Little green things on my thistle plants

heledd_saunders

Hello
i am a novice gardener, I planted some thistles in my porch a few months ago. They have doing really well until I noticed there were little green things on them. They look a bit like green fleas. The bees don’t go on them anymore. I don’t know if they are harmful to the plant and or bees. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them, without having to use harsh chemicals? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

mrtjforman

those are aphids. If you are lucky enough then predators like ladybugs come and eat them. They do do damage but on a thistle I can't imagine it mattering too much. If they got out of control maybe but the easiest way to control them is to just squish the flower buds a bit. However you might want to put on some latex gloves, the aphids goo is nasty and discolours your fingers. If you kill most and repeat every few days for any that were hiding then they will dissapear 

There are home remedy solutions using soapy water or pepper, don't know the recipe, I either squish em or use pesticides if the plant needs saving.