on hand to scoff the aphids and lay eggs which turn into prolific aphid munching larvae.
Buy an adjustable spray head for your hosepipe and set it to jet so you can blast off the worst of the aphids while you wait for the good guys to arrive.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
I have tried to spray the shrub with the hose on jet, and I got some off, but they just come back!
I've had it with the philadelphus, but it's my roses that concern me. I'm going out everyday to squish them on the buds. I do it as gently as I can, but I worry that i'm damaging the buds.
I squish small infestations on roses and blast them when they get too many.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw