how to keep the aphids from spreading out

So I just lost my battle today. Had to pull up the peas. The aphids got them so bad - I harvested a total of 7 pods. :`(

Now the ground beneath where the plants we is absolutely covered with the nasties, and I am wondering what I can do to make sure they don't move on to all the rest of my plants. What plants do they prefer that I can pay special attention to?

Thanks. Sad day.

What a bummer! Folks here have many different ways of dealing with aphids...

Do you have a lot of ants around your garden? Apparently certain ants will "farm" aphids to get food from them, so getting rid of ants is important if you have that type of ants around. I'm working on killing off my ant population using a sprinkling of Borax around the anthills, then moistening it with a spray bottle of water so they'll take it back and share it with their nest-mates. There are other methods, but that's what I've chosen and I've noticed fewer ants since starting the treatment.

Dealing with aphids themselves, you have several options. Planting a "trap" crop of something they prefer over your veggie plants is one. Someone here suggested planting sunflowers near the veggie garden, which is my next project...and we're going to compare our sunflower growth to others here as well.

Another option is to plant something from the Allium family in your garden near plants that attract aphids. Chives, onions and garlic are all good for this.

Getting some ladybugs to release next to the aphids is a good way to use beneficial insects...just make sure there's a good place for them to make their new home near your garden or they'll leave after dealing with your current batch of aphids.

If your problem is still immediate and severe after taking out those pea plants, ladybugs aren't an option for you, and you don't mind killing off the beneficial insects while you're at it, you may want to get an organic insecticide that you can spray on them. Neem oil is one such spray you can do. Most big box home improvement stores have that and other organic sprays you could try.

Thanks for that thorough reply. I do have onions planted in my other box. Didn't worry about this box too much because it's my tulle-covered box... the one without my trellis. But the ants dug up from underneath... I killed my ant-festation earlier in the season, but the aphids had already been brought in.

I did get a bunch of ladybugs, and have released 200 of my 300, but they just weren't able to get ahead of the problem. So I went out there this evening and sprayed with some organic stuff from a nursery. I truly hope this takes care of them. By the time the heat of the day had passed, the aphids had indeed made their way to every other plant in that box.

So for now, the box remains uncovered as I want to have easy and immediate access. That opens me up to other buggies, but also invites other friendlies. Once things start looking less crawly, I'll release the rest of the ladies, and cover up again to keep them in. Sound like a good plan?

Thanks friends!

A blast of water and or insecticidal soap.

camprn wrote:A blast of water and or insecticidal soap.

Before I really went on the war path, I was trying to spray them off with the hose. Is that supposed to kill them? I wasn't sure if I was being effective, but maybe there were just that many...


Thanks

Here is a little more info. http://www.gardenstuffs.com/5-how-to-get-rid-of-aphids/

You must've had one serious problem! Sounds like you didn't really need my help after all, just a quicker response to the ants to keep them from tunneling into your garden.

I forgot about the insecticidal soap...with aphids there are too many options to remember them all.

sorry to hear about the loss of your peas.....

i had no idea they would go after them

hugs

rose

Thanks for the kind thoughts Rose. It was a bit of a hard loss (never thought I'd experience that), but I'm very happy to report that there are very aphids left today. I will release the rest of the ladybugs, and recover the box with tulle, and call it a day.

So, that leads me to: what happens when they eat all the rest of the aphids? I don't want to starve them by having them trapped in the tulle...

Aphids hate garlic, choose not to go near it.
plant garlic around other crops and it is a good control.
lady bugs work great as mentioned but they can be hard to keep around.
Soap water spray, vinegar spray, garlic spray all work but are just temporary.
insecticides kill Bees and Killing Bees is a crime against pollination.
I use garlic planted all around and soap spray myself

Came across this method for ridding aphids;
Solution to rid Aphids

SwampCatNana wrote:Came across this method for ridding aphids;
Solution to rid Aphids

Her recipe with the mineral oil works on white flys as well.
I used it in SanDeigo the summer of the great white fly infestation. Saved my garden and pomegrant bushes.

plant garlic all over
aphids hate the stuff
each square needs a garlic plant

@givvmistamps - Thanks. I'm going to try the borax sprinkling. I've been noticing green bugs in the lettuce lately, and we do have ants in the SFG.