Aphids on young indoor basil
The young plants are too tender to spray with any force or to attempt to pick the aphids off. I have tried the washing up liquid solution trick with a light spray and several applications have had no effect whatsoever. When peered at through a magnifying glass the aphids seem to have enjoyed the bath.
Oh, and there's no chance of me growing and stewing any rhubarb leaves in time to kill off these bugs. I have three basils growing side by side in a long planter. One of them so far is unaffected, I wonder what its secret is?
A very young-looking Monty Don has a video here https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/solve-problems/how-to-deal-with-aphids/ but being the BBC the commercial products he suggests aren't clearly advertised, and anyway were probably discontinued years ago. I have searched online and found similar products but, to be perfectly honest, I never trust manufacturers' and sellers' claims. In my experience they are usually wildly "optimistic", and the misleading optimism rises with the price of the product. And if it's cheaper to buy basil in the supermarket than grow it in my kitchen, why bother? The joy of growing your own is lost when the plants don't thrive.
I need something that works and I need it quickly if these basils are to be saved. It has to come by post due to COVID. Can anyone name a product that works and is safe to use indoors.
I'd love to use ladybirds, but I can't see them making a home on my kitchen windowsill.
It's the very end of November as I write, if that makes any difference.
Thank you for any genuine recommendations.
Michael Hooker
Oh, and there's no chance of me growing and stewing any rhubarb leaves in time to kill off these bugs. I have three basils growing side by side in a long planter. One of them so far is unaffected, I wonder what its secret is?
A very young-looking Monty Don has a video here https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/solve-problems/how-to-deal-with-aphids/ but being the BBC the commercial products he suggests aren't clearly advertised, and anyway were probably discontinued years ago. I have searched online and found similar products but, to be perfectly honest, I never trust manufacturers' and sellers' claims. In my experience they are usually wildly "optimistic", and the misleading optimism rises with the price of the product. And if it's cheaper to buy basil in the supermarket than grow it in my kitchen, why bother? The joy of growing your own is lost when the plants don't thrive.
I need something that works and I need it quickly if these basils are to be saved. It has to come by post due to COVID. Can anyone name a product that works and is safe to use indoors.
I'd love to use ladybirds, but I can't see them making a home on my kitchen windowsill.
It's the very end of November as I write, if that makes any difference.
Thank you for any genuine recommendations.
Michael Hooker
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I did wonder if there was some devious way of killing aphids instantly with high frequency sound or intense UV light or something like that. I know deafening hip-hop music doesn't do it, my neighbours kids try all the time. Not at my request, I might add.
Thanks for the suggestion anyway - it might help someone else!
And I'm sorry, there is no way of tying a plastic bag around the planter without damaging the plants with the tying - unless the bag is tied above the level of the plants, and maybe we suffocate the blessed aphids.
Can anyone actually recommend a commercial product like Monty did, please, one that's available and works? Kills the bugs and not those who eat the basil. That was my essential question.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/pdfs/pesticides-for-home-gardeners.pdf
Would it not be better to cut your losses and grow them next year in suitable conditions rather than trying to find a chemical based cure which you admit you don't actually trust to work.
You've made a mistake - everyone does and there's no harm in admitting it. Better luck next year
I would stop wasting your time and sow some new seed next spring - Feb if you have a warm greenhouse or March or April, after the equinox, when there is more light and it's easier to keep them warm enough and in good light. Sow in seed trays or modules and prick out into bigger modules when yo see roots at the base and then into small pots and eventually bigger pots or a trough.
Have a read of this - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/herbs/basil
And frankly even after a few lockdown months there is more space between the plants in my trough than there would be between them if they were in individual pots.
I was not looking for anything that would harm the environment - did anyone actually look at the Monty Don video I referred to at the start?
I didn't say I didn't trust a chemical-base cure to work, I simply asked if someone could recommend a commercial product that did - like Monty had done. Not all commercial products are chemical based. There's the seaweed one for a start, whatever it is. I don't trust manufacturer's claims whatever the product, but a personal recommendation from someone here who has tried it and had success would be something else.
Though maybe I shouldn't trust recommendations either since the original one of a spray of water with a tiny bit of washing up liquid in it didn't work. I'll swear the aphids are enjoying it - maybe Waitrose own brand is a particular favourite?
I do have a heating mat and a growlight I can set up, albeit not in the kitchen, so I might give that a go.